Please take a moment to view the image at
Full Size to see the details of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco behind it. I posted it large so you could see the details.
Or View On Black
Story behind the shot...
I arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge just in time to get some great shots of high fog
moving in over the bridge and San Francisco.
HOW THE SHOT WAS MADE:
Initially I sat up on the hill in the image just to the left of the north tower but the moon was too far away from the bridge so we moved on up to the very top of the Marin Headlands so that we could get the moon more to the center. I originally hoped the moon would be in the center of the bridge but I see now that would have been a mistake and at any rate wasn't possible.
The light blue tint under the moon came from the distant clouds above the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. In the shots prior to this image that was all I had. The golden glow was from fog dropping down over the hills Marin Headlands from behind us and if you look closely you can see that fog in the blue of the sky. I was worried that the fog would cause problems by blocking out the distant clouds but it actually added to the shot and gave a yellow to orange glow to the top side of the moon that wasn't in other shots. In total, I took about 30 shots at a few different settings. Any one of them would have been a good shot but this one really caught my eye due to the addition of the fog.
If you view the large size, you will see perfect shadows of the cables in the water on from the north tower (left). If you look close at the city you can make out Coit Tower, Alcatraz, Trans America Tower, Fort Point and several other famous landmarks of San Francisco.
Ever look for shapes in the clouds?
My wife commented that the clouds reminded her of a birds head with the full moon as they eye. The beak trails off to the lower right with a wing on both sides.
I always think I have the best image I will ever get of the Golden Gate Bridge
and then something totally new and remarkable comes along. Thus far, this
is my favorite shot of the bridge at night. People have also commented it looks a lot like a volcano. Sometimes I resist going to the bridge thinking I will over do it but it has so many moods I doubt that will ever happen.
-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
© Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer
