San Fran for the holidays...

Thirdfox

Finally arrived in San Fran after 2 days 12 hours on the greyhound bus (that was both so great and tortuous at the same time).

Eating Chinese food in Chinatown (best in US)... makes it all worthwhile.

Sorry about my arm in the shot - but I couldn't block the reflections with anything else...



Will be going whale watching tomorrow (fingers crossed for grey whales!)

Thirdfox

And a cheeky shot taken from the bus in the Californian desert:

Cabaal

I'm looking forward to more shots

Click Clicky

Thirdfox, whatever you do, make sure you to the tour of the USS Pampanito WWII submarine down on the pier. It's incredible.

le_girl

Love that first photo.

Are you going whale watching in Monterey? I hope you get clear weather and some friendly whales. I just got shots of some humpbacks tails from afar. When my brother went though, the whales were breaching and coming right up beside the boat (though it was very foggy for them, we got great weather). Can't wait to see pics from your trip.

You might already know about this but this site has a record of recent sightings from trips in the area: http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com/slstcurr.htm

Also, House of Nanking in Chinatown FTW. Yum.

Pivot_Al

That first photo is fabulous

Thirdfox

New photo - classic icon of SF (and I'm sure hundreds of photographers have stood on exactly the same spot as me to take this shot ) though maybe not with infrared :P



Though while there I also managed to photograph wild hummingbirds!!! And a F-18 fighter jet passing by over the bridge...

AnimalRights

SF golden bridge looks so original in B+W format....
Great photo.

Thirdfox

Click Clicky wrote: »

Thirdfox, whatever you do, make sure you to the tour of the USS Pampanito WWII submarine down on the pier. It's incredible.

Is it very good? I was indecisive about whether to go or not... I might pop down when I do the Alcatraz tour.

le_girl wrote: »

Love that first photo.

Are you going whale watching in Monterey? I hope you get clear weather and some friendly whales. I just got shots of some humpbacks tails from afar. When my brother went though, the whales were breaching and coming right up beside the boat (though it was very foggy for them, we got great weather). Can't wait to see pics from your trip.

You might already know about this but this site has a record of recent sightings from trips in the area: http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com/slstcurr.htm

Also, House of Nanking in Chinatown FTW. Yum.

I was going to go...until I found out where Monterey is located that's a bit too far for me I'm afraid - so it looks like no whale watching this time round...

preilly79

lucky you! If you're mobile there's some things I'd recommend:
Monterey aquarium, Monterey

Muir Woods/beach, just over the golden gate in Marin county.

Hearst castle, San Simeon

Yosemite (if the road is passable at this time of year)

Mono Lake, Lee Vining.

Bodie, north of Lee Vining.

preilly79

Oops. Those photos are larger than expected! Oh, and have a ball!

Thirdfox

AnimalRights wrote: »

SF golden bridge looks so original in B+W format....
Great photo.

Thanks - and here's a totally unexpected bonus (almost better for me than the bridge itself... I was taking that infra-red photo when I saw a little thing buzzing around... turns out it was a red-crested hummingbird! I've never seen a wild hummingbird before and you can imagine how quickly I switched my short prime to my telephoto to try and catch it (they move so bloody quickly!)) But ultimately I got this shot:



May not be technically very good but I am so happy I got this shot - I may never see wild hummingbirds ever again

Thirdfox

preilly79 wrote: »

Oops. Those photos are larger than expected! Oh, and have a ball!

Thanks for the tips - and great photos (especially of the lake - very calm and relaxing, great colours too). But I think I'll be kinda stuck in SF itself (I can't drive so no hiring cars).

mervifwdc

Alcatraz is a super trip/visit, but it's probably less photographic than you might think. I'd still go. You get to wander about, and you can get shots of the bridge and the city from there.

be sure to bring the tripod, I'm not 100% sure if you can use it there or not.

Check out the tram museum. it's on the tram routes somewhere, and should have some very cool shots. I'd no camera when I visited it, and I'm very sorry I did'nt.

Merv.

Thirdfox

I was thinking of doing the night tour - bay by moonlight (and of course the spooky tour itself should be fun - even without the photography).

Oh and some helpful Americans have identified the hummingbird as a "Anna's Hummingbird" - just as an idea of size they weight 4 grammes - so tiny little things!

Pinarello

Hey Thirdfox,
Definately do the Alcatraz tour.I did it whilst there 3 years ago and thought it was brilliant.Do the audio tour whilst there,it's well worth it.I wasn't into cameras when i was there but saw plenty of people using DSLR's so it shouldn't be a problem.Alcatraz is now a national park so plenty of opportunities for photo's.Enjoy every minute of it mate....;)

AnimalRights

I did the 'joy tour from 83-87.

pete4130

I'm in LA right now thirdfox. I'm supposed to be heading up to SF in a day or so. PM me and you never know, we might get to bump into each other!????

Thirdfox

AnimalRights wrote: »

I did the 'joy tour from 83-87.

? 'joy tour?

pete4130 wrote: »

I'm in LA right now thirdfox. I'm supposed to be heading up to SF in a day or so. PM me and you never know, we might get to bump into each other!????

How's LA? I was going to go there until my SF friends convinced me to go to up a bit more north instead I did pass through on a greyhound bus - got a picture of the city, the sign and amazingly a picture of the infamous scientology centre/hotel for celebrities...

Thirdfox

Panoramic after a 2 hour trek uphill... in the rain... getting honked at by people in cars...



...It was worth it (even with the rain).

Thirdfox

Went back to the bridge tonight and this gorgeous fog rolled in...


...the view looking back


...the view in front

It was the first time I wish I had a 5D MkII or a D700 etc. with a 24-70 f2.8 to adequately capture the image that my eyes could see...so spectacularly beautiful.