Golden Gate Mornings (September, 2014)

09/02/14 0643 to 0645: Well, the Labor Day weekend is behind us, a short long weekend spent trying to rest and recharge. Did wind up doing far too much this weekend after all. Sigh. However, a short week. Four days of work... and four days of work to do five days worth of work... onward and upward!
Foggy morning this, even though it was later (had to drop Jenn off at the airport)... so, 2 18mm panos and a surprisingly well aligned 35mm pano... the 18s follow the 35.

09/03/14 0549 to 0617: Arrived at the vista point to realize that the lights were all off along the stretch of road north of the Golden Gate Bridge to beyond the tunnel. Truly i was taking photos in the dark! Not clear if it was a power outage or simply a collateral effect of the construction currently underway around the bridge. Nonetheless, the photos progress. In the first (and possibly the second) pano, one can notice a floating plane of white lights. This belong to a ship of some sort. Though what type of ship was unable to be discerned due to the inky black darkness in the bay.

09/04/14 0547 to 0611: Surprisingly populous at the vista point today... well, with cars at least, one can only guess where their occupants were. Foggy morning, misty but warm -- with sudden gusts of chilling gale... yes, gale, not breeze... breeze doesn't shake one about with the blowing.

09/05/14 0636: So... perhaps i got up a wee bit late today... and perhaps that had to do with the amount of Maker's Mark i had with dinner... one looses track... it tastes so good going down your throat... anyhow... two photos roughly a minute apart... i didn't get a shot of the guy going over the wall (i think to retrieve something) and completely ignoring the "danger!" and "protected area, landscape rehabilitation in progress" signs (alright, not the exact wording, but pretty close)... he also had a funny way of taking photos... as you can see.

09/08/14 0649 A new week begins! and, as with the first day of the work week, a photo of the bay in the light of day... a rather nice day, if a little grey... pulled into the vista point to find a forlorn looking city worker sweeping the sidewalks while wearing a jaunty hawaiian shirt and a yellow, high visibility, safety vest and a fellow doing the "i am the king of the world" scene from the movie Titanic while the woman with him shoots photos of him...

09/09/14 0550 to 0558 A warm morning... nice breeze at the Vista Point and ships coming and going. Were it not for the fact that the day was still dark, i would've been able to catch the out going ship... a vast flat platform of lights... cruising at speed out of the Gate... what a wonderful, but lost, sight!

09/10/14 0535 to 0623 Strangely crowded field this morning... other early morning wanderers populated the vista point, three even remained through the early morning dark to await the eventual sunrise... and what a sunrise it was, a nice departure from the depressing news of the world and the banter about the coming 9/11 anniversary...

and, since yesterday was the night of the "super moon", i shot a pano at 18mm of the morning's remaining moon atop the Marin Headlands...

09/11/14 0551 to 0611 The temperature in the Bay Area is fluctuating again, a warm spell begun last night and, like clockwork, a foggy morning enveloped the vista point. The fog was low under a clear sky... i yearned for a wider angle lens so that i can capture the grandeur of it all... the moonlit clouds, clear and silver before the inky blue/black backdrop of the night sky. Stars shimmer as wisps of clouds float lazily by... then the grey warm haze that cloaks the bay, obscuring all and glowing red where the bridge lights strives to shine through... breathtaking! Though, because of the usual troubles with stitching panos in fog, today's shots were all at 18mm

09/12/14 0527 to 0617 dark, lonely and slightly foggy... till the bicyclists all showed up ... but another good morning of photos... except for the extra shaking due mostly to lack of sleep and a lingering headache... sigh... getting too old... but it is Friday... so there is good in that!

09/15/14 0527 to 0619 wow... almost the same times as last friday... that is rather goofy... but... Monday and another week begins... so, here is to another week of yet undiscovered fun!

09/16/14 0639 to 0641 Dropped Jenn off at SFO and wandered on to the Vista Point in full day light... but was once again reminded me how quickly things can change on the bay... a span of two minutes and we have a ship and human motility on display! huzzah!!

09/17/14 0537 to 0613 Oh... sleep... deprived... but so pretty... ugh

09/18/14 06 0603 to 0625 A muggy morning on the vista that transitioned to a light rain... validating the weather person's prediction of 30% chance of precipitation... go figure! Boy, do we need the rain... things are tinder dry these days.

09/19/14 0551 Just like clock work, as the weather changes in the bay area, the fog comes a rolling in. Today, it was muggy at the vista and the fog, thick and unrelenting... 18mm panos were the only thing that would work and so that was what i took. However, due to the darkness, i couldn't get the entire panoramic as usual. What remains is of just the bridge span... sigh. Lots of vans also showed up around 6... i think there was a race over the bridge sometime today... yay!

09/22/14 0546 to 0625 Oh, it is going to be a warm week up here in the Bay... but it does portent well for clear fog free photos of the bridge and surrounds though. This morning, the Princess cruise line's ship arrived before i did... but i did get it as it sailed toward the Bay Bridge and docked... it is the bright light show on the water...

09/23/14 0606 to 0624 Late start to the morning... Millies was quite vocal this morning, shadowing my every move and i just couldn't leave without spending some time with her. My schedule of late has meant 17-19 hours away from home and that i constantly worry that she feels left out or alone... So we communed for a bit on the couch this morning and i watched the last episode of Aldnoah Zero...

09/24/14 0604 to 0627 Another late start... but this time due to the fact that Millie braved the ceiling fan and joined me in the bedroom and kept me up most of the night with her need for attention... sigh... silly cat... This morning i was joined by two persons, their physical being and image ghosts can be seen in the pano. One is a Korean fellow and the other is a person who just drove down from Yosemite in a car with Nevada plates. Mr. Nevada plates had a camera on a tripod, waiting for the sun rise... the Korean fellow was eagerly chatting at Mr. Nevada on subjects ranging from stem cells to why the Nevada fellow was still single though he is "handsome guy"... strange morning.

9/25/2014 0537 to 0548 Rain rain rain! just a few quick snaps before i am on the road to work again... quite a pretty morning though,..

09/26/2014 0600 to 0623 FRIDAY!!! YAY! phew... made it another week... and what a glorious morning to be photographing... the light, the clouds... hell, the planes taking off... and a cruise ship by the Bay Bridge, docked and lit up like a Texas Cat House! Happy Day!

09/29/14 0544 to 0601 A foggy Monday morning opens the week. i wonder what the weather is going to change into? Because of the fog, only a single 35mm pano was accomplished before i had to zoom out to aide the pano construction and control point finding. Monday... so begins another week...

09/30/14 0554 to 0620 Late night and early morning, that is the cadence of my life these days... not that it is much different from the schedules i used to keep, but truly, there is naught but a rather cute cat to keep me at home anymore... but boy, do i look forward to the weekends... a beautiful morning this, last of September. Somehow, i think there were mosquitoes or no-see-ums out in force this morning... got bit a few times by wee bitty things... now, itchy shoulders and back... sigh...