San Francisco Photowalk!
I spent this rare day off from work walking MILES of San Francisco streets and hills. Armed with 2 cameras, I spent more walking and sightseeing than actually taking any photos. For one, I really wanted to capture people, but there weren't that many out today! I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the tsunami warning that kept people indoors on this otherwise beautiful day.
I hitched a ride into the city with my husband, who works near Pier 39. We parked at Stockton/Northpoint. My first stop was Safeway -- I had to get breakfast (mac n cheese). I then walked to Jack Early Park, where I was told by my husband there's a 180 degree view of the bay. However, the gate to the park was locked. A passerby had asked if there was a park up there and noticing my cameras, asked if I was there to take pictures of the tsunami. I explained that I was just out and about for no real reason. Next, I walked down to Pier 39 and realizing it was still very early, there weren't that many people at all.
It was quite empty that there weren't anything interesting to take photos of. I walked all the way to the dock where the USS Pampanito is at, then up to Fisherman's Wharf (and stopped at a nearby Walgreens for water). It got boring at the wharf, so I walked up Stockton Street, and ended up in North Beach. I was able to capture some neat architectural stuff on the way, such as an orange-painted apartment building and a couple of others on the way. Unfortunately, Sts. Peter Paul & Mary Church was being renovated so its beautiful exterior was covered up. I still took a picture of it.
I then looked at the Coit Tower from the church, and decided to defeat Telegraph Hill. I walked up the hill, the stairs, more stairs, more hill... GOD IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE, even for me, to make it. It was my first time to be that near the tower, so I looked around but didn't feel like paying the fare to take the elevator to the top. I did look out as much as I could, into the bay. Now it was around that time, based on my text message to my husband to inform him where I was, that the tsunami wave had entered the bay. Too bad I didn't know it at the time! Someone in Emeryville was able to capture a beautiful picture of the waves coming in, which I'm sure, I would have seen from Coit Tower had I only expected it.
After Coit, my feet took me through the southeast part of North Beach, nothing interesting there. I was tempted to go directly to Financial District but knowing I was going later, I decided to walk towards back to my husband so we could meet for lunch. I took the long way back along Embarcadero, and again, nothing interesting there.
I made it to Pier 39 and went window shopping for a while, since I got back a bit too early for lunch. In one of the stores, I got asked again if I was around to take pictures of the tsunami (maybe I should have just gone to the coast instead???) Husband and I met shortly after, and had a quick lunch at a nearby Boudin's.
After walking him back to work and a restroom break, I tackled Stockton St again on my way to meet a friend, Bern, who works in the Financial District. She ate her lunch while I drank my Cafe Freddo, and we walked around for a bit as I took a few more photos of downtown buildings. After parting with her, I bumped into my nephew on the way to meet another friend -- Lou -- who worked a couple of blocks away. A few minutes of chit chat, I went off again without a plan, stopped by St. Patrick's Church down the street to say a prayer. Before leaving, I took a photo from the back of the church. On my way again, I ended up at Union Square. I decided that I didn't want to walk anymore so I called my husband to just pick me up wherever I'd be when he gets off work. I did walk around the area, took a picture of some cable cars lined up at Powell St, a picture of Macy's, and contemplated going into St. Francis Hotel to take the elevator up to get a view of Union Square. Instead, I took a long break at Union Square, put away one of my cameras, and just left the 40D out.
It got surprisingly boring so despite the stiff that my legs became, I limped my way to Chinatown via Stockton St. And all of a sudden, there were photos to take! Chinatown became the highlight of my photowalk, even though, again, there weren't that many people out. I can safely say so because I didn't bump into anybody like usual. Well, I braved it out and walked my way back to my husband's office. I didn't realize how small Chinatown was because a short walk later, I was back in North Beach. I passed by the same block of trees from earlier that I took photos of, but I took more photos of them again to make sure I got something good. I was mostly looking for contrast in the shadows.
As I got to my destination, I waited on a bench outside of my husband's building and a man noticed my camera so we had a brief talk about Nikon vs. Canon (he was thinking of switching to Canon). I told him I've never really used a Nikon so I can't speak for it but that my Nikon friends love it.
So that was my day. I haven't had the chance to look at the pictures I took because as soon as we got home, I passed out on the couch. I skipped dinner and putting the kids to bed. But I did have to get up, at 1am to have my dinner and do some web updates for work (www.balitangamerica.tv). It's now 3:30 am and I have a pounding headache, so I will leave you with this...
Here is my map with my sloppily traced trail of the streets I walked. I will post some pictures on Facebook sometime next week.
