San Francisco Bay Area Photography

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.

One of my favorite places to take my family on weekend is Japantown in San Francisco. Many cultural activities and fun places to eat and shop, this place is always a good bet.

Isabel wanted to do some night photography. So, we set up the tripod, mounted camera and took the below picture overlooking San Rafael, Richmond Bridge and East Bay at dusk.

“We will never have a culture of our own until we have an architecture of our own. An architecture of our own does not mean something that is ours by the way of our own tastes. It is something that we have knowledge concerning. We will have it only when we know what constitutes a good building and when we know that the good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but is one that makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before that building was built. In Marin County you have one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and I am proud to make the buildings of this County characteristic of the beauty of the County.”

1957, Frank Lloyd Wright.

I never seen a photo of this building from this angle. I used circular polarizer filter and saturated colors.

Here are some pictures of Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, CA. With the PGA Tour just ended with Steve Lowery beating Vijay Singh in the first playoff hole.

I played there a few months ago. Generally, I dislike Robert Trent Jones’ courses - too gimmiky, too many false fronts and mounds - there were few holes that I thought they were questionable. Overall, this course was tolerable.

This course had some special qualities, nonetheless. The course condition was excellent. I’ve played on some nice private courses but none matched the overall consistency of the fairway like at Poppy Hills. It was a joy hitting from the fairway knowing that perfect texture (and consistent from every hole) awaits while you try to compress the ball.

The greens were big for a Northern California course. Multi-tiers were common but the ball rolled true. Putting there was a sheer delight.