I just can't get enough of Pt. Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel.
www.yosemitecollection.com
I just can't get enough of Pt. Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel.
www.yosemitecollection.com
The thing I don't get about the "can't photograph the Golden Gate Bridge" rumor is: How would you stop someone? It's a bloody big hunk of steel and you can see it for miles and miles.
As a one time resident of the Bay Area, who has lived in the midwest for the past 42 years, I would say just point your camera anywhere. ;-)
Thanks to all of the posters for the helpful feedback. Lots of great suggestions. I'm happy the Golden Gate prohibition is mythical, I've wanted to shoot that for years.
Ron, maybe I will run into you on the coast. My buddy and I are also planning a photo trek down the same stretch of coastline sometime during the first week of April. I'm doing 4x5, and he's doing 35mm/digital. Should be fun!
Steve, I'm going with a friend as well. We hit the coast after five days in Yosemite. We'll be south of San Fran from 15 to 18 April. I'll email you closer to that time and perhaps we can shoot together.
Another great beach spot in San Francisco itself is Lands End beach. To get there you take Geary Boulevard west toward the Pacific. Just before it drops downhill by the Cliff House, you'll see a parking lot on the right. Pull in and park. If they're done with the path maintenance, you can go down to the remains of the old Sutro Baths and walk around. You can get some nice shots of Seal Rock and the surf coming in. Back up at the parking lot, there is a path leading away through the trees at the opposite end from which you entered. Follow this path, which winds along the clifftops, below the Veterans Administration hospital. You'll walk for maybe half a mile or so. On the left, there is a staircase that leads down to the beach at Lands End. The staircase is rather twisty and fairly steep, and there are a few spots where you have to duck a bit to get under some low-hanging tree trunks. You'll emerge onto a very rocky beach, with a bunch of washed up storm debris in the back. There are wonderful distant views of the Golden Gate bridge, and some spectacular cliffs and rocks. If you go very early in the morning, you can get down there while it is still foggy and get the surf surging around the rocks in the fog. There is also the ruin of a WW-II vintage lookout post that has fallen down the side of the hill, and is now covered with brilliantly colorful graffitti.
Baker beach is a good place to photograph the bridge, as it is right at the foot of the bridge on the pacific side. Just a word of warning though - the end of Baker Beach closest to the bridge is the nude section. Bringing your camera there may be at best looked upon with discomfort and suspicion. Not a problem if you go in lousy weather, but if you go in nice sunny weather, you may find the park rangers coming up to you and asking you what you're doing and maybe even to please leave.
When photographing on the coast, NEVER turn your back on the ocean. It is very beautiful, but it is also very powerful, very cold, and unpredictable. Each year several people are swept away and killed by rogue waves or riptides. Others are injured by falling on slippery rocks.
Admire and enjoy, but always be aware, and respect the power of the ocean.
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