I’ve wanted to visit the archives for some time, so I did so for today’s post…which features dawn at the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco.  If you’ve never been to San Francisco or witnessed this beauty in person – put it on your list.  It’s amazing to travel up to the Marin Headlands to take in the rising sun as it illuminates the richly red structure and the city just beyond it on the horizon.  I’ve featured several images from past trips to the west coast destination, all of which I’ve enjoyed shooting.

Once again, I was fortunate to venture out in time to catch a beautiful sunrise.  As you saw earlier in the week – this time it was atop the Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  The shot above was snapped before the sun rose over the horizon line – and the street lights were still lit on the bridge.  It gives the rich red colors of the bridge an eerie and almost ominous glow.

Contrasting against the strong darker colors of the early dawn light, the shot below was snapped once the sun reached above the horizon to the left of the bridge.  The water vista is to the immediate right of the bridge shots…in an area known as the Marin Headlands.  The softer pastel colors and the rolling coastal hills are such a cool contrast against the massive man made accomplishment of the bridge.

On our last day in San Francisco, I was able to convince my brothers to venture up to the Marin Headlands for sunrise.  I had been hoping for some fog to add some character to the scene….but once we set up camp I was happy that we had clear skies.  The bridge is such an awesome sight, and someone was kind enough to allow some paved roads on the high grounds north of the city so that lazy folks like us can drive up first thing and walk out to see the sun’s first rays over this feat of architecture.

I was also determined to get some good shots with my neutral density (ND) filter….which lead to some serious headaches as I fumbled about and tried to move swiftly with the early morning light coming up over the horizon. The trouble with an ND filter is that the exposures become incredibly long.  The filter I was using is a “10-stop”, which basically lets a magnitude of 10x less light through the lens….so basically you need a much longer amount of time to create the image by letting light reach the camera’s sensor.  While I didn’t come away with any show stoppers from the morning, I was happy that I tried to learn while out on what might be my last Golden Gate sunrise shoot…at least for a long time.  I like this shot for the pastels, the incredible subject and the almost antique look.

More shots to follow, be sure to check back in on Sunday for a couple of my favorite shots from the morning’s bounty.

A post last week featured some shots taken from the Marin Headlands during a lovely sunset in San Francisco. Today I thought I’d share more shots from that evening, not so tightly cropped on the bridge and the moon.  The sun creeping around the corner of the headlands was great to slowly watch disappear, and the setting sun’s light on the red bridge is incomparable.  I’ll share a cliche shot of the entire bridge sometime soon too.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most iconic creations that resides in San Francisco.  Words and photos do it no justice – if you ever have the chance, make the trek to the Marin Headlands and look back over the bridge and the city looming in the background.  After spending about an hour watching the sun set behind the headlands, we caught the last of the sun retreating against the bridge and the city…see below.