San Francisco Bay Area Photography

Owned and operated by NCGA (Northern California Golf Association), Poppy Ridge is a popular course for a number of NCGA related qualifiers. I played there for the second time in my short golf life on June 16th.

As beautiful as the course may appear to be, it’s a monster of a course. The tolerance level for any inaccuracy is so low that nothing but a perfectly executed shot has any chance of seeing a par for the hole.

Here is the 9th hole on Merlot - a par 5 with a severely elevated tee shot:

And the 9th hold of Chardonnay - another par 5 with hazard to the right and water to the left of the hole:

(click photo for larger view)

Spring time in Northern California. From Baker Beach, San Francisco, I saw a bed of ice plants leading to Golden Gate Bridge. I was itching to use my film camera, Nikon F4s loaded with Fuji Velvia 100 slide film, hence the over saturation and contrast.

(click photo for larger view)

Baker Beach is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. The view of Pacific Ocean, Marin Headlands and Golden Gate Bridge is simply amazing. This picture was taken in December when the sky was actually blue and the clouds were widely available.

Be sure to click on the image for a larger view.

[Click photo for larger view]

This picture was taken back in November, 2007. I was on my way to a golf tournament in Napa and saw this amazing sunrise. I barely managed to find a place to pull over and got this shot off:

Isabel is curious about night photography.  So, one night, she and I packed up our camera equipment and headed over to the Creekside Park at sunset with a hope of some wild sunset colors. . .well, it didn’t happen.  It was one of the least interesting evenings.  Nonetheless, we took some pictures and with that wonderful Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 (high contrast and saturation glass) and added contrast and saturation, we were able to produce these pictures.

Here, we were looking East towards the bay with the Bon Air Road in the middle of the picture:

After while, we turned to North and took a picture of Marin General Hospital where Jae and Isabel were born:

Finally, as the sun sets over the Mt. Tam:

China Camp State Park overlooking San Pablo Bay. It’s usually windy and the water looks murky. The long winding road is a haven for bikers.