Golden Gate
Nov, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This is the view from Battery Spencer in Sausalito, California. I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life but this was my first time visiting this location. Also my first time shooting the Golden Gate at night up close.Time
I arrived around 9:00 pm with some friends. It's was a short walk from the street to the cliffs and you can see the top of the bridge as you make your way up the hill. Then you see the bridge and the lights of the city in the background. It's an incredible view. Patches of low clouds and fog were rapidly rolling over over the bridge making the whole scene even more visually impressive.Lighting
I was still getting the hang of night time shooting and it took several shots before I found the right shutter speed and camera settings to get a decent image of the scene without the photos coming out too dark or too bright.Equipment
I took this with a Nikon D5300 and Nikor 18-55mm lens along with a tripod. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
This was one of a few locations in the area that we visited that night. I was the rookie who was along for the ride. I was taking shots of everything that looked interesting if only for the practice. At this location, the view was practically made for photographing the bridge so it was a no brainer but I did move around a lot trying to find the perfect spot for a good shot.Editing
I made adjustments with lightroom to bring out the colors since even with good settings what the camera captures doesn't always match what the eye sees. I also used photoshop to remove a few troublesome lens flares.In my camera bag
Camera, extra betteries, my $20 Amazon tripod, trail mix, and a bottle of water.Feedback
Take as many shots as you can, move around, try different angles, try different settings, be experimental. Especially if you're a new photographer. I've had a several shots turn out really well almost on accident this way. It's also important with longer exposure shots to be patient and wait for a good moment to start taking the photo. With this one, for example, I waited for enough cars to start crossing the bridge in order to capture the light streaks from their tail and headlights along with waiting until the low clouds and fog passed over the bridge towers in an interesting way.
