Pastel-icious Bridge-ilicious

It's not common to get both low fog and high thin clouds at the Golden Gate Bridge. In fact, I had been waiting for these perfect conditions for 5 years, starting in 2011. The perfect conditions happen every few years; I remember seeing a photo from Alan Chan that had both, but I had clearly missed all of these occasions. Thankfully a co-worker happened to post that there was low fog at the bridge at 9:30pm the night before. When I checked the Escaype app and saw a 100% of epic sunrise, I knew I had to go to bed and then wake up for this sunrise. It wasn't to be missed! I botched my wake-up time and ended up missing the perfect blue-hour conditions that I had so desperately wanted. But I did make it there in time to catch the peak burn in the clouds as the sun rose. The gate to Hawk Hill was closed and the area was packed with photographers but I managed to race up, on foot, to the Hill. Along the way I ran into some friends at the "Thread the Needle" spot and I stopped here to catch my breath. I grabbed my long lens and captured this photo of the low fog, the bridge, and the city, before continuing to race on up the hill. I loved the way the orange pastel colors in the sky contrast with the blue colors of the fog, with the red bridge sticking up in between. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: 135mm, f/13, 2 sec, ISO 100

Pastelicious Bridgealicious

Pillow Full of Fire

I first started chasing low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2011. At first it didn't matter what the sky looked like, as long as the fog was so low that the top of the bridge towers could be seen. Then I started to get pickier: I wanted the fog so low that it was just at the level of the deck of the bridge. And of course, then I wanted the ultimate: low fog *and* beautiful high thin clouds. I've photographed low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge many times. I've also photographed beautiful sunrises there; one thing I had never photographed was both at the same time. For 5 years all of us have watched, waited, and prayed it would happen. I spent Friday evening celebrating 7 years of friendship with Sammi; we went out to dinner, got drinks, and relaxed with a movie. I happened to check my work messages and saw one of my coworkers post that there was log fog at the Golden Gate Bridge. I partially ignored it - I was having a good time and I didn't need to go for yet-another fog day. At 1am, debating if I should stay up playing games, I happened to check my Escaype app and noticed it was a 100% chance of a beautiful sunrise with 0% chance of it being ruined. The perfect conditions! I better get to bed! In my race to get to bed I completely botched my calculation for when I needed to wake up. When I finally woke up at 4:30am I realized my mistake - I was going to miss the conditions I had waited so many years for. Thankfully no cops were waiting to pull me over as I raced along the highway, clearly breaking the speed limit. Looking to my right as I drove, I noticed the pre-sunrise burn had already started. I was missing my conditions! I arrived at Hawk Hill just before the clouds burst into peak color, ran up the hill and started firing away. I had missed the blue hour conditions that I so desperately wanted but did manage to capture this. Oh well - guess I'll just need to wait another 5 years and not sleep through it next time! Pretty much every photographer I knew was there too. It was great seeing you all and reveling its beauty! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 36mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 100

Pillow Full of Fire

I first started chasing low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2011. At first it didn't matter what the sky looked like, as long as the fog was so low that the top of the bridge towers could be seen. Then I started to get pickier: I wanted the fog so low that it was just at the level of the deck of the bridge. And of course, then I wanted the ultimate: low fog *and* beautiful high thin clouds. I've photographed low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge many times. I've also photographed beautiful sunrises there; one thing I had never photographed was both at the same time. For 5 years all of us have watched, waited, and prayed it would happen. I spent Friday evening celebrating 7 years of friendship with Sammi; we went out to dinner, got drinks, and relaxed with a movie. I happened to check my work messages and saw one of my coworkers post that there was log fog at the Golden Gate Bridge. I partially ignored it - I was having a good time and I didn't need to go for yet-another fog day. At 1am, debating if I should stay up playing games, I happened to check my Escaype app and noticed it was a 100% chance of a beautiful sunrise with 0% chance of it being ruined. The perfect conditions! I better get to bed! In my race to get to bed I completely botched my calculation for when I needed to wake up. When I finally woke up at 4:30am I realized my mistake - I was going to miss the conditions I had waited so many years for. Thankfully no cops were waiting to pull me over as I raced along the highway, clearly breaking the speed limit. Looking to my right as I drove, I noticed the pre-sunrise burn had already started. I was missing my conditions! I arrived at Hawk Hill just before the clouds burst into peak color, ran up the hill and started firing away. I had missed the blue hour conditions that I so desperately wanted but did manage to capture this. Oh well - guess I'll just need to wait another 5 years and not sleep through it next time! Pretty much every photographer I knew was there too. It was great seeing you all and reveling its beauty! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 36mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 100