sf

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Like I’ve mentioned before, I have quiet a few family members that live in the Northern California area so I’ve been a few times. And when I booked this trip to San Francisco, I wanted to make it a little different. I didn’t want to go to all the tourist attractions (which I did end up going to a few, but not as many as I would have before) but I just wanted to walk around the different neighborhoods and get to know the local side of San Francisco.

But the only shot that I had planned and definitely wanted to capture was this one. Up until recently, I had never seen anything like it. I love how the Bay Bridge is framed by the tall buildings and whenever I look at it, it totally reminds me of rice-a-roni, the San Francisco treat! HAHAHA. Wasn’t there a picture similar to this on the cover? or something like that. I can’t just be making it up.

So if you ever are going to be in the Bay area and want to capture something similar, here are a few tips I learned from capturing it:

  • This shot is located on California St and Stockton St (I think). I heard that going on a Sunday morning is the best time to capture it because it’s going to be far less crowded and you’ll have a better chance of getting a clear shot of a trolley. So this was taken on a Sunday morning. I didn’t actually attempt to go any other morning.
  • Be patient. The website says the trolley runs every 6-15 minutes. If you asked me, it seems like longer. I think I only saw two trolleys while I was there for an hour. Maybe I was there a little too early but still….
  • Bring a long lens. In order to capture this compressed look, a long zoom lens is ideal.
  • Hopefully when you go there will be no cars because you have to stand in the middle of the street to capture it. I’d suggest bring a friend with you so they can lookout if a car is on the way. If not, have you camera settings ready to capture this real quick.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/400th of a second at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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Here’s an early morning view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Battery Spencer. This was the very first time I had ever visited this spot. There’s something so exciting about walking up the hill and finally seeing the Golden Gate right in front of you. It’s like when you’re so hungry and you finally get a big ol plate of fried chicken in front of you 🙂

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You can’t go to San Francisco without getting an image of the Golden Gate Bridge, right? Here’s my version taken from Battery Spencer one evening in Sausalito.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I’ll be hiding from the rain most of the time but before that, here are 3 things I was grateful for this week:

1. 500 px and Fuji Film photowalk. Thanks to DC Focused for hosting!

2. The super moon and seeing awesome images of it from around the world

3. Being home and sleeping in my own cozy bed 🙂