SF Day Trip

[David]

Took a day trip to SF last Saturday. I took film and digital photos, but will use both in this post. I'll try to note which ones are film, too. I started the trip with a walk around Embarcadero Place http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.79489,-122.396235&spn=0.004697,0.010504&t=h&z=17&vpsrc=6, through the Ferry Building, up to Pier 39 http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.809028,-122.409351&spn=0.003321,0.005252&t=h&z=18&vpsrc=6, down to Coit Tower http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.802919,-122.405669&spn=0.00166,0.002626&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=6, up to the top of Coit Tower, and then back. Two rolls are still pending development, but most of the photos are back. Here is a link to the whole album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/102333270936007447976/SF9311#

Embarcadero Place is a fairly busy place on weekends. Saturdays host a farmer's market and a craft fair. Then there's the guy who plays buckets because his drum kit was stolen... at least seven years ago. The photo of him hasn't been processed yet, but dang is he good.

Anyway, one of my favorite elements of Embrcadero place is a big, blocky fountain with walksways and stairs that allow people to get inside the fountain. In this way art becomes an interactive piece of the city like a building or subway station. So that's exactly what I did: got inside the fountain.


A path leading under the water. I did not, actually, go there while carrying five cameras, two of them sixty years old. (film shot)


From one of the stairways, the fountain affords nice views of the square, and buildings, and people zip lining over the market below. (film shot)


A bit of an optical illusion, the water does not truly flow uphill. That only happens at The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz and The Mystery Spot in Wisconsin Dells.


Some people were in behind the water.


This image, stitched together from 19 or so photos, was an experiment in controlling DoF in stitched photos.


This is a similar image from a slightly different spot. Instead of stitching photos from my 35mm Sigma lens, I used my 18mm Samyang, with reasonable affect. (film shot)


I left the 18mm on my K1000 for the trip. This was about f22 for 1/30th or 1/15th of a second, hand-held. I tried a second shot at f11 and 1/125th. Both were properly exposed, according to the camera. The other was incredibly dark, however. What this indicates is that the Samyang may function better stopped down that at middle or wide-open settings. More experiments are needed. (film shot)


Embarcadero place has many fascinating staircases, from a photographic perspective. From the perspective of a wooden-legged pirate or remote-controlled car, these staircases are less fascinating and more terrifying. However, being neither pirate nor toy car, I took some shots of various staircases. This exterior stair connects three levels. The tile pattern is the same throughout the building. (film shot)


One great frustration is people who see me trying to get a picture and move, repeatedly, by intent or accident, to block the place I need to stand to get a properly aligned photo. Some lady kept moving back and forth, reading the same parts of a map, every time I would jockey to line up this under-stair photo. I was frustrated and this photo suffered because I was not patient enough to wait for the shot. In a perfect world, I would have had a bit more of the sides (escalator undersides) in the frame and positioned such that the photo could have been aligned on a vertical axis. (film shot)


This photo is of the other side of the escalator in the last photo, looking up at a skylight. (film shot)


I got as far back as I could for this but still needed about two more feet, or a step-stool, to get the shot properly framed. I would have liked to have gotten the entire handrail in the shot. (film shot)

The photos I took on the walk to the Pier haven't been developed yet, so I'll leave you with two last shots. This one a photo of the city, looking southwest, from Coit Tower as fog came in. Within minutes the fog was at the tower, moving faster than a mob escaping from riot police.



A stitched photo with some stitching glitches.

[tikkathree]

"One great frustration is people who see me trying to get a picture and move, repeatedly, by intent or accident, to block the place I need to stand to get a properly aligned photo. Some lady kept moving back and forth, reading the same parts of a map, every time I would jockey to line up this under-stair photo. I was frustrated and this photo suffered because I was not patient enough to wait for the shot. In a perfect world, I would have had a bit more..."

In a perfect world, there's be a special button on the base of your camera and you'd teleport the interfering old witch 65 miles to one side!!

[mo]