You have to be blind to have not seen the gazillion photos of the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary on May 27, 2012. The GGB is a special structure for many of the local San Francisco photographers and although I don't get up here as much as I'd like, I always admire the beauty of not only the bridge, but the landscape in which it was built into. Knowing that parking would be limited and photographers would be out for this special celebration I arrived early (9 hours early or so) with Zack and Wilson and hiked to the top of Slacker Hill. Shortly after Jave, Alan, Jared, Carl, and Toby showed up and a number of photographers followed. During the time we waited we hung out, got to know each other, grilled some sausages, and eventually started debating if there was a better spot for the fireworks. Alan disappeared and when he came back he swore that there was a better spot. So off Jared, Alan, and I go, down a steep hill and over to a bunker that was lower, further west, and hopefully had a better view. While "better" may be relative, we all decided to stay and shoot from this location instead of the normal Slacker Hill composition. We had some time to kill before the fireworks and as the sun set and blue hour began I could hear photographers all around me firing away. The color in the sky was behind us but blue hour is always pretty when you're looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. BY the time blue hour began I noticed a lot of boats had gotten into position waiting for the fireworks to start. I thought they might pose an interesting subject for a photo so I dialed the ISO down, set the aperture to f/13 for some decent light-stars, and clicked away. It took 90 seconds to get the exposure right and in that time the boats moved all around, creating an interesting abstract effect of color, movement, and an almost semi-firework in the water. I have another photo with much sharper boats (at a higher ISO and faster shutter) but I thought this was much more interesting. Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 24mm, f/13, 90 sec, ISO 250, Tripod No filters used because I was too lazy. I under-exposed slightly to keep the sky from blowing out and then pulled the rest of the photo up.

For most people living in the SF Bay Area, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of those beautiful things that always takes our breath away, no matter how many times you can see it. For photographers, it holds an even deeper appreciation as we both love the challenge and beauty and hate frustration of not getting "the shot". Interestingly, despite living only 30 minutes from San Francisco, I first learned about the 75th Birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge while reading the Alaska Airlines magazine on the way home from my trip to Kauai. The plan was to honor the Golden Gate Bridge with a day of festivities and a fireworks display to finish off the birthday celebration. There were a lot of decisions that went into trying to capture the GGB fireworks: which side of the bridge do I want to be on, which location on that side of the bridge, how are we going to get there, how early do we get there, do I try to meet up with other photographers, etc. I know that I wanted to be on the Marin side, placing the San Francisco city lights in the background, and that I wanted to be high up, above any fog that might roll in. After emails went around with a number of photographers it sounded like a good number of us would be at Slacker Hill. I ended up meeting up with Wilson Ng and my buddy Zack and we left my apartment almost 11 hours before the fireworks were set to go off! We didn't know what parking would be like and we didn't want to risk missing the show! The drive to Slacker Hill was actually quite easy, despite a small detour after finding the main road up was closed. Parking was also easy at that hour: people were coming and going and spots opened up immediately. We huffed and puffed with all our gear: cameras, tripods, food, chairs, beers, extra clothes, etc, and got to the top. Shortly after we arrived, Jave, Alan, and Jared showed up and decided to grill up some amazingly delicious hot-dogs while we waited. A number of other guys, some from a G+ group, also showed up, and then went off in search of greener pastures. As we waited a number of people noticed there was a bunker a bit closer to the Bridge. off they went to check it out, and when they came back, half the photographers with us took off for the bunker. Shortly after that Alan and Jared decided they were gonna head there to. After a long debate I decided to join them and raced off after them. So much for Slacker Hill! This spot, which was closer to the bridge and further to the west had a better vantage of the city, but it was also more susceptible to fog and was an unknown, as none of us had shot it. An hour and a half more of waiting, a beer run back up the super steep hill, and some more waiting and the show finally began! Boy were the fireworks incredible! Not only did they launch from a barge, but they also launched from above and below the bridge! It was quite the spectacular show and a fitting way to celebrate the Golden Gate's 75th birthday! The Golden Gate Bridge is near and dear to many of us -- we've had some wonderful times, and some frustrating times with her, but like me, many of us continue to have our breaths taken away each time we see her. Happy Birthday old girl! Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 40mm, f/9, 3.3 sec, ISO 200, Tripod