Photo conditions in San Francisco have been rough so far this holiday season.  The low fog continues to be MIA, and good old fashioned rain has put the kibosh on a hefty share of sunrises and sunsets.  I’ve done my best to head out when things look interesting, but the pickings have been pretty slim.

One recent morning the clouds looked promising enough to warrant a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands.  I set up at Battery Spencer, one of the old War War II artillery stations that dot the west coast, and caught some of the pre-dawn color behind the bridge.

 

 

This past Monday it looked like there might be a nice sunset, so I drove over to Treasure Island for shots of the skyline.  The clouds didn’t really cooperate, but I always enjoy watching the city’s glow emerge as night falls.

 

 

 

 

On Thursday I dragged myself out of bed before dawn only to find an uninspiringly clear sky.  So I tried to make the best of it with another attempt at a lineup shot of Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge I’ve been working on getting right since 2007.  I still don’t have it the way I want it, and I think my first version may still be my best.

 

 

 

Later that same day I drove back over to Treasure Island to watch the sun set behind my favorite view of the Bay Bridge.  Technically the viewpoint is on Yerba Buena island, near the Coast Guard station, and the legality of being there is a little ambiguous.  But it’s become so popular with photographers that I was surprised to have it all to myself that night.

 

 

I hoped the beacon at the very top of the Transamerica Pyramid would be lit, and – at 6pm, well after sunset – they did finally turn it on.