Bay Bridge – Decaseconds

How Did I Miss These?

2023-Jun-262023-Jun-25 adohertyh3 Comments

A post came on social media from more than 11 years ago reminded me of trips around the Bay Area; comparing my RAW files with the images I ultimately posted to Decaseconds originally left me asking, “How did I miss these?”

In past cases of reprocessing pictures, I took another approach to images I already knew were solid. This first image today, boat sailing near Point Bonita lighthouse north of San Francisco, is in a whole different category: I hadn’t remember that I’d taken the image at all.

The occasion was a trip to the Legion of Honor and Lincoln Park. Back then, not a single picture made it to Decaseconds. Many of the images from that day suffered from issues that I know how to correct now, but didn’t yet have the tools to conquer in early 2012.

These pictures from a trip to Treasure Island to shoot the San Francisco skyline are likewise mystifying. I posted only a single picture from that trip.

The old and new spans of the Bay Bridge, side-by-side, is a literally now-unseeable image.

Though a lot of posts came of our trip to the Marin Headlands to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge, this more natural shot of the rocky coastline (those little black dots are sea birds) has its own kind of large-scale glory.

Of course, a trip back through my photography in the Bay Area wouldn’t be complete without a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge that I previously ignored.

Old Modern Shapes

2014-Apr-09 adohertyh2 Comments

At the dawn of the twentieth century, all was hopeful and “excellent.” When the Bay Bridge opened in 1936, human ingenuity could solve any problem, bridges replaced ferries, cars replaced horses, aircraft would soon replace trains. Now we’re orphans of the future, living in a world when “modernity” is in the past, and epic symbols of the era and its architecture are quickly becoming relics. Though I have no nostalgia for much of the social/cultural mores of the time period, I do find it fascinating to look upon the structures built “for the future” from the standpoint of that future. Perhaps it makes me wonder, just a bit, what we build for our own future now.

Cloud City

2013-Jun-11 emceehammr3 Comments

I believe I’ve commented before that San Francisco, once the clouds roll in, bears some resemblance to the Bespin’s cloud city, especially with Sutro tower poking out above everything else.

Lit Bridge

2013-May-14 emceehammrLeave a comment

It’s no Golden Gate Bridge, but the bay bridge lit up at night is a pretty spectacular sight with the water lit up beneath it.

Glowing Handrail

2013-Jan-22 emceehammr1 Comment

The lighting on this particular evening on San Francisco’s waterfront was spectacular and created this interesting effect as if the handrail on this pier were illuminated. It makes the Bay Bridge seem much more futuristic if you ask me.

View From the Hills

2012-Jul-192012-Jul-17 emceehammr1 Comment

The hills that rise above Berkeley and the east bay are home to some of the most spectacular vistas — when the weather is nice. On this particular day we were just lucky enough to get a patch of blue sky peaking through the bleak grey clouds, which was enough to completely light up the east bay while leaving the gloom looming over the city.

Two Bridges

2012-Feb-202012-Feb-16 emceehammr1 Comment

One more shot of this iconic structure, I found this shot compelling because you can see not only the Golden Gate bridge but also its cousin, the Bay Bridge as well as the SF skyline in the background there. If the shot were only a bit wider you’d be able to see Alcatraz and you’d be close to fitting almost all of the Bay Area’s most famous landmarks in one shot.

The Bay Bridge

2012-Feb-062012-Feb-06 emceehammrLeave a comment

Here we’ve got a shot of the construction on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge as shot from Treasure Island with the port of Oakland in the background.

The Span

2012-Feb-022012-Feb-02 adohertyh3 Comments

The Bay Bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco is actually a pair of bridges, resting for a moment on the island of Yerba Buena. Attached to Yerba Buena is the ironically-named Treasure Island, a man-made island composed entirely of fill. From there, photographing either the East Bay or San Francisco itself works out quite nicely. Today’s shot of the western span of the bridge has a bit of the unlit Yerba Buena outcropping on the left and the hyperintense lights of AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants) under the bridge. On this particularly clear night, I was thrilled to be able to capture it all without a thick slathering of fog.