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The Old Pier #2
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The Old Pier #2 by PatrickSmith
I have found a few more views of the Golden Gate Bridge that are rarely seen in photos. This is the view from the end of the walkable portion of the Berkely Pier looking west toward the bridge. A few weeks back, I uploaded the view from underneath this pier.
The distance is deceiving. The rest of the pier is two miles long and Alkatraz island is 4 miles away at the end of the pier. The GG bridge is about 6 miles away.
The sun rose, and began shining though an opening in the clouds behind the camera, spotlighting the bridge and hills. Alkatraz island is straight ahead. This is also one where I have waited for months before the light was right.
(From WikiPedia
This pier as constructed extended three and a half miles into the San Francisco Bay from the end of University Avenue, but is today approximately two and a half miles (4.10 km) in length; however, only the first 3000 ft (0.9 km) are maintained and open to the public. It was constructed in 1926 to provide a deep water landing for an auto ferry to the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco.
40 second exposure @F22 with ND8 (I know, but shorter exposures made the water distracting!) + ND grad 0.9
| Date Added: | 26 Feb 2007 - 14:50 |
| Camera: | Canon 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 24-105L @100 |
| Film: | RAW ISO 50 |
| Categories: | Architecture General |
| Geo Data: | Show Map Position |
| Tags: | pier, california, golden gate, berkeley |
| Readers' Votes: | 218 |

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I wonder, were you not able to raise the camera any higher to avoid the pier making contact with the Island? Or perhaps that was your intention?
Mike
Mike, the rest of this pier of 2 miles long! The island is 4 miles away. The camera was at eye level, but even when I climbed on top of the barrier, 12 feet up, it had no effect on the end of the pier since it is so far away. And plue the barier moved a bit which ruins long exposures. I'll have to put this in the description.
Patrick


Ron
great timing with the right lighting on the bridge in tha back ground!
Your eye for photos is professional to the bone! As Randy would say, you da Dawg!!
Bonedawg Pat shall be your new nickname...
Yes sir, professional to the bone and you da dawg! I like it!
Keep up da good work Bonedawg!
Yo, peace out bro!
You keep shoot dat funk out and da yabba dabba doo!
From yo fly funk foo ins dat slop da Michigan,
T-dawg
I know you won't, but it looks like you should stay OFF that pier!
Jennnnnnn
Darren
I agree with most people, the ligting on the bridge is wonderful!
Pete M.

Martin
Yes Ron, I have often wondered what it must have been like years ago when it was first built.
LOL Thomas! Da bridge be so red dat it looks to b roastin and toastin!
Paul, yes, things are different now. Still, lots of people go fishing here. I didn't know that EPZ had another local California guy. There are a few others. I'll check out your work later.
Jennn, this one was fairly safe, as I was standing on the solid part of th epier. I will admit that I climbed the 12 foot railing at the end to get a higher view and almost fell in. There were no good foot holds. It started shaking and the shots turned out to have too much movement up
there so I came down!
Yes Martin, it is a very unique place and good for photography. I will have to go back there, when the light is right.
Patrick


Where Were you LAST Night? I don't even want to tnink about it!
Jennnnn
You be da dawg and you psych it yo and dat bridge be roastin n toastin,
but dat pic be so fi-no-slamma-jamma dat dis pic just jammmms and yo knows dat the jamma go wit da toast.
So call out da rye fo da toast as yuz like da toast n jamma!
You foo, you rock!
T-dawg


Peter
Yes Paul, I liked seeing the old and new of it too. Or actually the difference between dereliction and upkeep, as the bridge and pier were built around the same time.
Mike (HUMIE), I tried a few shorter exposures, but the water was just a distraction, so I made some long exposures which cam out much better.
Well Jennnn, See the right side tower and the hills behind it? Well, I climbed down the backside of the cliffs where nobody goes. There are some excellent views that I've never seen in photographs, as everybody takes the same shots from the side of the road since the cliffs are crumbly and steep. The worst part is after sunset when the light disappears and you are stuck on the side of a cliff with no light!
Patrick
Mark.
I love the light touching the distant bridge and hill, particularly in the way it contrasts with that sublime, cool foreground. You are indeed de dawg.

Antonio
Thanks Mark and Antonio.
LOL Ian, Let's see if Thomas changes his EPZ name to T-Dawg!
Patrick
Mo.
MArk
Took me while to work out where it was on the aerial shot, but eventually got there.
MS Live Search Map Link
Thats one long pier!


Yes, Rob (corrected sorry..) (vaugher), your link is spot on! And I work right near here.
Patrick

That is one cracker of a shot.Love the difference between the pier and the bridge,colour/texture and grain,the sky is truly magical and the shading is perfect.A real class shot.You take care out there.Ann

Chris


Tom.


Alan.

Great work as always,
Ian.

Mike

Hawk
I'll try Ann, but no guarantees....
LOL Kim, never heard that when applied to a photo before!
Yes, Ian, it would be interesting if there were only two uprights on each one.
Patrick

The lighting is amazing on the distant bridge and land, the distance between the landmarks is nicely conveyed
Sean
Edit: This must be very special as my wife said she'd be happy with it on the wall in our lounge! lol



Hope you are well
Colin

Dave

Beautiful image again Patrick.
Guy

Agree about the comments above regarding the separation between the jetty and the island, but also appreciate you saying it was just not possible. I'm sure that if it could have been done, you would have done it!!LOL
Martin

All been said Patrick, great angle,
Paul
Thanks Sean, that could be arranged.
I was thinking the same Colin. I'm doing well. I'm hoping for some bad weather that will make some interesting skies. everything else is going fine too. You will have to come out again.
Yes, Martin. I did attempt it, but with a 2 mile long pier in front of the camera, even 50 feet of elevation would not do much to separate the pier from Alkatraz! But you would have laughed at what I did try though.
LOL Paul, it's not my fault! Perhaps Pete could compensate you for time lost from work!
Patrick

Nigel

Lisa



Marian
Nigel it is probably because I usually do wide angles and that was at 100mm. But I tried to arrange it like a wider angle shot.
LOL Dennis, don't be scared!
Patrick
Tommy

Ali




Phil.


Mark.
Yes Tommy, I tried to get it all in there.
Thanks Jules
Sure Phil. There are many places that I want to re-visit since I started photopraphy. And since this is on the other side of the bay from San Francisco, most tourists don't see this.
Patrick

Simon, it is a screw-on circular filter that is very dark (8 stops worth [vs. 3 stops for a ND grad 0.9]) and colour neutral. I have three of them and have actually made a 3 minute exposure at mid day that turns a busy street into an empty one since everything moves too quickly to show up! On this shot, I was looking at a 2 second exposure until I put this on for the smoother water look! This way, I got a long exposure after sunrise. If you get one, make it an expensive one, as the cheap ones create odd colour casts. There are also ND4's and ND2's. An ND 4 can come in handy too.
Patrick


Rob

And this one amazing sky, Patrick

Andrew
Do you get vignetting if you you two or even three screw on filters at a time?
Simon
LOL Rob, I just removed the anchor block for the cables and the bridge fell into the bay! I'll send you the bill!
I liked that too Andrew.
Simon, yes, I do get some vignetting on the wide angle shots. The more I stack, the worse it gets. With my 17-40 and on ND 8, anything wider than 20 looks vignetted. With 2 ND8's anything below about 25-30 is vignetted. I can stack 3 on there and shoot at 40mm and I don't notice any vignetting!
On my 24-105 and 1 ND8, anything wider than about 35 looks vignetted and with two ND8's, anything wider than 50 looks vignetted. At 80 or longer, I can stack 3 ND8's on with little problem. Though at 105, 3ND8's degrades the image quality.
Try one out! Start with one ND8. I use Hoya and it cost the equivalent of about 35 pounds. But there may be better ones out there so look for reviews before buying one. Just get the best.
Patrick

Malcolm

pete

Nigel

Your PF is 1st class.
Keep them coming
All the best
Edgar

Looking at this I can see where you must have been stood for the 'underneath' images..so I see you are still living up to your name..Dangerman!
Janet
Joe
Malcolm, for the last few days it has either been pouring rain or completely clear, nothing in between. So I know what you mean.
Yes, Nigel, I just composed it like it was a wide angle shot. So it all looks closer than it is.
What if I run out of ideas Sarah?
It's okay Edgar. I'm glad you stopped by. I often don't have time either.
Well Janet, while this shot was easy to take (but difficult to wait for), I did try some from the top of the barrier (10 feet directly above) where I could have lost the camera in the bay. But I survived that one. And the shots had too much motion in them anyway!
Patrick
Thgi really is an awesome shot, love the water, and the light catching the Golden Gate Bridge and topped off with a sensational sky. Stunning work... and I see it's been underclicked again, people just don't appreciate class work.... LOL
CLIX
alex
Thanks Alex. I have found two other perspectives that I've never seen. They do require 'adventures' down crumbly cliffs and returns in the dark, but are well worth it. I have the compositions all figured out and I've taken some test shots. Now I'm just waiting for the right light.
Patrick

C
Awesome shot as always!
Chris

Well done, Patrick!
Haven´t touched my 20D for almost a week! : ))
It´s good to take some break, when the going gets touch : )
Jouko
You really brought that 'still water' alive.
Excellent p o v .
Jan

Ted

I've taken some test shots. Now I'm just waiting for the right light.
If i put as much time and energy into my work as you do Patrick, i might start getting satisfactory results, it's the old adage i think of the more time and effort spent preparing then the better the results.

Dot
Sorry for the scrolling finger problems Jouko! You probably have plenty of shots in the archives I bet.
True Terry, I do spend a decent amount of time on recon.
Patrick
)))Click
Not much point in trying to be original in the comments.
I like it. M



Great work superb shot..
Don



Pete.
Patrick
Chris

Mari
Mari, actually I have found some rocks. Now I just have to wait for the right time!
Patrick
Joe
You have a great talent for photography!!!!
Colleen










































Gregor