Driving with the Hippie Volkswagen-Bus to the coastline of San Francisco stopped immediately at that roadblock. The police were very strict, so we had to look after a parking lot and go all the way down to the coastline. But we were in walking mood anyway, so we added that distance to our planned coast walk at the sea. 🙂
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The hot spot of New York, the neon signs bring you the newest trends of the world, masses of people in the district, a very special flare in the night, thousands of different faces and cultures every minute, big black SUVs on the streets, many shops and groceries open 24 hours, buskers and musicians on the street, red line buses gathering tourists, here and there a cop. 🙂
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Often I am a bit precarious with photographing people, because I am not sure if they like it. This man was ready to pose for few seconds, which I used to take a fast shot. This happened at Haight Ashbury in San Francisco during a street fest. Though he wore sun glasses, I could make eye contact where he signaled I would be allowed to take photos.
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I visit nearly every Japanese Garden I can reach. I love the plants, the atmosphere, the little bridges, the tea houses, the Koi carps and the tidiness. I was lucky, that San Francisco has one of the greatest Japanese gardens I have ever seen. You find every Japanese artifact you can imagine, the whole facility very neat. Though you have to pay a little entry fee, you can combine it with the California Institute of Science or the De Young Museum.
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Our last day in San Francisco brought us to an observation deck at the hills in the south-west of SF. Since all photo equipment was packed already for the flight, I had only my Leica D-Lux 5 left. I thought, better than the phone and took my last shots of the Golden Gate Bridge with fog coming off the sea.
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The hot walk in the Pinnacle National Park reminded me of older episodes of the Star Trek series, with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. The landscape in the park looked similar as some planets where the crew of the Enterprise got beamed. The stones looked surreal, as the card box stones which made the movie sets. A walking adventure at 40 C / 105 F on dusty, stony paths in that “Star Trek adventure land.” 🙂
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More and more cities have it, the Aquarium. Often I think there is a competition which one is the most spectacular, that’s marketing. 🙂 This one in San Francisco is top, modern, fresh interiors and impressive aquariums in different variations like tunnels and big walls, some so big that I saw divers inside repairing the venting and feeding sharks. Photos handheld only with higher ISOs, it’s pretty dark in most places inside. You get a full ocean discovery tour and extensive description and documentation of under sea flora and fauna. Also a great place for kids, there were some school classes with dozens of pupils running and shouting. 🙂
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Where else, if not in San Francisco? Haight street is the synonym for the Hippie-times, and this was the stage for the Summer of Love 50th Anniversary. Hundreds of market stalls and kiosks lined the street where you got (bio)food, colored clothes and hats, weed utensils and hippie souvenirs. Musicians were playing on the streets and balconies, a high street fest. It must have been great times back then. 🙂
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Sometimes you have to act fast. I was in the middle of this street in San Francisco, both cameras were in my photo bag, only seconds before the next cars were coming, I grabbed my iPhone from my jeans pocket and was ready to shoot. For photos posted on websites, it’s often irrelevant if they originate from a smartphone or DSLR, most viewers won’t see a difference. The result counts, and that you have got the shot you wanted.
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Since we had some spare time before noon, my colleagues of Pure Storage event and me visited the California Institute of Sciences in San Francisco. A great building and exhibition, with a rain forest inside which stretches four levels, with a high variety of plants and butterflies. On the top, you can see that futuristic roof, which reminds me of a space ship ready for taking off. 🙂
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