Join Now
Join ePHOTOzine, the friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!
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
| Title: | The Old Pier #2 |
| Username: | 
PatrickSmith |
| Uploaded: | 26 Feb 2007 - 2:50 PM |
| Camera: | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 24-105L @100 |
| Recording media: | RAW ISO 50 |
| Tags: | Architecture, Berkeley, California, General, Golden gate, Pier |
| Votes: | 218 |
Comments
Spectacular! everthing is right, Exposure, composition.
Phil
Bridge stands out well against that sky, love the long exposure effect on the water.
Capturing that light on the bridge makes this special.
Mike
The light shining on the GG Bridge is superb Patrick. The 40 second exposure has also worked really well on the sea and sky.
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
Thanks for looking!
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
I knew this was one of your masterful shots! Awesome composition once again! I think the light on the bridge is what really makes this stand out! GREAT shot!
excellent the light on the bridge is just perfect a superb bit of photography.
superb shot, love the old pier and the way it draws the eye to that stunning red bridge in the distance with the light on it is fantastic...jojo
A wonderful shot Patrick.The colours appear to be so nicely balanced and the composition is as good as it gets. I did enjoy reading about the geographic layout and the historical aspect re Alcatraz. What a place that pier must have been in its heyday- cant you just see the ladies and gents strolling along that on warm evenings. Top quality.
Ron
another cracking shot Patrick, it's totaly amazing when viewed large.
wow, just breathtaking...
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
Wow, lovely shot! When I was a kid, even though he ferries were no longer running you could still drive out to the end of the pier to go fishing. Not too many warm evenings though. It sure has changed, thanks for sharing it!
Very nive light and water -- Worth the long wait!
I know you won't, but it looks like you should stay OFF that pier!
Jennnnnnn
Wonderful light Patrick, the colour of the bridge if fantastic and the green wood in the FG is great. Nice to have some history added to the shot as well.
Darren
Wonderful depth to this, and of course stunning colour. 1st class photography as always Patrick.
A fantastic image.
I agree with most people, the ligting on the bridge is wonderful!
Pete M.
I love the light on the hills + GG bridge in the background. I found Alcatraz fascinating.
Martin
Thanks for your comments! Yes, this was the light that I had waited for.
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
Apart from the excellent exposure, comp and light, I love the new/old aspect to this. Paul
I agree with all the comments, but what does it for me is also the water, giving the whole image the look of a watercolour. SUPERB !!! ~Mike~
LOL. Pat-- the 6 inches of snow and then the layer of ice on top of it-- made walking trecherous-- that shot was made from the safety of our patio! shoveled and covered with sunflower seed hulls1
Where Were you LAST Night? I don't even want to tnink about it!
Jennnnn
Yo Pat funk foo!
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
Nice smoothness from the long exposure, a very pleasant composition
Peter
Thanks for your comments!
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
Cracking shot Patrick of the very highest standard really awesome.
Mark.
I can say without fear of contradiction that I entirely endorse T-dawg's comments. I think.
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.
Lovely view of the Golden Gate with that derelict pier on the foreground. Very innoviative image.
Antonio
LOL Mr. Tomaski AKA T-Dawg! We were rockin and rollin last Friday as the ground be quakin! Lucky I was not rock climbin or me bones be breakin!
Thanks Mark and Antonio.
LOL Ian, Let's see if Thomas changes his EPZ name to T-Dawg!
Patrick
Lovely composition Patrick,beautiful detail in the pier and superb colours,great work here.
Mo.
nice work as always - like the composition the pier seems to point to the start of the bridge
MArk
Great shot, like the balance between the cool light in the foreground and the warmth of the sun on the bridge/hills.
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!
Thanks for looking!
Yes, Rob (corrected sorry..) (vaugher), your link is spot on! And I work right near here.
Patrick
HI 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
Beautifully composed with some rich light on the bridge to finish it of, inspirational.
Chris
Beautiful exposure and light on the bridge in the distance.Stunning work Patrick.
Tom.
Top quality photography IMO. The level of detail is amazing and the lighting, comp. and camera work is excellent.
Alan.
What a stunning scene Patrick, great choice of subject matter and a beautiful exposure, fine work, Adrian
Magical shot Patrick - love the way the shape (the uprights) of the old wooden pier is mirrored in the distance by the bridge.
Great work as always,
Ian.
A wonderful shot Patrick. Love the sky and cloud formation. the composition is damn near perfection and the way the Golden gate bridge glows is almost magical. 12/10
Mike
Its all about light wonderful imager
Brian..................
How the old contrasts with the wonderful bridge in the distance. A superb picture.
Hawk
Thanks for looking! It is a busy day at work so I haven't been on much yet, but I'll catch up later.
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
This is an amazing shot 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
Wonderful shot and admirable use of filters.
Derek
Superbly composed and exposed, Patrick. Brings back wonderful memories of our "so near, yet so far", almost meeting!!
Hope you are well
Colin
Class as ever. I really like the long exposure effect, it makes everything so smooooooth.
Dave
This looks so like the ruins of Craigendorran Pier very near our house....unfotunately there's nothing as exotic in the background as Golden Gate Bridge, just Greenock.
Beautiful image again Patrick.
Guy
Fantastic light on the bridge Patrick.
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
My God ... just got an R.S.I. scrolling down here ;-D
All been said Patrick, great angle,
Paul
Thanks for your comments!
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
I was in haste earlier Patrick. I have now read the details, and am impressed with the scale. That is some pier!
Nigel
This is amazing Patrick. The water, the lighting, it all has a wonderful dreamy look, stunning camera work.
Lisa
Incredible! The sharpness, exposure, lighting, and detail makes this image talk. It's almost fightening how much detail was captured here.
This is superbly lit and is right up there with your best work, love the time exposure effect on the water too, great cloudscape too with the time exposure, excellent work mate and well worth waiting for.
i just looked at the big version....HOLY MOLY!!! incredible detail, amazing shot.
What an intriguing shot. Love the composition, colours and description.
Marian
Thanks for your comments!
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
Superb take on GG Bridge, and having the pier and Alkatraz in there certainly doesn't hurt. Amazing light (GG really shines), sky + water looks great too
Tommy
Great shot. I think the water texture adds to the shot. Well taken. Patrick.
Great pic, but would be better with a level horizon?
Jules
Beautifully composed and taken, the light on the bridge is superb.....
Ali
Sublime again Patrick. I was in SF two years ago (pre photography obsession), did the Rock and the golden gate bridge, but didn't see this massive structure! No idea how it's possible to miss it. Any chance of a guided tour when I get the opportunity to come back?
Phil.
Great to see a different viewpoint of the G.G.B. and like the long exposure effect on the water and clouds - superb shot.
Mark.
Thanks for your comments!
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
Thanks Paul.
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
You've captured this perfectly as you always do Patrick. It gives a totally different feel to the shot if you remove the yellow block near the right end of the bridge. But I prefer it as it is ☼☼☼☼☼
Rob
AWESOME. I love the contrast between the bright red 'newness' of the bridge in the background to the 'memory' in the foreground.
And this one amazing sky, Patrick
Andrew
Thanks Patrick, I use a two stopper + my polariser which makes four but this sounds much more exciting.
Do you get vignetting if you you two or even three screw on filters at a time?
Simon
Thanks for looking!
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
Fabulous light on the bridge Patrick, well worth the wait. A bit better than we've been having here lately
Malcolm
A great view of this - not one i've seen before. like everything about this
pete
It worked Patrick. I thought it was wide angle till I saw how far away the bridge was.
Nigel
the bridge altho so far away really stands out as the focus of this brilliant image! wonderful work as usual patrick.
You never fail to amaze me Patrick! superb camera work as ever.
Sarah
Your whole range of shots are stunning. Sorry I do not get the time to comment on all your uploads..
Your PF is 1st class.
Keep them coming
All the best
Edgar
Beautifully done Patrick,love the angle & light capture here.
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
Brilliant composition, marvellous subtle lighting ... lends itself well to the shot.
Joe
Thanks for looking!
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
I thought to myself - I haven't seen an upload from Patrick for a while - HOW ON EARTH DID I MISS THIS???
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
this is got to be one of my favorites taken of the Golden Gate, very different viewpoint...well achieved.....
alex
LOL Tony, I'll have to try harder! Unfortunately I don't have enough time to upload more than once or so per week.
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
It's all been said Patrick, as usual Im a day late and a dollar short! lol so I'll simply say - sensational!
C
Can't add to much to the previous comments Patrick since it truly has all been said.
Awesome shot as always!
Chris
Grr! My new mice had to scoll "red" to get here to leave a comment!
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
Stunning photograph. Patrick.
You really brought that 'still water' alive.
Excellent p o v .
Jan
Nice one, Patrick. I love the way the long exposure has blurred the water and sky.
Ted
Quote: 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.
Great shot, lovely lighting, love the colour tones in the sky and a great lead-in.
Dot
Thanks for looking!
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
YES.
)))
Click
Not much point in trying to be original in the comments.
I like it. M
sorry im so late on commenting on yet another super capture of yours patrick.
Superb timing Patrick..the colours and lighting are so good ...
Great work superb shot..
Don
Excellent exposure and composition Patrick, top quality work as always
Well worth the wait Patrick, the bridge looks great with the sun catching it. An excellent composition.
Pete.
How many clicks?.....Very deserving tho Patrick, well done to you!
Ade
Thanks for looking in! I'll be catching up later today and tomorrow.
Patrick
The long exposure has worked wonders on the sky and sea, and to top it off someone has shone a large torch on the bridge for you. :0)
Chris
I keep missing yours Patrick! This is a stunner, just love that bridge in the bg shining in the distance, a nicely composed pic, - found any rocks yet? LOL!
Mari
Thanks Chris!
Mari, actually I have found some rocks. Now I just have to wait for the right time!
Patrick
this is a fantastic photo and different view of the bridge. I really like it, well done. How do you find all these cool places to take pics.
Joe
Simply fantastic..... wonderful image and great original viewpoint of the bridge.. superb. Karen
In my opinion this is the best photograph I have ever seen!! I dont know what else to say!!
Love the colours and comp, great shot.
You have a great talent for photography!!!!
I definately needed a packed lunch to get to the end of this line......Stunning Image.
Colleen
A superb image, the pier is quite spooky.
Brilliant as always.
Annette
Add a Comment
ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more.
Got A Photo You Want To Share?
Login or Join Now
New to ePHOTOzine? Join ePHOTOzine for free!
Twitter
Facebook
Google+
RSS
Join Our Free Newsletter
Current Competitions
Vanguard 'Nature' Competition
1st February 2012 - 29th February 2012
This month we want you to capture 'Nature' in all its beauty! We want to see your very best images featuring land, sea, or sky. It can be of animals, rain, sun (if y...Featured e2 Photo
Featured Directory Listing
February's Photo Month
Check out ePHOTOzine's inspirational photo month calendar! Each day click on a window to unveil new photography tips, treats and techniques.
