Halloween Sunset along the Bay Redwood Shores, California I've been fortunate to have extended family that lives so close to me here in California. They made it feel like "home" even before I had settled in. One of my favorite activities is to join cousin Andy for a spooky Halloween party at his house. The family has younger kids that still dress up and go trick-or-treating (well, some of them are too old now). But the absolute best part is that Andy is the PUMPKING CARVING *MASTER*. He's crafted some of the most creative and well executed pumpkin's I've ever seen (this year he turned a pumpkin into a whale, with spouting water included!). I almost always bring my camera to the party and this year I had a warning that sunset might be nice. As the kids got ready to trick-or-treat I kept an eye out on the sky, and sure enough, right at sunset, the sky above the house went crazy with pinks and orange and red. Thankfully they live right by the water so I was able to go down and catch a little reflection at the edge of the shore. I had left the tripod at home, so I used some rocks and my knees and a slightly higher ISO to get the camera to stay steady for the photo. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/11, 1/8 sec, ISO 320
Sunset above the Bay Bridge Treasure Island, San Francisco, California I love Christmas time in San Francisco because the city outlines itself with beautiful holidays lights. The Transamerica Beacon lights its beacon, a star at the top of its pointy roof. I’ve photographed the city from under the Bay Bridge but I’ve always also wanted to photograph it from above the bridge. The last few years the Beacon turned on well after Blue Hour; thankfully this year the Beacon had been turning on at 5pm, right in the middle of our favorite time of the night! Willie, Alan, and I met on Treasure Island and were the first to arrive at this spot above the bridge. Several other photographers joined us. I staked out a spot that looked straight onto the bridge and waited. We were hoping the clouds would stick around — a cloudless sky hides the light of the Beacon. Unfortunately they moved just a smidge too quick but it still turned out to be a nice evening Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 60mm, f/22, 15 sec, ISO 200
Sunrise at Ina Coolbrith Park San Francisco, California October in San Francisco is a month when local landscape photographers get very little sleep. This month has the highest chance of our perfect low fog, right at the deck level of the Golden Gate Bridge. When the conditions are right, we set our alarms for 4am and if everything looks good, make the trek up to the city before the sun comes up. On this particular morning there was no fog, but Jeff Lewis was predicted a sunrise to remember. Willie and I met early and drove to the city, arriving to almost clear skies. Jeff assured us that clouds would roll in, and he was right. Boy was he right! We decided to setup at Ina Coolbrith Park, high up on Russian Hill. Here you get a beautiful view of the entire city, the beautiful Bay Bridge lights, and enough room to see the sky explode with color. The Embarcadero Center buildings, lit up in blue, marked the week long "Dreamforce" conference put on by Salesforce. A number of other Escaype customers joined us at the park, but we were all so busy photographing that nobody stopped by to say hello :( Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 24mm, f/11, 1/6 sec, ISO 100
