San Francisco Bay Area Photography

Golden Gate Bridge (and Richmond, San Francisco) Seen from Fort Baker at Night

Jung Kim — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:02:54 +0000

I took this shot of Golden Gate Bridge and Richmond, San Francisco, under the bridge back in March. Though windy, the air wasn’t all that clear for a March evening. Lighting, however, was too good to pass up the opportunity to take a couple of shots. Those shots proved to be worth-while as I spent another hour or so to get this below shot.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to reduce the noise level in the picture – but in the end, left the image mostly untouched. The deep blue sky is a product of white balance adjustment – the sodium vapor lights on the bridge was bright, harsh and ugly and the color temperature was brought down to soften the sodium vapor lighting.

Taken with Nikon D300, Nikkor 35-70mm F/2.8D, F/10, 15 seconds, aperture priority, spot metering, ISO 200, 14-bit color, post processed with Nikon Capture NX.

San Rafael – Moon Over Richmond Bridge

Jung Kim — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:07:59 +0000

I had an opportunity to test an image stitching software called Quickage by i2k. I took two shots from Gerstle Park in San Rafael looking over the Richmond Bridge, using moon as the focal point and overlapping it in those shot, about a year ago.

I’ve tried a few stitching software to make a panorama view and wasn’t happy with the result until I tried Quickage.

Here is my initial impression:

Strength:

clean, easiest interface – pick two or more pictures and click a button
excellent job maintaining the picture integrity – very little loss of sharpness
seemless integration and cropping

Weakness:

very limited options over the image – no editing capability
reads/saves jpeg or tiff file only

I’ll experiment more with this software as the quality of the output is certainly good enough.

As per agreement (just honest review and links), here is the link to the company site and Quickage:

http://www.i2align.com/

http://www.i2align.com/photographic_panorama_montage_software.php

Post Office at Curry Village, Yosemite

Jung Kim — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:00:02 +0000

This is a shot taken at Curry Village in June, 2008, at dusk. It’s an operating post office with Half Dome in the background.

Presidio Yacht Club, Fort Baker

Jung Kim — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:53:28 +0000

A shot of old building at Presidio Yacht Club, located at old military site called Fort Baker, at night time. For more information, here is the link to the website – Presidio Yacht Club

Artist Working at Rodeo Cove

Jung Kim — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:31:36 +0000

Frigid, foggy air makes a walk at the beach almost unbearable when I found an artist working away. I don’t know how long she has been painting in this bitter cold day. . .

This is a life in Northern California.

Marin Islands and Richmond San Rafael Bridge at Night

Jung Kim — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:24:51 +0000

I rarely see a picture of East Marin Island and West Marin Island – probably for a good reason. They are little unpretentious islands that nobody notices. One night, I was driving on Point San Pedro Road in San Rafael and decided to stop for some photos. The cars on Richmond (San Rafael) Bridge providing background lighting, a long exposure captured some interesting reflection.

(click photo for larger view)

Mt Tam Seen From John F McInnis Park

Jung Kim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:54:14 +0000

This was taken on Sept. 19th as sun was setting behind the Mt. Tam mostly covered in rolling fog. I had a good long practice at the driving range when I saw the sun light defusing through the fog and reflected on the water. Fortunately, I had my camera and tripod and was able to get few shots off.

(click photo for larger view)

Mt. Tam from Point San Pedro, San Rafael

Jung Kim — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:09 +0000

Another night shot from Point San Pedro, San Rafael looking westward. Around 11 pm, there isn’t many place where you can get a shot of Mt. Tam.

It was tricky to find a place without direct light – I left shutter open over 2 minutes – any direct light would glow too much and take over the picture.

Manual mode with f/8 (typically the sharpest point for lens).

(click photo for larger view)

Into The City, San Francisco, Part 3

Jung Kim — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:24:51 +0000

Third time is not a charm with this picture. Third try and I still can’t get a good shot of the city. This is taken on Mariposa Street over-looking 280 on March 25, 2008.

This was taken with Nikon D300 and 50mm f/1.8D. Manual mode, f/11 at 20 seconds.

Inverness, Marin County

Jung Kim — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:08:11 +0000

40 Miles north of San Francisco, tucked away in beautiful Marin is a little town called Inverness. Calm bay water and very little local traffic make this an ideal weekend location. There were a birthday party and an old man with fishing rod and a golden retriever when we arrived.