Bridges and Fog
From Josh Anon/ DPA instructor in San Francisco
To view more of his images please visit http://digitalphotoacademy.com/portfolio/josh-anon/
Even though Mark Twain never actually said the coldest winter he’d ever had was a summer in San Francisco, the near-daily fog does make for some cold summers. And some beautiful pictures! The bay area’s geography is also unique in that there are hills in the east bay, and the hills are often a demarcation line for the fog. Depending on the weather conditions, there are days where a low, thick bank of fog rolls into the bay but below the top of the hills. This makes it so that you can get a great vantage point, looking across the city and seeing where the fog is. I was in the hills on one such day, guessing the weather conditions would be correct, but I arrived before sunset and before I could see for sure what the fog was doing. As the sun started to set, the fog moved across the bay. A long lens on a tripod (roughly 400mm) let me isolate the features that make the scene say “San Francisco,” that is the bay bridge, Sutro tower, and the downtown skyline. Even though the fog covers most of them, you still have a sense of geography. Waiting for the lights to come on also added a nice element to the shot, a bit of warmth and brightness contrasting with the fog. Canon EOS 1Ds with Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS on a tripod at 400mm. f/16, 1.6 sec, ISO 100, -2/3 stops in evaluative metering.