For today’s post we head back to Portsmouth. The Sheafe Warehouse in Prescott Park sits alongside the Piscataqua River along with several piers/docks. I headed to the waterfront for one of the last sunsets of the summer season before the official arrival of Fall. I’m glad I did – I was lucky to catch some interesting light on one last patch of clouds that was blowing through the sky.
Check back tomorrow for some gorgeous shots from our Golden Gate Bridge sunrise adventure.
The Transamerica Pyramid is loved and hated pretty intensely. The building was originally constructed in 1969-1972 and is easily the most recognizable and the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco, and drastically changed the skyline when it was finished. You can see it from many places throughout the city – as you can see from the evening shot from afar above…and the sheer scale of the building as taken from the base (shown below). I happen to enjoy the building, but it’s definitely not my favorite of the city. While I’m featuring shots of San Francisco…it would be a crime to leave this one out. What are your thoughts?
I’ve got ambitious plans to head out at sunrise to shoot another icon. Looking forward to the early dawn light.
Another San Francisco icon – Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. The 210 foot tower sits atop the affluent neighborhood – with the land gifted to the city in the early 1900s by a wealthy socialite who enjoyed chasing fires (according to Wikipedia), Lillie Coit. The tower is a monument to the city’s firefighters, who took on special meaning after the intense fires that followed the 1906 earthquake.
I’ll share this little tidbit of info from wikipedia, mostly because I found it quite entertaining: “Lillie Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of North Beach and Telegraph Hill, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach. Coit was reputed to have shaved her head so her wigs would fit better.” Whatever the history and whatever Lillie’s true habits were, the tower is a gorgeous addition to the SF skyline.
Today’s post is a double feature. The first image is a treat from home base for the next few days….the view of San Francisco Bay. This is the fog that San Francisco is so renowned for….once it blew over, you could see Alcatraz just about dead center in the frame. I’ll try to snap a good sunset shot before we hit the road for Yellowstone.
Below is a treat from a Portsmouth Harbor Cruise from the summer….what had been the sunset cruise that set sail at 7pm became more of a city lights cruise as the light had retreated as we made our way under the Memorial Bridge. I didn’t quite mind though – as there was a beautiful crescent moon and the planet Venus hanging out just to its right. This shot is one of my recent favorites – as it silhouettes two of Portsmouth’s icons under a summer sky. The Memorial Bridge and the North Church mark the city’s skyline.
As you may have heard – I’ll be spending the following week west of the Mississippi! I’m in San Francisco for a few days and will be heading to Yellowstone (and driving through Grand Teton National Park). My brothers and I headed out tonight with every intention of shooting the San Francisco skyline from Treasure Island (across the bay from the Financial District)…however the fog had different plans for us. After exploring the area and some seriously windy roads, we decided to throw in the towel (thankfully – because my stomach couldn’t take it much longer). We decided to head to a calmer spot south of the city – Pacifica. Dave has some awesome shots of the pier at sunset….but we decided oceanfront and waves sounded pretty good….so today’s shots feature a couple night captures. Above I went for a different black & white treatment to play around with some different processing.
Below, I loved the evening sky and the stars and the stark contrast against our own planet’s beachfront. Looking forward to sharing more from the voyage throughout the week. Stay tuned!
I felt like I’d been neglecting Prescott Park lately so I made a point to head down this past week. I ended up spending nearly all my time on one of the piers…and I didn’t quite mind that I didn’t do much other shooting, the pastel colors of the sky were so interesting. I also love this scene – it seems like there’s always a different array of boats, and I’m drawn to the reflection of the evening lights on the water.
Today’s images feature the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse located at Fort Constitution…as seen from the outside. (Earlier this week I featured the geometric beauty of the interior staircase). If you haven’t been – I can’t encourage you enough to catch one of the open houses…if for nothing else than to take a stroll and enjoy the view from the top of the structure…and marvel at the really old structure (that has a fresh coat of paint).
