It's blue and the fog is delicious! There's smoke in the air from a fire an hour south.

As we watched during blue hour, the fog height rose and fell a smidge. Here it fell a bit and the rest of the deck started to come alive. The smoke is also starting to catch some color as the sun gets closer to rising.

As we watched during blue hour, the fog height rose and fell a smidge. Here it fell a bit and the rest of the deck started to come alive. The smoke is also starting to catch some color as the sun gets closer to rising.

Karl the Smokey Bear

San Francisco is known for its foggy days. It’s almost as if the seasons are flipped: it’s coldest during the summer when high fog blocks the sun, and warmest during the winter when the fog stays away and the sun is able to warm the entire city. The fog that photographers love to chase is very finicky. Getting one day of low fog during the summer is pretty rare, but in July we got 2 days, back-to-back! That was pretty cool, especially since it was summer fog. Willie and I made our way to Hawk Hill (yet again, ugh, I’m getting so bored of Hawk Hill). There was some smoke from a nearby fire that caught a bit of light as the sun rose. I love waiting for the fog to dissipate a bit and expose the deck of the bridge. The 30 second long exposure, combined with the car and bridge lights make the entire bridge glow. I also prefer to get to the Golden Gate Bridge well ahead of sunrise, during “Blue Hour”, when the lights of the city and bridge are still visible and the color of the sky matches that of the fog. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 48mm, f/10, 30 sec, ISO 250

Karl the Smokey Bear

San Francisco is known for its foggy days. It’s almost as if the seasons are flipped: it’s coldest during the summer when high fog blocks the sun, and warmest during the winter when the fog stays away and the sun is able to warm the entire city. The fog that photographers love to chase is very finicky. Getting one day of low fog during the summer is pretty rare, but in July we got 2 days, back-to-back! That was pretty cool, especially since it was summer fog. Willie and I made our way to Hawk Hill (yet again, ugh, I’m getting so bored of Hawk Hill). There was some smoke from a nearby fire that caught a bit of light as the sun rose. I love waiting for the fog to dissipate a bit and expose the deck of the bridge. The 30 second long exposure, combined with the car and bridge lights make the entire bridge glow. I also prefer to get to the Golden Gate Bridge well ahead of sunrise, during “Blue Hour”, when the lights of the city and bridge are still visible and the color of the sky matches that of the fog. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 48mm, f/10, 30 sec, ISO 250

Peaking Out

Landscape photographers don’t get much sleep and come October, there are many early morning wake-up calls to see if we can photograph low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s not common to have early wake-up calls in July, when Karl the Fog is normally very high. However, for 2 days in July 2016, I spent my mornings in the Marin Headlands photographing the Golden Gate Bridge. On the first morning, Willie and I drove to the bridge to find the fog sitting at just the perfect level: deck level. The kind of stuff we wake up early for and get really excited. Most of the bridge is visible but the fog sits right at the deck of the bridge ... quite a sight! We arrived a bit early and the scene was still pretty dark and while waiting for things to get a bit brighter, I threw on the telephoto lens and took a couple photos of just the North Tower of the bridge. I loved the way it stuck its way out from the fog, while the Bay Bridge, with its display of lights, quietly sits in the background. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 170mm, f/11, 30 sec, ISO 250

I love it when the fog just sits at the deck of the bridge, with most of the towers sticking out and the colorful span of the bridge dissecting through the fog. The city peaks out in the background and you can't help but enjoy the sunrise!

I love it when the fog just sits at the deck of the bridge, with most of the towers sticking out and the colorful span of the bridge dissecting through the fog. The city peaks out in the background and you can't help but enjoy the sunrise!

BIG photo prints are all the rage these days, so whenever I can I throw on my telephoto lens and try to take a multi-photo panorama. Here we have a 140 megapixel rendering of low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge

BIG photo prints are all the rage these days, so whenever I can I throw on my telephoto lens and try to take a multi-photo panorama. Here we have a 135 megapixel rendering of low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge

As the sun rose, the clouds started to pick up more color

Smoke from a nearby fire caused some "clouds" that picked up a bit of color from the rising sun

G'morning low fog!