The Yerba Buena Shoot

Last week, I did something I've been wanting to do since I arrived in San Francisco: I took my camera, my brand new tripod (a Bogen-Manfrotto 055XPROB for my fellow camera geeks) and a warm jacket and headed to Yerba Buena Island to shoot some pics of the City at Sunset.

Yerba Buena is uniquely positioned for this very task. It's East and North of the City, so the sun sets perfectly behind the Financial District, and casts a warm glow around all of the landmarks that make the SF skyline one of the most beautiful in the world.

I took the day off from work, and headed over to the island around 4:00 so that I could find a spot and set up my shot before the sun started to set around 5:30. After driving around the island for a while, I found a great spot on the side of a road near the highest peak around, and got to work.

As the time passed, the sun dipped lower and the shots became more intriguing. I got some beautiful shots with :30 exposures, taken with a remote shutter trigger of course so that there was no chance of moving the camera (save the odd earthquake of course...).

Probably the first time in my life that I've taken pictures that I truly am excited about every time I look at them. Hopefully not the last. And with this City as my omnipresent subject, I'm sure it won't be.

For more photos from this shoot, click here.