Golden Gate Bridge Cables – San Francisco at Night. San Francisco, California. November 23, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Night view of the San Francisco skyline from near the Golden Gate Bridge, with the bridge cables in the foreground. Holiday lights are visible on some of the downtown buildings.

Believe it or not, this was the first time I had photographed The City at night from the hills north of the Bridge. I had no idea – dumb, I know – that this was such a huge tourist event. Thousands of people had travelled across the bridge and up the narrow road into the Marin headlands. I started out shooting from a very high vantage point, coming down to this spot right above the bridge somewhat later after many people had left.

This is the sort of photograph that may not work so well in this small, compressed web format. However, there is so much detail in the full size version that it is almost possible to pick out people in some areas along the San Francisco waterfront.