San Francisco, CA (Part 1)

I recently visited San Francisco because I had something to do there. I also brought my camera that trip. So I am here to show you what I got. I visited the Mission District (1 photo) and the rest of my photos are from the Powell Street area and Chinatown. All the photos (except for the Mission District one which I just hand held) where stabilized using the Joby Gorillapod Focus.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best daytime work of 2013 in San Francisco, use this link. To see all of the photos from this trip to San Francisco, use this link.

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Photo taken near the 24th Street/Mission Street BART station. This was my only shot from the Mission District. A lot of street art on the walls. 

GAP store near the Powell Street BART station.

Powell Street (walking toward Chinatown).

Another BART station on Powell Street near a Walgreen's. 

Black and White Process

Shooting down Grant Avenue near a Wells Fargo. 

Photo from Grant Avenue. 

Intersection of California Street and Stockton Street. To shoot these photos, I waited for the walk sign to light up, and I quickly ran into the middle of the street, level my camera, and take a shot. Risky, but the results are worth it. :)

Intersection of California Street and Stockton Street.

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them.  Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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The Embarcadero (San Francisco, CA)

Four days ago, I had some things to do in San Francisco. I thought I might as well take along my camera and use the opportunity for some photos. Here are the photos I took. :) This blog post is on the photos I took at the Embarcadero Waterfront. After Chinatown, I decided to drive to Pier 7. I then decided I might as well walk along the Embarcadero from Pier 7 and see if there is better photography places. I ended up walking all the way to Rincon Park which is almost right under the Bay Bridge. Sure was a walk! It also tired me out a lot, but I did get some nice photos.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best day time shots of San Francisco, use this link. To view all of my photos from that photowalk, use this link.

Parts: Treasure Island Sunset | San Francisco Street Photography | The Embarcadero | 

I shot all of these photos with the help of my Joby Gorillapod Focus. Since my trip wasn't mainly for photography, I decided to ditch my super bulky tripod, for something a bit more light for this trip. The tripod is very steady and you can pretty much set it anywhere. Also great for some of those low angle shots. :) I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a  Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens, so the set up isn't that lightweight either. If you are considering on buying one, it is a great tripod. Just one complaint is the quick release area that attaches to the ball head, the screw loosens up after a while so you do have to retighten it using a hex key. Once the screw loosens, the camera does wobble a bit on the tripod, but it won't fall off, and you can kind of "compensate" for it when framing up your shot. I don't find it too annoying, but the hex key is 1 extra thing you have to pack in your bag.

These first 2 photos were shot from Pier 7. This is a photo of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge from the end of Pier 7. The piers are is a great place for the Joby Gorillapod Focus as you can attach it to the railings of the pier. That is how I shot most of these pier photos. 

This is a photo of the San Francisco Belle from Pier 7.  

These next 2 photos are from Pier 14. This one is of the pier. I just set my Joby Gorillapod Focus on the ground for this shot. It made a really nice low angle shot of the pier. 

 This is a photo of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge from the end of Pier 14.

The next 3 photos are from Rincon Park which is almost under the Bay Bridge. This sculpture you see here is called Cupid's Span. To take this shot, I set my Joby Gorillapod Focus on a parking meter on the side of the road. Great use of parking meters right? :P

 This is a photo of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge from Rincon Park. There were some large flat areas in the railing for the park that I was able to set my Joby Gorillapod Focus on. 

Before I end this blog post, I wish to share a sad story with all of you guys. This happened on my walk back to Pier 7 from Rincon Park. Near Rincon Park, I saw a homeless man first talk to a trash can, walked away from it about 500 feet, turned around and said "Oh I'll be fine. I'll be fine." He then started to "stroke the hair of a non-existent person". I did start walking faster away from him, but part of me can't help but feel sad no one can help him out. He obviously has psychiatric disorders. This country is not doing enough to help individuals like this. Sadly, I doubt individuals like these even know they are mentally ill, and even if they do, I doubt the know where to get help if there is any. 

These are all the photos for today and for this San Francisco trip, I hope you have enjoyed them. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Treasure Island Sunset | San Francisco Street Photography | The Embarcadero | 

Sunset From Treasure Island, CA

Two days ago, I had some things to do in San Francisco. I thought I might as well take along my camera and use the opportunity for some photos. Here are the photos I took. :) This blog post has the sunset photos I took on Treasure Island on my way home. I decided to post these first because today is #SunsetSunday and #CityscapeSunday.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best sunset and night shots of San Francisco, use this link. To view all of my photos from that photowalk, use this link.

Parts: Treasure Island Sunset | San Francisco Street Photography | The Embarcadero | 

I shot all of these photos with the help of my Joby Gorillapod Focus. Since my trip wasn't mainly for photography, I decided to ditch my super bulky tripod, for something a bit more light for this trip. The tripod is very steady and you can pretty much set it anywhere. Also great for some of those low angle shots which I will be showing you in a future post. :) I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a  Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens, so the set up isn't that lightweight either. If you are considering on buying one, it is a great tripod. Just one complaint is the quick release area that attaches to the ball head, the screw loosens up after a while so you do have to retighten it using a hex key. Once the screw loosens, the camera does wobble a bit on the tripod, but it won't fall off, and you can kind of "compensate" for it when framing up your shot. I don't find it too annoying, but the hex key is 1 extra thing you have to pack in your bag.

 Sunset over the new span of the Bay Bridge. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 49 00 N 122 22 11 W  

I noticed that my shadow was in the image, so I set my camera on self timer and walked back a few steps. There happened to be a few barrels used for a small "fence" there. On the left you can see the shadow of my camera on my Joby Gorillapod Focus.  

 I walked a bit past the fence to an area where I can get a clear shot of the new span of the Bay Bridge without much view of the shore of Treasure Island. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 49 01 N 122 22 07 W

I go to a different location and take a few shots of sunset over San Francisco. On the left is the Bay Bridge and on the right is the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 48 57 N 122 22 18 W   

Zoomed in a bit on the Bay Bridge and took a shot.  

 Zoomed in on the Golden Gate Bridge. A ship happened to be approaching San Francisco. Alcatraz Island is also visible and is at the 2/3 mark from the left.

 I ran back to the Bay Bridge photo spot and shot off another 2 shots as the sunset lighting changed. 

 Here is the other photo of the new span of the Bay Bridge.

The sun goes below the horizon.  

 Another photo of the Bay Bridge facing San Francisco.

The sun disappears for the day. 

These are all the photos for today, I hope you have enjoyed them. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Treasure Island Sunset | San Francisco Street Photography | The Embarcadero | 

Foster City Independence Day 2013 (Event Photos Part 2)

Independence Day, or Fourth of July, is a federal holiday where Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 4th, 1776 which declared the US independence from Great Britain. Many Americans (and non-Americans) celebrate by shooting off and watching fireworks, having barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, political speeches, and many other activities. I spent the 2013 4th of July in Leo J. Ryan Park at Foster City, CA. I took photos of the fireworks, the event, and some scenery. I will be splitting the photos of this event into several blog posts. If you would like to see 2012 (last year) fireworks show in Foster City, you can check it out here.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. If you are interested, please select one of the links below.

• Foster City 4th of July 2013 (Best Photos)
• Foster City 4th of July 2013 (All Photos)

Parts: Fireworks | Seagulls | Event Photos Part 1 | Event Photos Part 2 | Long Exposures and Sunset Part 1 | Long Exposures and Sunset Part 2 | 

Today I have the rest of the photos of the event at Leo Ryan Park. Sunset and long exposure photos coming up next time.

People walking around and waiting around for fireworks. A kid dipping their feet into Central Lake, splashing the water. 

Instead of carrying my giant tripod setup with me through the crowded event, I decided to put my new Joby Gorillapod Focus to use. I bent the tripod into a make-shift shoulder rig used in video to stabilize my shots. People were pointing and shouting that my set up looked really cool, or gave the look this guy did. XD While it isn't the smallest set up, it does do a pretty good job and I managed to pull a 1/60th exposure on a non-stabilized lens with no motion blur at all. I had to show you guys this image because the guys expression is priceless. LOOL

Another photo at around the same spot. At the event, many stands were set up selling food. 

Another photo of people at the event. 

More photos of people at the event. 

Remember how people were setting up the stage for a live performance in the post I showed you guys yesterday? The performance started and I took a few shots of the performers performing at the amphitheatre.

A few more shots of a different performer at the amphitheatre.

A few more shots of a different performer at the amphitheatre.

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will post the long exposures and sunset photos I took at the event. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Fireworks | Seagulls | Event Photos Part 1 | Event Photos Part 2 | Long Exposures and Sunset Part 1 | Long Exposures and Sunset Part 2 |