You can't trust anyone in this world... ... not even your GPS
8am: got lost trying to find a place to park by the Fisherman's wharf, ms. GPS wasn't much help.. 9am: check into hostel and spent the next 3 hrs chatting with my darling in Australia 12pm-7pm: tempted by the brilliant blue skies and a growling stomach, explored beautiful San Fran on foot
Here are the pictures, I hope all you Californians can fill in the missing information about what I was looking at, where I was, etc Because I didn't have a clue back then (other than taking one of those simplfied tourist maps with me) and I definitely don't remember anything now :D
Good morning, Alcatraz! | 45mm Tilt shift lens (click for wallpaper)
The absolutely gorgeous houses by the shore | 45mm - stitched panorama (click for larger wallpaper)
One thing about SF is the abundance of good looking people with good looking bodies running around | 45mm Tilt shift lens
No wonder why SF have the highest house prices in North America *jealous* | 45mm TS/E
I was looking forward to going up that steep hill later in the day :D 45mm TS/E
Tourist trap burger joint by the wharf | 12mm
They even give you nickles so you could choose songs on that old song gadget box | 12mm
The whole city just seems to reek of leisure, people doing stuff just to enjoy and have fun | 200mm
I thought these were hilarious (and dangerous), you can rent these out to go sight seeing with | 45mm TS/E
mmmm a pretty lady in a pretty Marserrati, she was so shy, she gave me a smiled and looked away | 45mm TS/E
... At first it was just a clown blowing bubbles... | 45mm TS/E
Next thing you know, a woman who didn't know how to drive manual transmission properly rolled her Audi TT down the hill and hit the Suburban with a loud bang. Clown was not pleased | 45mm TS/E
The end of the line of these tram thingies, they put the trams on a spinning plate to turn them around and head up the hill again. I hate line ups, so I said screw it and walked up towards downtown instead of riding on this tourist trap | 12mm
Oh right, these aren't trams, these are cable cars! With whirrling cables running underground. I think these were built back in the day when people haven't figured out how to use eletrical wires or something | 12mm
These hills are ... STEEP! (and a fellow MINI, hi!) | 45mm TS/E
I think this is the only place outside of India or China where riding outside the train is considered cool | 45mm TS/E
SF is an old city, old city have god awful looking cables all over the place | 45mm TS/E
No I didn't drive on this... I would... only if they let me squeal the tires all the way down xD | 12mm
A whole bunch of tourists next to me were taking pictures of their family's car making their way down this road. I asked a couple if they wanted me to take a picture for them, and they said, sure. Then they asked me "Hey do you want a picture for you guys as well?" And I looked around me... "you guys? You mean, me and my camera? Or do I have an invisible friend I didn't know about.."
The pervert in me secretely laughed at the sign.
SF's so stylish, why's everything in Canada outside of Quebec made of straight lines? Curves are GOOD! (as girls world wide would defiitely agree) 45mm TS/E
Even the stair cases are steep at SF | 45mm TS/E
Some church which was on my tourist map, and being a good tourist I knew absolutely nothing about it but I took a picture of it anyway | 12mm
I can't think of anything witty to say, other than it looks really weird with my lens | 45mm TS/E
And the end of part 1, lets end it with a hug xD | 45mm
:DDDDD my high school is near the pier... but when you were here, i was in SD LOL so i wouldn't have been able to show you around. ><
and you saw the "rich peoples" houses.. LOL i live in the ghetto. =X
im so jealous of all you travels! and also of your tiltshit lens haha
@Sk1z0fr3n1c_Fr3d - awhahhaha yeah I figured the houses by the shore weren't exactly representative of the typical house in SF. But still, I'm jealous. It would be absolutely awesome to live in SF as a photographer, so much to see.
Then maybe I wouldn't need to take naked pictures of trees all the time... xD
@ch0w - shift, not shit xDDDDD It was so much fun. I had to put my other lenses back inside the car 1/3 way through my afternoon because the backpack was simply too heavy.
The world looks like a dream with that lens, very addicting! (it's a tough lens too, I dropped it from 3 feet up onto hard concrete inside Alcatraz and nothing happened at all (thank god)
LOL..
actually, the victorian houses and stuff that you took pictures of ARE "typical" houses in SF. those were the types of houses that were here first.. even in the haight and kinda near my place (the ghetto) there's a BUNCH of victorian or old style houses. lol
there's a whole lot of variety in sf.. city and "burbs" all within a 7x7 mile radius. x] (i think that's right)
@XtremePsionic - omg haha BAD typo... sorry, but i really want a tilt shift..it looks like so much fun..expensive?
@ch0w - built with gold and lined with titanium... I mean, on some levels it is pretty insanely priced for something without zoom or even autofocus. But I read somewhere that Canon loses money on every sale because these are hard to build and low quantities. (about $1000 USD each for the 3 TS/Es, 24mm, 45mm and 90mm)
Stunning as always. The one with the steep staircases on the side of the building had me tripping, haha. My scroll wheel is set to scroll approximately the same distance as that between each staircase, and when I scrolled down while keeping my eyes in one spot, it looked like the page was zooming in. :x
@yello_lego - you made me LOL for real there, that's pretty trippy! It's fun taking pictures of nothing in particular, I always get a kick out of watching other people watching me take pictures of ordinary things and go "err what are you looking at?"
i am in love with your blog!!! i just spent my whole lunch hour looking at your photos from your roadtrip in May. i'm waiting for you to post Seattle, which is where i am currently residing =p love the photos. you have a great eye and all the colors seem so saturated. do you adjust them with software? personally i have a nikon d40 which i am just now taking the time to learn. we'll see how things turn out.
@MzYathyCu - awww thanks so much, you're so very kind :) I'm glad someone likes my photos that much, I do put some effort into them :D Ahh seattle was awesome, I love the fisherman's market (forgot what that place's called again, where they throw the fish around!) I wish I could have spent more time there though. I'll definitely have to go there again!
Yeah I did saturate the colors a bit more than normal for this set of pictures, just because more colors seem to fit the theme and subject. I shoot photos in RAW mode so I convert them using Adobe Camera Raw.
Photography is FUN :D It's not hard, just take a lot of pictures, keep your eyes open and enjoy what you do :)
wow, so you just happened to be there to see the whole accident? By the way, I'm so glad I've found your site, your photos are amazing, and your comments are fun to read as I go through them :)
@lisadoremi - hah thanks so much :) Yeah, I was there taking pictures of the clown, then I heard this red Audi TT revving strangely and not heading the right way up the hill. She stopped, panicked, tried again, and rolled right into the SUV xD
Actually, I didn't laugh at her, because the night before I stalled my Mini Cooper on one of those scary hills in downtown too. It's a strange feeling not being able to see anything of the intersection ahead because all you can see is the sky!
wow! you make SF seem so fun and interesting. =)
You take such wonderful photos! I especially love the house in the 4th photo with the pink curtains (I guess that's what it is). That house is beautiful!!!!
nice :D but many of these photos would have looked better without the tilt-shift effect Though the fire escape stairs photo looked the best with it
=] your pictures are so pretty/cute/ what's the word for it? and the houses look like they were built for barbie and ken
great use of the tiltshift lens ...is that your primary lens? :p
i wonder what it would be like living in those houses along that..curvy road.. i forgot the name of it..
@XtremePsionic - Pike Place Market is what its called. I can see how that place can produce a lot of wonderful photos. I work just like 4 blocks from it so on nice days, we like to walk down there for lunch. I gather from your blog that your are from somewhere in Canada?
Did you get a chance to do anything else in Seattle? i'm sure you went to the Space Needle yea?
@LaLaLici0us - oh yeah, they're so pretty. It's unreal, totally another world for rich people only :D
@IchigoBunny - :P I did find it quite interesting, quite a change from where I came from! @CHIBIMARUKO_CHAN - :) thanks, the world looks dreamy through the camera sometimes
@MzYathyCu - No, I didn't get a chance to see much in Seattle, I had to go from 40 miles south of seattle to east of Vancouver, BC in one day, and I had to meet up with a friend in Vancouver for dinner.
I HAVE to go back :D
@Kwazy_Fweak - Hmm I had great fun with that TS/E lens, but it is true that sometimes I overuse it, not every scene is suitable for that kind of effect. Still, it's one of those rare lenses that just get me excited about photography, the view through the viewfinder is amazing with it :D Do you photograph?
@azn_x_strike - oh yeah, I thought it looked great with those fire escape shots. You're right Mandy, I think I over used it a bit. I think I should have used a normal 50mm lens a bit more.
That fire escape picture is wicked, when you scroll down it appears to be zooming in! I had to do it a few times before I realized it wasn't zooming... crazy! Great pictures! I can't wait to do some of my own.
Comments (32)
:DDDDD
my high school is near the pier...
but when you were here, i was in SD LOL
so i wouldn't have been able to show you around. ><
and you saw the "rich peoples" houses.. LOL i live in the ghetto. =X
im so jealous of all you travels! and also of your tiltshit lens haha
@Sk1z0fr3n1c_Fr3d - awhahhaha yeah I figured the houses by the shore weren't exactly representative of the typical house in SF. But still, I'm jealous. It would be absolutely awesome to live in SF as a photographer, so much to see.
Then maybe I wouldn't need to take naked pictures of trees all the time... xD
@ch0w - shift, not shit xDDDDD It was so much fun. I had to put my other lenses back inside the car 1/3 way through my afternoon because the backpack was simply too heavy.
The world looks like a dream with that lens, very addicting! (it's a tough lens too, I dropped it from 3 feet up onto hard concrete inside Alcatraz and nothing happened at all (thank god)
LOL..
actually, the victorian houses and stuff that you took pictures of ARE "typical" houses in SF. those were the types of houses that were here first.. even in the haight and kinda near my place (the ghetto) there's a BUNCH of victorian or old style houses. lol
there's a whole lot of variety in sf.. city and "burbs" all within a 7x7 mile radius. x] (i think that's right)
@XtremePsionic - omg haha BAD typo... sorry, but i really want a tilt shift..it looks like so much fun..expensive?
@ch0w - built with gold and lined with titanium... I mean, on some levels it is pretty insanely priced for something without zoom or even autofocus. But I read somewhere that Canon loses money on every sale because these are hard to build and low quantities. (about $1000 USD each for the 3 TS/Es, 24mm, 45mm and 90mm)
Stunning as always. The one with the steep staircases on the side of the building had me tripping, haha. My scroll wheel is set to scroll approximately the same distance as that between each staircase, and when I scrolled down while keeping my eyes in one spot, it looked like the page was zooming in. :x
@yello_lego - you made me LOL for real there, that's pretty trippy!
It's fun taking pictures of nothing in particular, I always get a kick out of watching other people watching me take pictures of ordinary things and go "err what are you looking at?"
i am in love with your blog!!! i just spent my whole lunch hour looking at your photos from your roadtrip in May. i'm waiting for you to post Seattle, which is where i am currently residing =p love the photos. you have a great eye and all the colors seem so saturated. do you adjust them with software? personally i have a nikon d40 which i am just now taking the time to learn. we'll see how things turn out.
@MzYathyCu - awww thanks so much, you're so very kind :) I'm glad someone likes my photos that much, I do put some effort into them :D
Ahh seattle was awesome, I love the fisherman's market (forgot what that place's called again, where they throw the fish around!) I wish I could have spent more time there though. I'll definitely have to go there again!
Yeah I did saturate the colors a bit more than normal for this set of pictures, just because more colors seem to fit the theme and subject. I shoot photos in RAW mode so I convert them using Adobe Camera Raw.
Photography is FUN :D It's not hard, just take a lot of pictures, keep your eyes open and enjoy what you do :)
wow, so you just happened to be there to see the whole accident? By the way, I'm so glad I've found your site, your photos are amazing, and your comments are fun to read as I go through them :)
@lisadoremi - hah thanks so much :) Yeah, I was there taking pictures of the clown, then I heard this red Audi TT revving strangely and not heading the right way up the hill. She stopped, panicked, tried again, and rolled right into the SUV xD
Actually, I didn't laugh at her, because the night before I stalled my Mini Cooper on one of those scary hills in downtown too. It's a strange feeling not being able to see anything of the intersection ahead because all you can see is the sky!
wow! you make SF seem so fun and interesting. =)
You take such wonderful photos!
I especially love the house in the 4th photo with the pink curtains (I guess that's what it is).
That house is beautiful!!!!
nice :D
but many of these photos would have looked better without the tilt-shift effect
Though the fire escape stairs photo looked the best with it
=] your pictures are so pretty/cute/ what's the word for it? and the houses look like they were built for barbie and ken
great use of the tiltshift lens ...is that your primary lens? :p
i wonder what it would be like living in those houses along that..curvy road.. i forgot the name of it..
@XtremePsionic - Pike Place Market is what its called. I can see how that place can produce a lot of wonderful photos. I work just like 4 blocks from it so on nice days, we like to walk down there for lunch. I gather from your blog that your are from somewhere in Canada?
Did you get a chance to do anything else in Seattle? i'm sure you went to the Space Needle yea?
@LaLaLici0us - oh yeah, they're so pretty. It's unreal, totally another world for rich people only :D
@IchigoBunny - :P I did find it quite interesting, quite a change from where I came from!
@CHIBIMARUKO_CHAN - :) thanks, the world looks dreamy through the camera sometimes
@MzYathyCu - No, I didn't get a chance to see much in Seattle, I had to go from 40 miles south of seattle to east of Vancouver, BC in one day, and I had to meet up with a friend in Vancouver for dinner.
I HAVE to go back :D
@Kwazy_Fweak - Hmm I had great fun with that TS/E lens, but it is true that sometimes I overuse it, not every scene is suitable for that kind of effect. Still, it's one of those rare lenses that just get me excited about photography, the view through the viewfinder is amazing with it :D Do you photograph?
@azn_x_strike - oh yeah, I thought it looked great with those fire escape shots. You're right Mandy, I think I over used it a bit. I think I should have used a normal 50mm lens a bit more.
That fire escape picture is wicked, when you scroll down it appears to be zooming in! I had to do it a few times before I realized it wasn't zooming... crazy! Great pictures! I can't wait to do some of my own.