Rob Kroenert
Golden Gate Lights
The best part is the moment you rise out of the fog and suddenly the entire scene opens up – the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge towers, the pre-dawn lights of the City, Coit Tower, Twin Peaks, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Berkeley, Oakland, and Mount Diablo in the distance, a fog horn sounding at regular intervals and a massive cargo ship returning from or leaving on a long trip.
The odds of low fog rolling through the Golden Gate seem to be much higher when there’s a jump in temperature. The forecast this past weekend called for hotter-than-usual weather, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5am on Saturday and Sunday and sure enough – low fog both mornings.
I arrived early enough to shoot from pitch black pre-dawn all the way until after sunrise, and – as usual – my favorite shots are from the brief transition point where it’s just bright enough to show the shape of the fog and add color to the sky but not so bright that it overpowers the glow of the tower lights. It’s a surprisingly short window – maybe 5-10 minutes – and even then it helps to use a graduated ND filter to balance out the sky.
Golden Gate Lights
The best part is the moment you rise out of the fog and suddenly the entire scene opens up – the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge towers, the pre-dawn lights of the City, Coit Tower, Twin Peaks, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Berkeley, Oakland, and Mount Diablo in the distance, a fog horn sounding at regular intervals and a massive cargo ship returning from or leaving on a long trip.
The odds of low fog rolling through the Golden Gate seem to be much higher when there’s a jump in temperature. The forecast this past weekend called for hotter-than-usual weather, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5am on Saturday and Sunday and sure enough – low fog both mornings.
I arrived early enough to shoot from pitch black pre-dawn all the way until after sunrise, and – as usual – my favorite shots are from the brief transition point where it’s just bright enough to show the shape of the fog and add color to the sky but not so bright that it overpowers the glow of the tower lights. It’s a surprisingly short window – maybe 5-10 minutes – and even then it helps to use a graduated ND filter to balance out the sky.