California - San Francisco

San Francisco and Silicon Valley to the south are the home to most of the world's leading technology companies. From Computer hardware, to networking and internet social networking they are all here. And the city has a high-tech look too which feels 'cutting edge' when you are in the middle of it. It is an exciting place to be! There are also many traditional areas of town that feel more like a European or Asian city than anywhere in the United States. And there are a few nice views to be had too!

Alamo Square and the Victorian style 'Painted Ladies' are well known photo locations. So in order to make an image that would stand out, I had to wait for a stormy day where the clouds would open up right at sunset to produce warm light against the clouds and cityscape. A 1-minute exposure softened the sky and ensures that none of the people and dogs playing on the grass were visible.

I have been to this spot many times hoping for a good sunrise and finally it happened. I used the tower of the bridge to block the bright sun from creating lens flare. Also, a medium tide is best for isolating the old pier pilings. High tide nearly covers them and low tide make them too big to easily include in a decent composition. This was about 1 minute before the lights were turned off. The tripod was placed right on one of the square concrete posts with the legs shortened in order to be as close to the edge as possible. I made sure to include the walkway for perspective and the feeling of actually being there for this amazing sunrise!

I've made a couple other similar compositions in this spot, but not at sunrise with a brilliant red sunset illuminating the entire scene. So here it is! A 2- minute long exposure with a very dark uncolored filter made this possible. It is super sharp from front (3 ft from the lens) to back.

On a hot November evening, tourists go out to see the dramatic view and enjoy the weather. It was getting dark , so the exposure time was 8 seconds and the people moved a lot during that period. It was a beautiful evening.

Fireworks explode at the moment of the last out in the Giants' 11-7 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the 2010 world series. This is a single 2.5-second exposure. The Giants went on to win it all!!! No HDR.

The Municipal Pier, at the end of Van Ness Avenue, is the perfect place to watch the sunset. Behind the camera is a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge, but sometimes it is good to turn the camera away to see this view. A 30-second exposure softened the water to reflect the mood on this evening. I had to wait for the sea lions to leave because they were making too many chaotic patterns in the water!

This is part of a 1.1 gigapixel (13,423h x 80,540w, 1x6 ratio) view of San Francisco. It can be printed at 24x36 inches at 300DPI. The panorama was created from 112, 11-second exposures with the Canon 5D MKII, a Canon 500L lens with a 1.4 extender. The photos were taken were taken just after sunset from the Marin Headlands on three different evenings under similar lighting conditions. The panorama could easily be printed at 36ft wide by 6 ft tall (200dpi) with fine resolution with no pixelation or noise visible!

Part 1 of 2 prints that make up the entire panorama. This Stitched Panorama was created during those 2-3 minutes where the daylight fades and becomes even with the city lights. There was some extra light in the sky from the moon high up in the sky on a misty evening.

Part 2 of 2 prints that make up the entire panorama. This Stitched Panorama was created during those 2-3 minutes where the daylight fades and becomes even with the city lights. There was some extra light in the sky from the moon high up in the sky on a misty evening.

This is part of a 1.1 gigapixel (13,423h x 80,540w, 1x6 ratio) view of San Francisco. It can be printed at 24x36 inches at 300DPI. The panorama was created from 112, 11-second exposures with the Canon 5D MKII, a Canon 500L lens with a 1.4 extender. The photos were taken were taken just after sunset from the Marin Headlands on three different evenings under similar lighting conditions. The panorama could easily be printed at 36ft wide by 6 ft tall (200dpi) with fine resolution with no pixelation or noise visible!

This is part of a 1.1 gigapixel (13,423h x 80,540w, 1x6 ratio) view of San Francisco. It can be printed at 24x36 inches at 300DPI. The panorama was created from 112, 11-second exposures with the Canon 5D MKII, a Canon 500L lens with a 1.4 extender. The photos were taken were taken just after sunset from the Marin Headlands on three different evenings under similar lighting conditions. The panorama could easily be printed at 36ft wide by 6 ft tall (200dpi) with fine resolution with no pixelation or noise visible!

I was careful to include the Ferry Tower right under the bow with some good first light at sunrise. This enormous work of art was created by internationally renowned artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Composed of fiberglass and steel, the sculpture stands approximately 60 feet tall and is 130-140 feet wide.

After an incredible sunrise, I set the tripod on a post and composed this scene. I used a medium-short exposure time to get the rippled effect in the water. Also, I waited for a ripple to wash across the lowest step to show the water level there. The sky is rarely like this in San Francisco. It is usually foggy or completely clear, so this was a treat!

The San Francisco Museum of Modern art is set in what are many modern works of art. Due to the extreme contrast in this scene, I made 5 different exposures and blended them together using HDR (High Dynamic Range) techniques. Modern cameras can not capture the full range of brightness that our eyes can see. So now this scene is as I saw it with my own eyes.

The 10,305 ft long west span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge carries 102 million cars per year on its two decks with 5 lanes on each. Only the George Washington Bridge in New York is busier with 108 million cars per year.

Another view of the curved pier at Aquatic Park at the end of Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. The diagonal concrete pilings help to break the waves during high tides. A low tide at sunset was required to get the shot looking right. The extra long exposure gave this a smooth look. A few big waves almost put my camera underwater but I held the tripod steady and took the hit in order to save the shot. You only get one chance per night where the light is even enough to do this. And I would have to wait a month for these conditions to happen again!

I wanted to arrange a scene reminiscent of an old painting with fluffy clouds, lots of ripples in the water and good light on the bridge. I was fortunate to have the elements come together in this scene to show off the old fireboat at it's best. 1/8 of a second seems to be just right for capturing water texture like this. It is difficult to keep all vertical lines vertical while keeping the horizon level on a view so wide!

his is the pier closest to the Golden Gate Bridge. Many people fish off of it and it is a great place to watch the sunset. But I liked tones created by the rust and cracks in the concrete. There are some truly incredible colors and patterns that turn these piers into works of fine-art!

This is a combination of 3 shots all taken at F8 of the 9,260 foot long west span of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay bridge. Exposure times were 10, 50 and 120 seconds each. I created a 32 bit image using Photomatix and then I used tone mapping to make a few small adjustments. But in this case I hardly had to move any sliders, as it looked almost perfect from the start. Then I saved to a 16 bit TIFF.

This memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. features text from some of his speeches along with roaring falls and misty spray. There was a dramatic red sunset behind the camera, which helped warm up the light in this scene. And warm spotlights added good tones to the falls.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a work of art in and of itself. Here, the fountian creates a perfect opportunity for some strong lines and a dramatic skyline.

This curved pier at the end of Van Ness Avenue at Aquatic Park produced a different sort of pattern than you normally see under a pier. This was taken on the other side of the pier from where #3 was made on a different day.