Dancing GatewayFog Over Golden Gate Bridge Marin Headlands, California Fog on this particular morning was quite the surprise. Alan, Willie and I met up in San Francisco with the original idea of shooting a cloudy sunrise somewhere in San Francisco. By the time we arrived in the city the clouds had moved northeast and we decided to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to find a westerly spot to photograph. As we crossed the bridge into Marin we started to get excited -- there was a small layer of fog forming and we hoped it would keep coming in. We stopped at Battery Spencer but decided to keep driving. For the last 6 months Alan had an idea of trying to shoot a low fog photograph with the 2 towers aligned. The only problem is that you have to hike for quite a while to make it to the location and most people don't wake up early enough. Fortunately for us we had arrived much earlier than anticipated and if we booked it we would make it before sunrise. By the time we arrived at Alan's spot a much denser fog had rolled in and started covering most of the bridge. We were all pretty excited as we began shooting. Looking at the photos in our cameras showed a beautiful glow in the fog, some nice purple and blue tones, and the wonderful bridge. We shot the bridge with the 2 towers aligned first and then later moved back and to the right to shoot the bridge with a slight angle. Blue hour only lasted about 10 minutes and we ran around like crazy men trying to shoot different compositions. Ultimately I liked the slightly non-aligned photo the best, showing more of the bridge and giving insight into how the fog covered and exposed the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. I titled this "Dancing Gateway" because I like the way that the fog seems to dance in and out of the bridge. Our morning concluded with a beautiful sunrise as the clouds lit up in beautiful oranges and reds. 16 photos stitched into a 230 megapixel image were required to fit the entire scene in. One day when I have time to stitch the photo together properly I might even show you what it looked like! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR 220mm, f/11, 30 sec, ISO 160
Hidden GemsFog Over Golden Gate Bridge Hawk Hill, San Francisco, CA On this particular morning the fog at the Golden Gate Bridge was just at the bridge's deck level. Crossing over the Bridge from San Francisco into Marin County was an eery feeling as I was engulfed in fog at the same time as being able to see the stars above. As I drove up to Hawk Hill I looked down on a beautiful scene below me: the Golden Gate Bridge glowing, San Francisco peaking it's head out above the blanket, and the beautiful curves of Conzulman Road winding towards me. As the sun rose and began washing out the color of the bridge and the city lights I decided to try a number of different compositions and shutter lengths. Here I focused on the fog as it began to blow off from the tree line and disappear as the sun baked it away. Leaving the shutter open for 30 seconds captured the movement as the fog began to dissipate. Above the bridge you can see the fog leaving, beginning to reveal Alcatraz. This was such a beautiful scene I had to post more than one photograph from here! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 48mm, f/16, 30 sec, ISO 64 No Filters
Summer's BlanketFog Over Golden Gate Bridge Hawk Hill, San Francisco, California Hopefully as each year passes by, we, as photographers, learn from our past mistakes and in turn become better photographers. A year ago I left things up to chance. Today, most of my photography is planned: I've learned to check weather forecasts, watch the "WunderMap" to follow cloud patterns, and even tried to understand what makes the low marine fog that we want so badly. I learned to check the SF webcams before I go to sleep and made a great new friend who could check the fog from his bedroom window and tell me if I should go back to bed or not (thanks Alan!). Last year I butchered a shot from here. This year I vowed to get it right! The night before this particular morning I had checked both the weather and the webcams and text messages about the following mornings fog started rolling in. I was so excited that I actually woke up *before* my 4:15am alarm! Alan almost instantly messaged me to tell me: "get up here, it's going to be amazing! EVERYONE is coming!" I arrived early, ran into Yan and began taking photos. Alan and Wilson arrived shortly after and we started trekking up to Hawk Hill. I also ran into Jim Patterson, Joe Azure, David Yu, and Della Huff, who are all great local photographers! The fog on this morning was pretty much a dream come true! The fog was just above the bridge deck when I arrived and throughout the sunrise I watched the fog move lower and lower. By 8am the fog was completely gone! I photographed the bridge from several locations on the road to Hawk Hill and had so many great photos that I had trouble deciding which was my favorite. I chose a photo from the blue hour of sunrise (which is really only about 10 minutes), when the sun was still somewhat low and the sky had purple tones to match the fog. A couple minutes later and the sky started to turn light blue, orange, and red, washing out the lights of the city in the background. I experimented with different aspect ratios of either 2:1 or 3:1, and found that a slower shutter smoothed out the fog while a faster shutter left more texture and bumps. Ultimately I chose quicker shutter speed of 10 seconds and a 2:1 crop so that I could include as much of the amazingly textured fog as I could. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 29mm, f/11, 10 sec, ISO 64 No Filters
