Posted on by Anne Sandler · 12 Comments

24 hours: San Francisco

The California Academy of Sciences, in Golden Gate Park, is more than a museum. It’s a planetarium, a rain forest, and aquarium and natural history museum. Yes, it is a museum, and Linda and I wanted to visit. But we knew it would take us all day to get through it, so we decided to stay overnight at the Ft. Mason Hostel (Once again in a private bedroom.).

Our plan for this adventure was to leave early in the morning, visit some sights, get to the Hostel in the evening and go to the Academy the next morning. That first day our road trip took us to Tiburon, where we had lunch and enjoyed the small town; Sausalito where we shot the Golden Gate Bridge; and to the Sutro Baths in San Francisco.

Given that itinerary, I think this will be a two part post. Remembering that we are seniors, me more than Linda, we packed a lot in. However, we were tired at night and didn’t venture out for night photography.

I had a great time. I was more at ease with my photography than I was during our previous trip. Again, we found fog in San Francisco. I’m still amazed at how fast it moves across the vistas. In less than 5 minutes, you can be shooting in fog, mild fog and no fog.

Let’s begin with Tiburon and end with the Sutro Baths. The next post will have images from the California Academy of Sciences.

Tiburon.
This fountain turns slowly, changing shadows and reflections.
The Bay Bridge and Alcatraz Island.
The shoreline.
Looking across the bay at San Francisco.
A fisherman.
The hillside homes.
A visitor wades in the surf.
I loved the stairs and flowers at this house.
Sausalito and the Golden Gate in fog.
Less fog from this angle.
The remnants of the Sutro Baths.
Another view.
We didn’t walk down into the cave. Maybe next time.
The water crashing the rocks.
The shoreline at the Sutro Baths.
Trees in fog on the way down.
Wildflowers were everywhere on the trail.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

On the road again: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

After a day of driving and shooting, seeing most of what Linda wanted, we decided to visit Golden Gate Park the following day. I’ve been there many times to museums, but have never walked through the gardens. With 1,017 acres, Golden Gate Park is larger than New York City’s Central Park. 

Admission, I lived in New York City for 10 years and never went to Manhattan or Central Park. You can see NYC through the eyes and lens of Sherry Felix, artist and photographer, at www.port4u.net. So I really can’t compare the two urban parks on either side of the country. But, Golden Gate Park rocks with it’s many museums and gardens.

We began with the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, then the Japanese Friendship Garden and then finished up with the Conservatory of Flowers. Admission to each of these were reasonable, and they were beautiful in their own way. I can’t say that I liked one over the others.

We then drove down to the Presidio. Needless to say, we were tired when we got back to the hostel. We had dinner at their cafe, rested and then walked around the hostel grounds. It was beautiful there, being on the water.

The most difficult part of this post is selecting the pictures to show you. The Botanical Gardens represented many countries in its boundaries; the Friendship Garden brought us to a Japanese landscape and the Conservatory showed us formal gardens and different flowers.

So enjoy it through my lens, and make sure you visit Golden Gate Park when you visit San Francisco. My next post will show you some of the Presidio, the Aquarium Of The Bay and a good-bye to the Golden Gate.

 

Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Friendship Garden
Friendship Garden
Friendship Garden
Friendship Garden
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Conservatory of Flowers
Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

When life hands you lemons; shoot anyway: Rodeo Beach, Golden Gate National Recreation Area

We weren’t exactly handed lemons at our Rodeo Beach visit, but the dead seal, dog poop and crustacean pieces didn’t help create an atmosphere for beauty on the beach. I just decided to make the best of it, wait for the sunset and do the best shooting I could do. After all, the beach itself was nice.

But then, my shooting was hampered when I needed to clean the inside of the filter on my main lens. I couldn’t unscrew the filter and neither could three other photographers. So the day’s shooting was done with my 300 mm telephoto and ultra wide lenses. I enjoyed the day, meeting two great gals I carpooled with and more from the Meetup group, Exploring Photography.

When 29 photographers get on a small patch of beach, it can get crowded; but, everyone cooperated. I would go up to photo enthusiasts and ask them what they were shooting, what they were using, etc. In the end, the fog made the sunset less than spectacular, giving us an orange glow before it went behind the fog bank.

Life may have handed us lemons, but we did shoot and I did get some very good images.