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This is one of many fireboats docked along the Embarcadero in the port of San Francisco. In addition to putting out fires on boats, during earthquakes when the water lines are severed, they can pump water from the bay to help put out fires several blocks inland.
The 9,260 foot long west span of the Bay Bridge is quite imposing and carries 280,000 vehicles per day. There is an east span behind the island that is currently being rebuilt due to earthquakes, and is over 10,000 feet long.
I work in Berkeley, on the other side of the bay from this spot. When I saw these clouds at sunrise, (which are rare here) I went across the bay to capture this scene.
1/8 second exposure to capture the water texture, @F8 with ND grad 0.9 (angled from 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock so as not to darken the light on the bridge towers)
| Title: | Fireboat 55 |
| Username: | 
PatrickSmith |
| Uploaded: | 11 Feb 2008 - 3:47 PM |
| Camera: | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 17-40L @17 |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Tags: | Bay bridge, Fireboat, General, Landscape / travel, San francisco, Transport, Yerba buena |
| Votes: | 185 |
Comments
Thanks Mark!
Hey Finland, it is 8am and it will be +21c today. Spring has arrived after 15 inches of rain in the past month! 75% of our average year's total!
Patrick
Like the details and lighting in this - well captured.
Regards Richard
Hello California from North East England. things could be worse Patrick, my daughter in WI has 21 inches of snow!
Great composition here Patrick with wonderful depth,
C
The colours here are wonderful Patrick..a very special light that make them almost transluscent. Brilliant shot and thank you for the text and how you have taken this!
Di
Excellently composed wide angle shot. Great sky!
Albert
It's a lovely day in South Devon if a bit chilly. This is great, Patrick, for the clarity of the bridge, the great sky and excellent water texture.
David
Superb work Patrick, loads and loads of interest in this.
Dave
Thanks for peeping in! The sun is out and it is warm already. Too clear for good landscape photography though.
21 inches of snow Chant? I'll take the rain!
No problem Di. Feel free to ask any other questions if you have them.
David, we had UK weather for a while here. Cold and rainy but not even good skies for photography. Just solid grey. But we get it over with quickly so the rest of the year is good.
Patrick
Hey Patrick, those clouds are an everyday look here in Oregon, except with a grey sky! 
I love the vanishing point in this image, looks great.
Lisa
I like the way the bridge leads the eye straight to the subject & the sky is great. Beautiful day - cold & bright sun here in the Midlands if anyone's interested.
Rog
Yes Lisa, someday I'll make it up to Oregon. The skes are usually more interesting up there. I have to wait a long time for interesting clouds.
Good to hear the sun is out Rog!
I'm torm because I want 'bad' weather for photography but good weather for outdoor living!
Patrick
Really like this Patrick, I like the composition and the sky is very good. Just had a peep at your site as I haven't visited it for a while, and really liked the Diablo Pano...
Perfect composition, superb lead-in, wonderful sky - it's all here!!!!
Rgds
Paul
Thanks Mark and Paul!
I'm glad you saw it Tony. I like the pano too. I rarely see light like that. Maybe I'll upload it here sometime!
Patrick
Nicely composed Patrick. You always get a wonderful clarity of shot, that I can never seem to acheive.
Martin
Don't feel bad Martin, the visibility around here averages 20-80 miles on a normal day. Despite being near the ocean, when there is no fog, it is usually very dry. And we have very little pollution except in LA. That might explain the clarity thing.
Patrick
Hello from NW England Patrick, +9 and gorgeous sunshine here although I have just had a week of snow and -18 in Canada ..... superb depth and detail in this!
gill
Super work once again Patrick. Depth of field is special and the sky is great. Great work all round
Leon
Hi Patrick.... love the sky ...good clear shot , can see the end of bridge....
babs
I do hope you haven't been putting out any fires Patrick,far to dangerous 
now don't go volunteering for stuuf like that,the pictures may be good but your life will be at risk ..lol
Lovely clarity as usual..now what you need is some nice smog !!
Janet
Thanks for stopping by!
+9 Gill? Not bad for up there in February! It's 10am and about +16c and sunny here so far.
Looking good here too Kevin.
Glad you noticed Ash! I waited for it to get into the perfect spot.
Janet, there has to be SOME danger but I'll admit that there were no fires on this day. However a few swooping seagulls bombarded my head with er...stuff!
Patrick
Wonderful clarity, composition and detail.
It's interesting to see the bridge from a totally different view point.
Super image. Annette
Fabulous image quality Patrick.Worth the trip back across to capture those clouds.Superb.
Tom.
Oh yeuk...thanks for that Patrick,too much information there methinks ..lol
Thanks for looking!
Yes Annette, it is hard to see these bridges differently, but I try.
Possibly Tom. 2 Bridges, 5 miles.... 40 minutes!
And then back again......
Sorry Janet. Next time I'll wear my hat.... and maybe a raincoat and brolly for protection!
Patrick
Great pinsharp capture off the bridge and that itself is a great lead in
Peter
A superbly composed scene Patrick, such a great view of this magnificent bridge. The weather is set fair in the UK at moment and really springlike after lots and lots of rain in January
I've managed to miss your portfolio, which is a serious oversight!!! Fantastic composition, and a terrific sense of depth.
Yesterday looked warmer than it was - maybe 12C? But at least it wasn't foggy once we got up high!
Moira
Superb shot you have caught loads of details love it. I also like the way you have helped us all by letting us now how you capture this
Cheers
Steve
Great depth to this wonderful image Patrick.I have really enjoyed this one.
Cheers
Alan
Thanks for having a look!
Yes Edmund (GlosTomcat) we had a bad January too. Only 2 day warmer than average and 6x the normal rain, and January is the rainiest month of the year!
Yes Moira, it looked like summer in your shots. I'm glad you found my PF.
No problem Steve. I picked up all this stuff on EPZ!
Glad you did Alan.
Patrick
Beautiful image. Love the never ending bridge and sky. Great shot.
Marilyn x
Great light Patrick.Super line with the bridge and the clouds stretching into the distance.
Brian.
This image has it all - lovely lead in - great colors, lots of interest (love the punches of red color from the fire boats). The sky is indeed wonderful - I hope you didn't speed trying to get there
Anne
Nice one Patrick, love the clouds and the water texture, nice comp too.
Mark.
Thanks for dropping by!
No Speeding Anne. It took 40 minutes to cross 5 miles across the two bridges at 6am! Barely got there for quite a good sunrise, then went around and got this, which was my original plan.
Patrick
nice use of the grad, if i had done this shot the top of the bridge would also have been dark, i still have much to learn.....lol
wonderful image Patrick, the bridge fair zooms you through the image, lovely work
chris
Like what you've chosen as a scene Patrick, and your well chosen position gives a great feel of the scale of the bridge, fine image, Adrian
Clarity we would all like to attain Patrick, this would stand a very large canvas on a huge wall and still be excellent in every way. Wonderful work and dedication to the cause. Definitely one to be proud of.
All the very best
Dougie
Excellent perspective Patrick, like how you've placed the bridge and the fireboat so that all eyes are drawn to the land on the other side -2 here this morning but warming up nicely
Sarah *
Quite an uplifting feel to this image, despite the semi industrial subject matter.
Must be your mastery of the craft showing through.
Can we have that sky over here please when you're done with it?
Dave
Thanks for stopping by! Looks like it will be about 22c again today. Spring is here.
LOL Terry, yep you have to angle those grads sometimes!
Yes Adrian. It can be even more impressive than the Golden Gate and it is twice as long! The longest of it's type in the world but you won't find it in the record books, as they mostly record single-suspension bridges.
Thanks Dougie, I can print it up to about 24x36 with no significant loss of detail when seen from 2 feet away.
That's cold Sarah, my lemons would freeze in those temps!
Dave, that sky only lasted a couple of hours and it was clear for the rest of the day. LOL - I'm not sure where it went, but certainly not back here!
Patrick
This shot appears to have a lot going on and assume this would have been hard to compose.
The bridge position is great and everything falls in around it. The clouds , well I love clouds so another bonus.
Regards
Hi Patrick,
Marvellous shadows,reflection,lighting,angles,detail,colour/tone,dof,amazing clouds,perspective and LARGE IS BEST. Class composition and your eyes just can't stop darting everywhere and you need to see it more than twice and you still haven't seen everything.take care,Ann
Wonderful sky and depth in this shot Patrick. How many large bridges are there in this area, as this clearly isn't the golden gate bridge.
Nigel
Great sky and composition, giving the inage depth and lots of interest throughout.
Leigh
Thanks for dropping by!
True Edgar, I had to walk around for a while. I got several different versions while the light was right. I may not get a chance like this for a long time!
Thanks Ann, you should see a 24x36 I just made or an office!
Maddie? Me??
Hi Nigel, the Golden Gate bridge is the 5th longest bridge (8,900 ft. total length, 4,200 feet suspension) crossing the San Francisco Bay. The Humber is 7,200 feet long with a 4,600 feet suspension.
This one is called the 'West Span of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge' It is the longest high level steel bridge in the world. Even longer than the new ones in Japan, though they have single suspensions that are longer.
The one on the other side of the island is the 'East Span.' It is 11,000 feet long.
Then there is the San Mateo bridge which is 36,000 feet long but not as high.
There is the Richmond-San Rafael bridge which is 29,000 feet long with 2 places as high as this bridge.
Then there is the Dumbarton bridge that is 8,600 feet long.
The Benicia bridge is about 8,000 feet long.
There is another single suspension bridge called the Carquinez bridge, which is only 3,400 feet long.
LOL - Sorry but you asked!
Patrick
Thanks for the feedback Patrick. In other words, a lot more than I realised. I think I'll have a look on Google Earth.
Nigel
Patrick, nice angle on the bridge, great sky but the rest of the picture is a bit too cluttered for me.
Thanks Bob.
No problem Martin, I made other ones just in case some like a more open view.
Yes Nigel, we have lots of bridges crossing the Bay. And with 7 million people nearby they are usually crowded. Still lots of uncluttered beaches and untouched open space somehow.
Another warm day today....
Patrick
Nice one. I always like to shoot the bridge when I'm down there. Makes for a great night shot sujbect, too.
Very crisp and clean shot Patrick. I like this a lot.
Ron
i can see you have a lot of votes , well done
thanx for your comment on mine
Linzie
Thanks for stopping in!
Richard, I do have a night shot of this back in my PF. It is a great spot for night photography!
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
sorry that I did not make it yet through your pf, but I have not forgotten my promise.
One cracking picture after the other, it is not easy to find one better than the previous.
Great pov in this one. Normally one sees the bridge from the other side...
Jo
This really has to be viewed LARGE to get the full whack - ammmaaazing capture, Patrick. I especially love the clouds and sweeeeeeeep of the bridge.
A
Thanks for your comments!
True Jo, the other side on the island is the classic view. Have fun browsing. Feel free to ask any questions.
LOL Andrew, hopefully you weren't whacked too hard!
Patrick
Amazing image the beauty and the grandeur of the bridge is stunning. As always, a beautifully framed and spot on timing.
John
Beautiful lighting lovely tones Bridge detail and composition,I love this place(*.*)
Pauline.
Superbly captured Patrick, excellent clarity and composition.
Pete.
Thanks Eric!
I liked it too Charlotte. The bridge is very imposing to see in person.
Patrick
I love this place - but getting off (and back onto) that bridge on the island can be a bit daunting
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