C&C Golden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach

[chrisfoxdesign]

Love to hear any feedback, I know it's well-trodden photographic territory, but had to check it out. Will be returning to the location soon. Thanks!



Golden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach by chrisfoxdesign on flickr

 

[sekhar]

Well-trodden or not, that's one good looking shot! I lived there for 10 years, but never saw it like that...IMO the reflection on the beach makes it different.

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice shot, just enough illumination of the foreground to provide some contrast for the lights on the bridge. I also like the reflection of the lights off the beach. As someone who has never been there (haven't trodden it at all :mrgreen: ), I will remember this shot, should I ever go there. Can you tell us something about the technical aspects of the shot - time of day, exposure info, etc. Thanks.

WesternGuy

 

[Buckster]

Beautiful! I really miss the Bay Area.

 

[Tee]

Baker Beach is a nice place to shoot and I've found a little less populated in the evenings (but popular with swimsuit shoots during the day). Have you ever photographed from Horseshoe Bay or the Marin Headlands? If you go to Marin on a Friday or Saturday night, there would be dozens of photographers. Thanks for the photographic trip down memory lane. Like Buckster, I miss the Bay area as well.

 

[LaFoto]

I quite like this one, the reflection really makes it; I wish I'd been taken to THAT spot to view the bridge when I was in San Francisco a little over a year ago, but my hosts never took us THERE. Ah well, we had to "make San Francisco" in one day...

 

[Dave Devoid]

Really cool shot this....

 

[chrisfoxdesign]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Tee, I've not been to Horseshoe Bay yet, but a guy who was shooting last night mentioned it to me as well. Sounds like a plan.

Western Guy, on the exposure the EXIF data is here: Exif | Golden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach, San Francisco CA | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

For me it was less about the exposure settings than it was about getting to the right spot for the first time and after many exposures noticing the reflection in the receding water. It would flare up after the wave pushed the water up the beach and then dim quickly as the water drained into the sand and back down the beach. I probably shot 30 exposures trying to use the changing waterline as a leading line into the photo before I noticed the reflection. Also it got more pronounced as the sun went down and the lights on the bridge offered more contrast. I also had to do some post production on the vignetting I was getting in the lens, the geometry of the bridge towers and I adjusted the light in the shadows a good bit to get the final effect.

Also, and I can't overstate this, the camera body was a game-changer. This was shot with a Canon 6D, my first day with the camera. The low-light performance is shocking to me, almost unbelievable coming from my Nikon D70s. I'm really, really exited about this camera.

I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to manipulate all the settings, and had a lot of fuzzy shots even with the tripod on long exposures. This was one of the few moderately sharp ones, and glad it was the one with one of the better reflections. Still, I have ideas about how to make it better but the sharpness on tripod I could use some advice on if you have it.

Hope this is useful!

 

[WesternGuy]

Chris, thanks for the Exif data.

WesternGuy

 

[Tee]

Chris- Horseshoe Bay is a cool spot if only for a different perspective of the bridge that generally doesn't get shown. I prefer Baker or Marin Headlands more, but definitely check it out.

 

[Buckster]

Not trying to hijack the thread, so I'll just link only, but here's one I shot from Horseshoe Bay, to give an idea of the view from that location:

http://www.buckcash.com/images/artphotos3/GG_Bridge_0108.jpg