Shootin' on the left

schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
edited December 21, 2007 in Journeys
It's been a week since I've been back and I'm still trying to blink and regain my senses from a great weekend the San Francisco Bay Area.

I love SF. Its natural allure was made even sweeter by the temptation of the Smugmug bash and seeing friends that I don't see but once or twice a year. How could I not go? I skipped some work, hopped a plane and landed right in the middle of it. There was some scary flight stuntwork on the way, but it was alright. I know a couple of pilots and they're still alive (I think). :D

The weekend was a blur, completely swirling with smiles and anxiety and great food and great hunger and private jokes and totally clueless moments, new faces and old faces. Time has surely never slipped by so quickly and I am even more smitten by the beautiful Californian scenery. Good memories are evil like that, tainting the already existing draw of looking up job openings and apartment listings!

There was very little that I came back with photographically. The Saturday after the big SmugEvent was reserved for shooting but I hardly ever hit the shutter. 1 PM at Fort Point, that was the Big Plan. I was kind of secretly thrilled, actually, because I loved it when Jimmy Stewart jumped for Kim Novak when she threw herself after those rose petals.

Down Under
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There's no way I could make this scene look new but at least I have one for myself, now. Soon after I grumped about sea spray on my polarizer and inadvertently blocked Devbobo's shot I followed Andy into the old Fort. "I always thought this place looked cool!" Shizam said, "and I wondered if you could go in."

My response: "D00D, YOU LIVE HERE!" :lol3

Devbobo setting up. He's such a nice guy, he'll sit there and talk to you forever and never tell you that he's waiting for you to get the f&$% out of the way he can take the shot:

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It was kind of weird being in a (technically) abandoned building with these guys because this is a very different sphere of my life. But it was also very cool. I couldn't stop to think or set up, and the ghosts in this place were long, long gone. It's clean, neat, tidy - amazingly tidy considering there is no roof and the proximity to the ocean. Historic monuments like this are always sterile and a bit sad. Safe. I missed the smell of animal and human refuse, actually, because in a way the scene was just slightly out of true without the full sense-o-matic experience of an abandoned building.

I loved the geometric shapes created by the arches across the courtyard. As I was shooting the shadows and sunspots this runner came through my shot. I'm glad she did.

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Although this is the smallest section of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is enormous when you're standing right under it. I remembered just a few days before someone had posted a thread with these views - and funny enough as famous as Fort Point is, I had never seen or noticed this perspective until I saw their shots and it just clicked. Thank you, I love my fellow shooters on Dgrin!

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Sunset was planned for somewhere on the Marin Headlands. Ian chose us a spot way high up and we climbed down the hill a ways to get away from the main gaggle of tourists. It was a good spot. The inevitable line o' cameras was set up and we sat to wait. And wait. And geek, and joke, and snarf cookies, and wait, and slide on our butts, and wait.... you get the picture (pun intended).

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Everyone was taking panos (esp that guy Devbobo, geeze! He's a friggin' pano machine) and I felt very unproductive standing there hopping up and down in the cold and watching them all do the dirty work. I ended up taking a lot of double photos just like these...

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... but I never seemed to like the 5 or 6 shots that were sandwiched between them. We watched the cargo ships sail in and out of the bay, bringing goods from across the ocean from mystic lands. To our right was the Pacific, and although this is my far the least dramatic photo I took that day it is my favorite of the entire weekend:

232097371-L-2.jpg

Sunset over the ocean. I have never seen this sight before. Looking at this photo even now is a very personal and moving experience. After we packed up and headed to dinner we drove through some of the most beautiful Californian neighborhoods with some of the largest houses I have ever laid eyes on... but all I could see were the lights coming on across the water, the sun sinking below the horizon and the silhouettes of the cypress trees. The world suddenly seemed so big, so endless and so powerful.

Photography, friends, and one of the best cities in the world. What else could anyone possibly ask for? Thank you to everyone who made it possible. Everyone!
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Comments

  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited December 14, 2007
    you have the longest thumb I've ever seen.

    232103008-Th.jpg

    and thanks for the story. :D
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • leaforteleaforte Registered Users Posts: 1,948 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Fun review of your trip. Sounds like you had a great time shooting, and experiencing the Pacific Coast. You mentioned never having seen the sun set over the ocean, and it reminded me of how much I take for granted. Have you seen a sunrise over the ocean? A bit rarer here in the west. Thanks for sharing your story.
    Growing with Dgrin



  • gluwatergluwater Registered Users Posts: 3,599 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    How are you not a writer? I always look forward to your photos and especially the prose that accompanies them.
    Nick
    SmugMug Technical Account Manager
    Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
    nickwphoto
  • ElaineElaine Registered Users Posts: 3,532 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Great stuff, this! Love the shots and the words! clap.gif
    Elaine

    Comments and constructive critique always welcome!

    Elaine Heasley Photography
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    DoctorIt wrote:
    you have the longest thumb I've ever seen.
    Say whaa? I have freakishly small hands so no one has ever said anything like that to me before. The MkIII is never going to get into my little paws because I can't drive it. lol3.gif
  • jayegirljayegirl Registered Users Posts: 276 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Love it!
    Jaye
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    gluwater wrote:
    How are you not a writer? I always look forward to your photos and especially the prose that accompanies them.

    Just let the fingers flow from the heart, Nick. mwink.gif

    Thanks guys!
  • zweiblumenzweiblumen Registered Users Posts: 369 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    I am so jealous. That's twice you've been there now. The weather looks like it was amazing. I really love the sunset shot. By itself on a wall I think I would be confused, but with the story and in the context of the other images it makes a wonderful ending.
    Travis
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    zweiblumen wrote:
    I am so jealous. That's twice you've been there now. The weather looks like it was amazing. I really love the sunset shot. By itself on a wall I think I would be confused, but with the story and in the context of the other images it makes a wonderful ending.
    The next time you'll be right by my side! Darned circumstances but you had a good excuse for missing the SmugParty. :D

    (If it's two of us though we might have to stop by Borrowlenses first. Fortunately they're local :)
  • aktseaktse Registered Users Posts: 1,928 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    schmoo wrote:
    Sunset over the ocean. I have never seen this sight before. Looking at this photo even now is a very personal and moving experience. After we packed up and headed to dinner we drove through some of the most beautiful Californian neighborhoods with some of the largest houses I have ever laid eyes on... but all I could see were the lights coming on across the water, the sun sinking below the horizon and the silhouettes of the cypress trees. The world suddenly seemed so big, so endless and so powerful.
    As someone who was born and raised in CA, I kept forgetting that people from other parts of the country don't really ever get a chance to experience the beauty of it. I'm sad to admit that I take the sunset over the ocean for granted these days.

    And you must come back soon! And we'll find more beautiful things for you to shoot!
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    aktse wrote:
    As someone who was born and raised in CA, I kept forgetting that people from other parts of the country don't really ever get a chance to experience the beauty of it. I'm sad to admit that I take the sunset over the ocean for granted these days.

    And you must come back soon! And we'll find more beautiful things for you to shoot!

    That's a date! lol3.gif I know that it's easy to take things for granted... there is so much in the northeast that I grew up around and I dont think twice about them, like snow, leaf piles, uhh... Colonial history?

    leaforte asked about sunrises over the water and come to think of it I don't think I've seen that either but purely because I've always been too lazy to get up for it when I'm at the beach. The idea that I could one day not be geographically located to catch it if I wanted never even occurred to me. headscratch.gif
  • jkcashinjkcashin Registered Users Posts: 68 Big grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    leaforte wrote:
    Fun review of your trip. Sounds like you had a great time shooting, and experiencing the Pacific Coast. You mentioned never having seen the sun set over the ocean, and it reminded me of how much I take for granted. Have you seen a sunrise over the ocean? A bit rarer here in the west. Thanks for sharing your story.
    I'm from Newfoundland Canada, the most Easterly point of land in North America. I live in Ottawa Ontario now, but when I visit "The Rock" I will typically take at least one early trip up Signal Hill just to catch a sunrise off the Atlantic Ocean. In fact I am waiting for my ride to the airport right now to return for yet another visit.

    The Story here goes so well with the pictures, the OP should write for a magazine!
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2007
    jkcashin wrote:
    I'm from Newfoundland Canada, the most Easterly point of land in North America. I live in Ottawa Ontario now, but when I visit "The Rock" I will typically take at least one early trip up Signal Hill just to catch a sunrise off the Atlantic Ocean. In fact I am waiting for my ride to the airport right now to return for yet another visit.

    The Story here goes so well with the pictures, the OP should write for a magazine!
    Have a great trip and thanks! Know any magazines that are hiring? (particularly if they'll pay by the word) lol3.gif
  • Ann McRaeAnn McRae Registered Users Posts: 4,584 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2007
    Thank you , Schmoo, for sharing these. bowdown.gif


    I cannot believe that you missed the 'smells' of truely abandonded buildings
    eek7.gif
    (I actually still don't believe you go exploring those places - fascinating),

    or that you were cold in San Fran! (I was once - at a game at the baseball park on the bay - the fog rolled in in the most fascinating way and residents knew to wear toques and parkas).

    ann
  • a110p0a110p0 Registered Users Posts: 257 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2007
    You oughta move here!
    Schmoo, you seem like a SF type. You should just get it over with
    and move here! You do the city proud with your photos.

    I'm a transplant from Southern CA and love living here. Just wish
    I could shoot more and work less.

    I live outside of SF and it still feels like I'm on vacation whenever
    I visit The City.

    Fort Point is one of my favorite SF locations and I also have
    visions of Veritigo whenever I'm there.

    Since I was a kid, I've always loved the movie Vertigo and with
    the advent of Google Maps, I made a Vertigo Google Map.

    Look forward to see more of your photos.

    Alvin
    Alvin
    Fremont, CA
    SmugMug Gallery
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited December 16, 2007
    Was I there?

    Those are some gorgeous shots. I especially like that last one thumb.gif
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator
    edited December 16, 2007
    Lovely series again, Schmoo.


    232097371-S-2.jpg

    Looks like a landscape shot across the hips of a female.......
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited December 16, 2007
    pathfinder wrote:
    Lovely series again, Schmoo.


    232097371-S-2.jpg

    Looks like a landscape shot across the hips of a female.......
    yeah...thats a great set. I love the bridge.
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 16, 2007
    ian408 wrote:
    Was I there?

    Those are some gorgeous shots. I especially like that last one thumb.gif
    :smack

    All thanks to you, friend! thumb.gif

    Thank you guys, and Alvin what a great map! The highlight of my school days was getting to see Vertigo on the big screen... in 3D! lol3.gif
  • tisuntisun Registered Users Posts: 435 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2007
    I am one of those unfortunate ones that have to get up before sunrise for the commute and get home after sunset. Fortunately, I commute by bike and train and the train takes me along the SF bay for half of the ride. During the winter months, I see sunrise over the hills on East Bay and sunset over the water of the SF bay. The colors of the sky and water are spectacular. I wish the train would stop during those moments for me to snap a few shots. There are a few locations along the ride that I plan to return on foot one of these days to take pictures. It's not easy, though, as they are in the middle of the marsh of the bay.
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited December 18, 2007
    That'd be the town of Drawbridge. Or what's left of it. Built along the railroad,
    Drawbridge was a one time vacation destination.

    Not much left of the old town. You can find some interesting stuff here.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2007
    ian408 wrote:
    That'd be the town of Drawbridge. Or what's left of it. Built along the railroad,
    Drawbridge was a one time vacation destination.

    Not much left of the old town. You can find some interesting stuff here.
    headscratch.gif wonder why there is a relatively modern (high voltage) power line going in there ?
  • tisuntisun Registered Users Posts: 435 Major grins
    edited December 19, 2007
    ian408 wrote:
    That'd be the town of Drawbridge. Or what's left of it. Built along the railroad,
    Drawbridge was a one time vacation destination.

    Not much left of the old town. You can find some interesting stuff here.

    Yes, that's the place. I didn't know it has a name. I always wondered why there were dilapidated wooden structures in the slough. It seems that there are a couple ways to get there (or close to there). One way is to bike and walk on dirt paths from the west side of Fremont. These paths end prematurely and it's not clear how to get closer. An alternative way is to bike on dirt trails and walk along the railroad track from Alviso Wildlife Refuse. However, many trains go through at high speed and there are spots with little room off the track.
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 19, 2007
    ian408 wrote:
    That'd be the town of Drawbridge. Or what's left of it. Built along the railroad,
    Drawbridge was a one time vacation destination.

    Not much left of the old town. You can find some interesting stuff here.

    Oooooooo, very nice!

    That's on my list the next time I'm out your way. mwink.gif
  • a110p0a110p0 Registered Users Posts: 257 Major grins
    edited December 19, 2007
    Drawbridge
    From what I've read, access to Drawbridge is restricted due safety
    concerns with regards to train traffic. From reading and looking
    at Google Maps, you have to walk along the railroad right of way
    and also cross over a rail bridge to get to the island.

    Drawbridge is part of the San Francisco National Wildlife Refuge.

    Looking at Google Maps, you could start at the SFBNWR visitor
    center,
    walk along the levees until you get to the RR right of way.

    I've always wondered if a group trip could be arranged with SFBNWR
    to visit the island, or if it could be accessed via kayak.

    Anyone out there have a contact with the National Park Service?

    Otherwise, visit at your own risk.

    Alvin
    Alvin
    Fremont, CA
    SmugMug Gallery
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited December 19, 2007
    Sadly, it is a bit of a danger to walk along an active railroad. :(
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
    edited December 20, 2007
    You have some excellent photo's there schmoo! my brother is moving to San Francisco soon and I told him I would visit, hopefully I'll get to see some of those great sights too!
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited December 20, 2007
    Prezwoodz wrote:
    You have some excellent photo's there schmoo! my brother is moving to San Francisco soon and I told him I would visit, hopefully I'll get to see some of those great sights too!
    If you do, give a holler.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • aktseaktse Registered Users Posts: 1,928 Major grins
    edited December 20, 2007
    Prezwoodz wrote:
    You have some excellent photo's there schmoo! my brother is moving to San Francisco soon and I told him I would visit, hopefully I'll get to see some of those great sights too!

    Let us know when you get into town!!
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited December 20, 2007
    Prezwoodz wrote:
    You have some excellent photo's there schmoo! my brother is moving to San Francisco soon and I told him I would visit, hopefully I'll get to see some of those great sights too!

    I sincerely hope you do! And it's hilly enough maybe for your mountain legs, so you don't feel too unbalanced. :D
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