I first started chasing low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2011. At first it didnt matter what the sky looked like, as long as the fog was so low that the top of the bridge towers could be seen. Then I started to get pickier: I wanted the fog so low that it was just at the level of the deck of the bridge. And of course, then I wanted the ultimate: low fog and beautiful high thin clouds. Ive photographed low fog at the Golden Gate Bridge many times. Ive also photographed beautiful sunrises there; one thing I had never photographed was both at the same time. For 5 years all of us have watched, waited, and prayed it would happen.
I spent Friday evening celebrating 7 years of friendship with Sammi; we went out to dinner, got drinks, and relaxed with a movie. I happened to check my work messages and saw one of my coworkers post that there was log fog at the Golden Gate Bridge. I partially ignored it – I was having a good time and I didnt need to go for yet-another fog day. At 1am, debating if I should stay up playing games, I happened to check my Escaype app and noticed it was a 100 chance of a beautiful sunrise with 0 chance of it being ruined. The perfect conditions I better get to bed
In my race to get to bed I completely botched my calculation for when I needed to wake up. When I finally woke up at 4:30am I realized my mistake – I was going to miss the conditions I had waited so many years for. Thankfully no cops were waiting to pull me over as I raced along the highway, clearly breaking the speed limit. Looking to my right as I drove, I noticed the pre-sunrise burn had already started. I was missing my conditions I arrived at Hawk Hill just before the clouds burst into peak color, ran up the hill and started firing away. I had missed the blue hour conditions that I so desperately wanted but did manage to capture this. Oh well – guess Ill just need to wait another 5 years and not sleep through it next time
Pretty much every photographer I knew was there too. It was great seeing you all and reveling its beauty
Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8:
36mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 100
