• Make sure to stand back and up on the hill or you will be too close and lose this the portion of the view in the rectangle above!
  • This light had just turned on, an added bonus!
  • In the full-res version, you can read this license plate.
  • I decided to go just to the edge of this house. I do have a wider view but it becomes a panorama and for this I wanted a 2x3 ratio.
  • There is a tree just to the left, so when you stand back, you can not get the panorama. But if you move forward, you drop in elevation and lost the depth in the view.
  • There is a big apartment building just to the right of here, so exclude it. It is a nice building but it is too big and dominates the photo.
  • The last rays of the sun really lit up this long cloud bank, which streaked across the sky to make this red stripe!
  • There is a path here and people were walking back and forth during this 1-minute exposure. Make sure they are moving before you begin so that they do not show up in the photo.
  • In the full-res version you can see this photo on the wall. No wonder they keep the curtains drawn!
  • I moved around to get the light in front of the dark window, to show it off.
  • Go Giants!
  • Crop suggestion, to get rid of the cars and big metal chimneys. Awesome photo anyway! - Lomacar

City Lights, Alamo Square, San Francisco, California

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I've decided to do some cityscapes of San Francisco taken during that 3-5 minute window when the daylight becomes even with the city lights. So I'll start with one of the most famous views, Alamo Square and the 'Painted Ladies.' If you're going to shoot an 'overshot' location, make it good! See below. No HDR.

Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!

See the 1200 pixel version!!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/515139815...

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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @85 (with live preview on to get it perfectly sharp)
1-minute exposure @F8 (for the finest sharpness)
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm - 4x6in) 0.9 (2 grads would make light reflection echos)
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer.
ISO 50
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod
Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol-grip ball head

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The Story
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Alamo Square and the Victorian style 'Painted Ladies' are well known photo locations. At least 6 double-decker tour buses drove by in just the 30 minutes I was there. I witnessed hundreds of photos taken as I made mine! So in order to make an image that would stand out, I had to wait for a stormy day where the clouds (behind the camera to the west) would open up right at sunset to produce dramatic light against the clouds and cityscape. You should have seen the awesome sunset happening behind me! It was difficult to ignore it, but I wanted to show the city in a brilliant red light. It made a red stripe in the clouds and painted the cityscape in purples and other soft colors. A 1-minute exposure softened the sky and ensured that none of the people and dogs playing on the grass were visible.

Yes, there were many people walking right in front of the camera, but a long exposure takes care of that. Just make sure that nobody stays stationary for more than 10-seconds. I also made a couple of 5-minute exposures with the Lee 10-stopper (very dark slide-in filter) as the last rays of sun hit the city. No trace remained of the dozens of people and dogs walking and running around.

While I was shooting, a guy from Holland walked over and we had a good time shooting and talking about things. It is amazing how photography can make instant friends!

This image is really sharp and you can see read the licence plates of the car in the driveway and see the photo hanging on the wall inside the right-most house. Also, you can see a poster for the (US Baseball) San Francisco Giants. This photo was taken during the series which they just won.

None of these houses are the location of the TV series "Full House", that house is at 1709 Broderick Street! However, the cast was filmed playing around on this grass for some scenes.

Over the winter, I'll be doing recon and shooting more cityscapes to mix it up a bit. It is hard to resist going right to the ocean (3 miles behind the camera) for seascapes when there is a good sunset, but this is the only way to get really outstandig photos of the cityscape. The best time is right after the sun sets. You get about 3-5 minutes of good light, so be ready. I'm also doing a series of photos high above the sea (2,100ft+/700m+) that are 'zoomed in' to show some nice light on the endless sea.

The map shows the exact location. Tip: Get back as far (and high) as possible to see more of the city behind the row of houses.)

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Other stuff
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My pictures are featured on the front page of the newly redesigned
The state Gov. of California website. Have a look! It is Flash with my pics cut into layers for a 3-d slideshow. If you are into building apps, the State has opened up lots of data to the public, so check it out!

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Resources:
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Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_int.html
Or Here:
www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif

Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.

www.californiacoastline.org/

Fototroll, Geoffrey Gilson, StephenCotterellPhotography, Dan Ballard Photography, and 1509 other people added this photo to their favorites.

View 20 more comments

  1. Biz Mclauchlan 9 months ago | reply

    Beautiful light capture...

  2. BSR1005 9 months ago | reply

    Beautiful shot. And, what about this one?

  3. Luigi Mirto/ArchiMlFotoWord 8 months ago | reply

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    I saw this in the 1.000+ Faves group.

  4. rokita2 7 months ago | reply

    Wonderful fantastic shot!!!

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