Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Mill Valley, Sausalito, and San Francisco - California

I took a trip to both Muir Woods National Monument and Sausalito (pretty close together) a few month back. I took many photos at these 2 places and will be splitting the photos into several blog posts. If you want to see my Muir Woods National Monument and Sausalito photos from last year, you can do so here.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Muir Woods National Monument photos for 2013, use this link. To see my best Sausalito and Mill Valley photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts:
Muir Woods National Monument: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Mill Valley, Sausalito, and San Francisco: Photos

Today, I have photos from Sausalito, CA and San Francisco, CA. Some of the photos will be from my drive down to Sausalito from Muir Woods National Monument. The photos will include regular scenery and night photos.

After a long hike in Muir Woods National Monument, I was starving. Once I got to Sausalito, my family and I decided it was best to have dinner there. We decided to eat dinner at Scoma's Sausalito, a seafood restaurant in Sausalito, CA. The food there was very good, so I am here now giving them a quick shout out and review. Please note that I am not being compensated in anyway for this review. I'm putting this out here because I really enjoyed my meal.

While the food was a bit overpriced, it tasted very fresh and delicious. Also, the service was very good, the waiters were very polite and nice, and even offered to put pepper in my clam chowder. They also brought me complimentary sour dough bread, butter, and water. I may eat again if I go to Sausalito again. Very nice restaurant, and was packed when I got there. The waiter offered a 15 minute wait for the "main" part of the restaurant, or we can go directly and eat in the "bar". My family and I just chose the bar because we were all hungry. Had a great experience. I would give this restaurant a 4/5 stars with 1 star off because the food was a bit overpriced. If you visit Sausalito, I would definitely recommend this place.

It was very foggy up on top of the mountain in Mill Valley, CA from my drive from Muir Woods National Monument to Sausalito, CA. I shot several photos of the fog. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 53 41 N 122 33 38 W  

Just to give you an idea how foggy it was. You see that bridge off in the distance? It isn't actually off in the distance. It was only about 1 minute away from where I took the photo, and the speeds on this mountain road isn't very fast. Photo was shot from the same position as the one above. 

Another photo of the fog. Still shooting in the same position as the above 2 photos. 

The fog on top of the mountain in Mill Valley, CA pretty much engulfed the highway. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 53 16 N 122 33 17 W   

 A photo of the fog facing the other direction on the highway. 


It felt nice finally leaving the cold foggy mountain top and finally arrive in Sausalito. This is one of the first photos I took in Sausalito. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 15 N 122 28 44 W  

The Trident. This was the first restaurant my family considered to go eat dinner in however the restaurant seemed to be crowded with that many cars so we decided against that. Plus I really wanted fish and chips and I saw it on the menu outside at Scoma's Sausalito. LOL I shot this photo from the outside of Scoma's Sausalito which is built on a small pier right on the ocean while waiting for the chef's to finish cooking our food. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 53 41 N 122 33 38 W  

 After dinner, I decided to shoot a few more long exposures at night on the Scoma's Sausalito pier. Really nice view from there. Also did I mention all my Sausalito photos from this trip was shot on my Joby Gorillapod Focus? After a whole hike carrying my big bulky tripod, I decided to leave that in the car and lighten the load using only my Joby Gorillapod Focus. It sure lightened the weight, and was very steady for all my shots (including the long exposures at night). 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 15 N 122 28 43 W  

Another photo of Sausalito at night from the Scoma's Sausalito pier. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 14 N 122 28 42 W  

 Another photo of Sausalito at night from the Scoma's Sausalito pier. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 15 N 122 28 43 W  


Now I begin walking back to my car. Saw a group of photowalkers at Yee Tock Chee Park. Decided to join them for a photo of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge from the Sausalito side. I had no clue what was in the image when I framed it up due to the fact it was so dark and distant. After taking the photo, I noticed I got part of the Bay Bridge in my shot. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 18 N 122 28 43 W  

 Since I had such a great meal at Scoma's Sausalito, I decided to take a photo of the restaurant. Walked back a little bit and took a photo. That is the "pier" I took a few of my photos on. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 17 N 122 28 44 W  

A long exposure of a fountain in Vina Del Mar Park. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 51 22 N 122 28 46 W  

My original plan was to get a few Golden Gate and San Francisco shots from the Marin Headlands area, but my dad missed an exit and accidentally drove onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Decided that I might as well get a few shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from the San Francisco side then. Plus I live in the east bay, so we were going to take this route home anyways. One surprising thing I found out when viewing my photos is the fact that the Golden Gate Bridge is actually moving! At 100%, I can actually see a slight motion blur on the bridge which means the bridge is vibrating quite a lot. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 48 28 N 122 28 28 W  

Another photo of the Golden Gate Bridge at night from one of my most favorite spots in San Francisco for the Golden Gate Bridge. This photo was taken at the Fort Point/Torpedo Wharf area. When I got there, there was a park ranger closing the gates to Fort Point for the night which is why you see the red and blue lights on the fence on the left side. Thank you park ranger! Your police lights really added a contrast to the yellow lights lighting up the Golden Gate Bridge. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 48 32 N 122 28 19 W  

This is all the photos for today and for the Muir Woods and Sausalito trip. I hope you have enjoyed them. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts:
Muir Woods National Monument: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Mill Valley, Sausalito, and San Francisco: Photos