Tag Archives: hills

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Fall Morning, San Francisco and the Golden Gate

January 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The view from the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate and San Francisco to the East Bay and the hills beyond.

This is probably another familiar scene – the panoramic view of the Golden Gate and its famous bridge with San Francisco and its famous bay beyond. This vantage point high in the Marin Headlands provides a spectacular perspective on San Francisco and a good portion of the Bay. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are visible above the north (left) tower of the Golden Gate bridge and the inland hills of the Diablo Range (a.k.a. as the “east bay hills”) are seen in the far distance.

This scene is often presented in a more panoramic perspective – in other words a wider and shorter composition. I played around with that idea here, but I ended up liking the sense of depth provided by the bit of Marin Headlands bluff at the bottom and I like this late autumn sky – though it felt more like early winter!

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Sutro Tower and Golden Gate Bridge South Tower, Morning

December 27, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge approaching the south tower with haze-shrouded San Francisco hills and Sutro Tower beyond.

I’ve played around with photographs of the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge from this iconic location above the north end of the Bridge before, including some night photography, but I’ve never quite been happy with the composition. On this morning I got lucky with the thin fog muting the colors and creating atmospheric recession into the distant hills and the warm morning light on the upper surface of the bridge. In addition I tried a different composition – instead of trying to fit the whole bridge into the frame I centered the photo on the curve of the distant ridge and then selected a focal length that included a bit of water, a bit of the area to the right of the bridge, and a good portion of the span with just enough morning traffic. The distant structure is Sutro Tower, the site of a number of San Francisco radio and television broadcast antennas.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Bonita Lighthouse, Marin Headlands

December 26, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of the Point Bonita Lighthouse above the Pacific Ocean surf of the Marin Headlands with the south side of the Golden Gate beyond.

I earlier posted a photograph of the inland side of Point Bonita – this one is from the Pacific Coast side, high on bluffs just north of the Point Bonita Lighthouse and looking south back across the outer entrance to the San Francisco Bay. This is a very rugged bit of coastline here between the Bay and Rodeo Beach and Fort Cronkhite just to the north, where there is a wide beach at the end of a valley.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Morning Winter Haze, San Francisco Bay

December 23, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thin winter low fog and haze over Alcatraz, Yerba Buena, and Treasure Islands and the Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay, California.

Depending upon time of day, time of year, and the luck of the weather, the view of the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay can vary from crystal clear with seemingly-saturated colors to completely socked in by fogs and clouds. On winter mornings (and on the right day during other times of the year) a general haze and fog that is not the more familiar coastal fog can lie over the Bay. It reduces the intensity of the colors and the contrast of the scene and if you watch long enough various landmarks gradually come into view and then may drift out of view again.

On this December morning these were exactly the conditions. Central Valley tule fog was spilling its moist and hazy air though the delta and creating this bluish haze over the Bay. I made this and a series of related photographs from the Marin Headlands above the Golden Gate.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.