If you’ve seen pictures of San Francisco, you’ve seen pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, and so when thinking about things to see and photograph while in the city… of course this was way up on our list. I think for Holly it was actually #1, especially after realizing we wouldn’t get to go to Alcatraz because we’d waited too late to buy tickets (that was a major downer). The only question that really remains is, where is the best place to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge and how do you get there?
Like most large structures, the bridge offers many angles and vantage points from which to photograph. I was personally after that classic view of the Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco in the background. That specific view happens to be from the North side of the bridge, up on the hill in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. If you’ve been around the blog at all, you know I really like to shoot at night or in late evening when the sky is nice and navy… and this is where the fun starts.
I have a blog rolling around in my head bemoaning the public transportation system in San Francisco but for now I’ll spare you ALL the details. Suffice it to say though, this story captures my opinions quite well. Getting to and from the South side of the Golden Gate Bridge is quite easy. From where I was staying on Embarcadero I could walk a few yards to catch a bus and then only had to change buses once. Getting to the North side though, well that’s a different story. I knew that there was a road off of the Vista Point exit that would take me where I wanted to go, but not wanting to waste time wandering around, my friend and I just decided to catch a cab… well, more specifically a Lyft car (the hipster anti-cab “ride sharing” service with the pink mustache). The guy that picked us up was AWESOME. He knew exactly where to drop us off for the picture I was looking for and after making our “donation”, he bid us a good evening. I got all the pictures I wanted and we made our way back down the hill on foot… eventually figuring out how to go under the bridge to get to the Vista Point parking lot (it took a State Trooper who thought we were going to walk out into the highway to get us there LOL). Once there we started getting that sinking feeling in our stomachs that we were trapped… a feeling that was later confirmed by a cop patrolling by bicycle. Wouldn’t you know it… the only bus stop on the North side of the bridge goes North. Yep, no way to get back into the city from there via public transportation. Makes sense… right?
We immediately started calling cab companies in both San Francisco and Sausalito and quickly realized we were in no-man’s land. Companies in San Francisco said it wasn’t worth their time to come over there, and the one place we got ahold of in Sausalito gave us the vibe that he really didn’t want the job… and then told us it would be two hours before he could get there, confirming that he didn’t want the job. My buddy Mike and I looked at each other and stated the now obvious conclusion; it was time to start walking the 1.7 miles back across to the other side of the bridge. 🙁 Once there our luck changed for the better. There was a cash only cab sitting in the parking lot who agreed to take us where we needed to go for what little cash we happened to have on us. What was supposed to be a couple hour adventure turned into something much more… but so it goes in San Francisco.
Good times!
–Dan Thompson