Under the Bridge
The night illuminated Golden Gate Bridge.
The night illuminated Golden Gate Bridge.
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Jan, 2017Views
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Awards
People's Choice in San Francisco Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Superior Skill
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was obviously taken from a viewpoint on the shore below the Golden Gate Bridge. It was taken from the north side in what is known as Fort Baker within the Golden Gate National Parks looking south towards San Francisco.Time
I shot this image around 7:30 PM on what happens to have been Valentine's Day- so mid February when the sun has long set by this hour.Lighting
Day or night, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge is incredibly photogenic. But when it is fully lit at night it takes on a different status. From below the lack of streaming car headlights passing over the bridge also gives it a stillness, betraying the actuality of the mad traffic (100k cars/day) almost constantly passing over the bridge.Equipment
This was shot with Canon 5D and Canon 24-70 mm L lens, on a tripod, without flash.Inspiration
While I lived in the Marin Headlands I tried to find something interesting to photograph every day and often turned to the nearby Golden Gate Bridge as my 'go-to' feature trying to capture it in different light, weather, moods, and sometimes as a backdrop to animals or plants. I rarely photographed the Bridge from this viewpoint at night and also rarely considered rendering such images in B&W because the Bridge and it's lights, and usually the sky, provide such rich and interesting colors.Editing
I try to make as few post-processing edits as possible and in this case converted to B&W, cropped and straightened a little, and adjusted the tones to even out blacks and whites and bring out some of the nice texture in the hillside.In my camera bag
Because I normally focus on shooting wildlife I typically carry just my 5D- now a Mark III- and one telephoto zoom lens, either Canon 100-400 L or Tamron 150-600. Most days I prefer to be light but sometimes carry my old 5D (or 20D) as back-up. When I'm out to shoot wildlife I don't even bother to carry a wide angle lens as my pocket Canon Powershot G9 and even my Lumia phone can both shoot raw files. I do sometimes use my Canon EF 24-70 L lens for landscapes (like this one) and close-ups and love my Slik tripod, but rarely have the opportunity to use it. I also toy with a circular polarizer sometimes but otherwise avoid filters. On some of the days I was shooting in the Headlands I would carry just my old 20D in case I wanted to use the built-in flash (lacking on 5Ds) for any close-up images of plants or small natural features.Feedback
Anyone could capture an image like this on the right night, at the right spot, with some decent kit.
