Tag Archives: waterfront

Building Below Bay Bridge

Building Below Bay Bridge
Building Below Bay Bridge

Building Below Bay Bridge. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A building beneath the west end of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, in foggy morning light.

If a troll lived beneath the west end of the Bay Bridge, this would be the building. ;-)

This block-shaped building with windows reflecting the light from thinning fog over the San Francisco Bay – across the Embarcadero – sits almost directly below the west anchorage of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, which you can see just a bit of near the very top of the frame. For me there is something appealing about the angular simplicity of this building with its rectangular windows divided into rectangular panes, and with almost no decorative touches at all.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)


San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

The atmosphere above the Bay varies in astonishing ways throughout the year, and it never seems to be quite the same twice. While the summer often brings the familiar banks of ocean fog, winter brings the effects of fog from the other direction in the form of tule fog forming over the inland valleys. It can be completely clear – and, for the season, warm on the coast – yet a few miles inland the lower valleys may be filled with cold, wet, ground fog.

During these conditions, the moist air can move towards San Francisco and the Bay by way of the delta. That is more or less what was happening on this morning when the very most and hazy air from inland had created this soft atmosphere and light above The City, even as higher winter clouds in clear air moved far overhead, catching the morning sun light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Embarcadero Waterfront With Holiday Lights

Embarcadero Waterfront With Holiday Lights. San Francisco, California. December 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photograph of the San Francisco waterfront and skyline with holiday lights, including the Transamerica building and the Embarcadero. Photographed from Treasure Island.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This photograph was made two years ago just before Christmas. The scene includes the San Francisco Bay waterfront decked out in holiday lights, especially the Embarcadero Buildings and the Transamerica Pyramid, as seen from Treasure Island.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: san francisco, downtown, skyline, waterfront, embarcadero, bay, treasure island, holiday, christmas, lights, transamerica, building, night, photography, color, california, usa, travel, urban, city, skyscrapers, boat, water

The Golden Gate, Morning

The Golden Gate, Morning

The Golden Gate, Morning. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Marin Headlands, north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Bay Bridge.

Icon alert! Yes, that bridge.

I had business in San Francisco later in the day so I decided to start early and spend time north of the bridge and then return through the City in the evening. As I cross the bridge I almost always assess the possibilities for photography, as often as not decided to not stop since, as beautiful as the view of the Bay is it is not always worth photographing. On this morning though the conditions were a bit special and of a type that we usually only see in the winter months. There are mainly two types of fog in the Bay Area. First there is the “streaming into the Golden Gate type of fog” – which was not present this day – that comes in off the ocean. Then there is the winter tule fog which rises from wet ground on cold winter mornings – and the atmosphere on this morning was affected by that condition.

I made several photographs of the Bay, the bridge, and the City – but this one is perhaps a “triple icon” (for better or worse!) shot in that it includes the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Transamerica Pyramid centered in the north tower of the Bridge. I’ve known about the possibility of this shot for quite a while – but until now I managed to resist! Here I gave in and decided to figure out the location. It is almost embarrassingly easy to find and shoot once you figure it out, but you do need a fairly long lens. (In the full resolution original I can clearly see a couple standing on the overlook at bottom left and admiring the view.)

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, bridge, bay, oakland, waterfront, road, marin, headlands, battery, haze, cloud, morning, light, fog, north, tower, people, couple, water, east, bay, hills, oakland, transamerica, buliding, urgan, silhouette, cable, stock