neighborhoods

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While planning our trip to San Francisco, there were so many options of places to stay. A lot of really cute hotels and airbnbs that I could have chosen from but I ended up picking  an AirBNB in the Mission district. The reason why I chose to stay there as opposed to other places was because I really wanted to live more like a local. I figured there would be no better way to do that other than to live in the heart of the city.

What I mean by living like a local is just doing the things I would be doing at home, but in San Francisco. For example, Andrew and I were in the city for the weekend so we definietly wanted to check out some of the farmers markets, we also did a little errand shopping for last minute camping supplies and basically walked around different neighborhoods with no real plans. We purposely avoided some tourist locations since I had been there so many times or we knew it would be so crowded that it would not have been so enjoyable for either one of us.

Our location was perfect! It was easily accessible to so many great places in the San Francisco area but what I liked most about it was that there was plenty to see right in our own neighborhood. This image was taken from Bernal Heights Park, literally just a few blocks from our Airbnb. Andrew and I kinda got lost one day going to our burrito lunch spot and stumbled onto it. I kept it in the back of my mind for a “maybe this is something we could do later on” because the hill was STEEP and I was hungry.

It just so happened that our last full day in SF was foggy. I wanted to go somewhere we could try to get above the fog and hopefully capture some cool images so I suggested Bernal Heights. Although we couldn’t get above the fog, it was still really cool to see the views. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a gluteus maximus workout because GEEEZZZ! HAHAHA.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/250th of a second at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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One of my favorite things to do is just to walk around and get lost while traveling. It’s so fun to just explore a new city with no real plans and a camera in hand while documenting the things that inspire you. I’ve never really thought about doing the same in the city that I live in. I don’t know. I feel like “oh I already know all the cool spots” or “whats more could I actually see?” So I tried it out last week. I parked my car and started wondering around Georgetown. I picked Georgetown because I’m used to going to the area with all the shops and restaurants. Oh and also the waterfront is my favorite part, but I’ve never really explored the surrounding neighborhood. I’ve always heard that it’s a great place to live so I wanted to see why.

Everybody’s right. What a cute little neighborhood to live in. I felt so happy just walking around and exploring. All the houses are painted in bright colors, a lot of them how flowers surrounding them. Everyone just seemed so happy walking their dogs. While walking I found Oak Hill Cemetery. It wasn’t opened while I was there but from the outside it looks like a beautiful cemetery. (is that weird to say about a cemetery?) Regardless, I’d love to shoot there before all the flowers wilt. Also on my list to shoot, Dumbarton Oaks. Another place I’ve never been that’s on the top of my list.

This image was taking in front of someone’s house! Can you imagine walking home and seeing this beauty crawl along your walls. I feel like I’d be in heaven everyday. So if you’ve never done it before, you should try to be a tourist in your own neighborhood. You may find something that you’ve never seen before and totally fall in love.

The camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/30th of a second ISO 160.