San Francisco - Mass Transit only, where to go?

[Bob Salomon]

Got any photos of that??
How'd you carry it all?

After sifting through some gear I have decided my current backpacks are too small or too big so I bought a new medium sized pack for this trip. Going to shove my Chamonix and 4 lenses in it along with my Leica and a few lenses so I can do it all. Maybe the TravelWide too just in case.

Technorama on my shoulder and the rest in the largest Domke case. Everything was shot on slide film, mostly 35mm and 66. None have been scanned though.

[Vaughn]

If you get over to the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point under the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is quite nice to explore -- some good shapes inside and out. The top of the fort can be breezy -- but I managed this image of the bridge with an 8x10 (300mm, w/ adapter to get two 4x10s) in a stiff breeze! And even managed to use an 11x14 once by tucking behind a stairwell!

[Corran]

GG Bridge is definitely on my to-do list. Nice photo!

[John Kasaian]

Don't forget Fort Point below the GG South anchorage.

[Preston]

From Dublin it's a pretty quick drive into gold country and the high Sierra. Head out 580 to either highway 4 or highway 108 (or do the tourist thing and take highway 120 to Yosemite). Check out the gold rush town of Columbia off highway 49, or keep heading up into the spectacular Sierra. You can be in some remarkable wilderness in less than three hours drive from Dublin.

Bryan, if you decide to head into the Foothills a nice loop is Sonora to Columbia State Historical Park and then up HWY 4 to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. You can then head down HWY 4 to Murphys and Angels Camp. Continue west on HWY 4 to Stockton and back to the Bay area. If you decide to come to Columbia, shoot me a PM and lets see if we can meet up.

Regarding travel into the Sierra in December: If you want to go to Yosemite or higher up 108 you will need to carry chains (required in Yosemite). Yosemite is gorgeous right after a snowfall, so if you keep an eye on the Yosemite forecast and are flexible, a quick trip to Yosemite Valley can be rewarding.
--P

[drew.saunders]

...
Japanese Tea Gardens
...
Les

A little known "bonus" of the Japanese Tea Garden is that admission is free on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-10AM. It's also quite empty that early, so you'll have better luck with a tripod. http://japaneseteagardensf.com/visit.php

The De Young museum nearby is closed on Mondays, so there may be a lot fewer people around that part of the park if you do go on a Monday.

[Drew Wiley]

By all means find a car! BART will get you into downtown SF, and in connection to bus lines there, but otherwise leave you isolated from all kinds of things within a stone's throw of where you'll be staying. If you want rural winter stuff, Sunol Regional Park slightly to the south is rocks n' trees paradise -some of the biggest blue oaks in the world, and a lovely gorge up the creek with all kinds of rocks. Las Trampas park is directly west with a long limestone ridge. Dominating the skyline the other way is Mt Diablo State Park, with all kinds of neat rock formations. Yeah, lots of people ride bicycles up there, but it is almost a four-thousand foot grade. Three gorgeous Regional Parks lie on the south side of Mt Diablo with plenty of solitude. Otherwise, Dublin is quite a distance from SF, about two hours by car unless you time the traffic carefully. If you go BART, check the holiday schedule. Pt Reyes is nice, but public transportation over there would be super-slow. Otherwise, you'll regret not having some kind of big camera. The only exception would be downtown SF on weekdays. Guess it all depends
on whether your priority is urban or rural photography. Dublin is a miserable burb with the usual shopping mall mentality. But it is surrounded with spacious parks galore, as are most of our Bay Area cities.

[tgtaylor]

The nice thing about urban areas like the San Francisco Bay Area that have a subway system is that if you have a bicycle you really don't need a car: Just bike to the nearest BART station and board with your bike. At the other end you disembark with your 2 wheeled transportation in hand and can much more efficiently tour by bicycle than by walking around hopping on and off of buses. I wouldn't take a LF camera though.

My last several such tours have been with a 645 and 35mm cameras. A 45 to 85mm AF zoom for the 645 is perfect for urban photography and a 150mm lens makes for the ideal “long” lens. Similarly a 35 to 70mm AF zoom and 105mm “macro” for the 35mm. I carried both formats because the Pentax NII doesn't have interchangeable backs and I wanted the option to shoot color negative. Pentax makes or did make soft-focus 135 and MF lens so that option is also available.

Both cameras along with a series 0 Gitzo fits nicely in a small backpack but I wouldn't want to cycle with a pack on my back. What you need is a rear rack on the bicycle and a bungee cord to secure the pack and that's it. You can comfortably tour without wearing a backpack. It may be possible to rent such a bicycle here in the bay area or you can bring your own with you for an extra fee – the last I paid was $75.

Thomas

[Corran]

Thanks Preston! I would love to go Yosemite...as a native Georgian who lived on the south side of the state for almost half his life though, driving in any kind of snow is a bit daunting. Any far-out excursion will be on the weekend with my host, which necessitates some give-and-take on the destination and effort level! I'll see what I can do.

Drew, a car would be nice, but probably not doable this time. I figured there is too much to see anyway, so maybe limiting myself to the mass transit is good in a way. Just means I need to come back .

Thomas, duly noted. LF is rarely easy to pull off on trips but boy did I miss it when I was in AZ earlier this year.

[Tin Can]

http://www.zipcar.com/find-cars/sf

I use Zipcar despite their sell out to Enterprise. Zipping for 3 years now, heck they gave me a free car November 8th. The year before, a Car, Pop-Up Drive In movies and dinner in the Loop. PR.

It has it uses, especially if you study their system and deals.

I often rent a new Sprint Cargo van overnight located close to me. 6pm to 8:30am Monday through Thursday cost is highly reduced to $35 which includes gas and 180 miles. I often find I fill it up for more $35 using their supplied gas card, so I consider it a fantastic deal.

A Sprint van will carry any amount of camera gear and my new Saltzman fit right inside. Disassembled.

Some locations, have convertibles, which are usable in Wine country. A brand new Mini Cooper convertible was the same price last year. Fun, tiny car with great headroom.

Obviously, the trick with any big city is don't drive inside it.

I usually head for Wisconsin, formerly God's Country.