FocratesPhotography

Travel photography: USA
Cities

November 12, 2016

General

Although I passed through many cities during my trip I just took very few photos which is why this article turned out to be rather short. I consider myself more of a nature photographer – artificial objects simply don't interest me so much. The combination of landscapes and manmade structures can often lead to interesting compositions and I think have some of those examples in here.

View over the City of Albuquerque, NM as seen from the Sandia Mountains. The thunderstorm in the background was a happy occurrence for me since it lasted from sunset until after dark and I had time to experiment with different light and exposure levels with lightning almost on every image.
A view that does not need an explanation. San Francisco is definitely called the foggy city for a reason. During my one week stay I never saw the Golden Gate Bridge in its entirety since most of it was in the fog at all times.
View from Bakers Beach.
On literally the last day of my stay the fog cleared up and gave me the opportunity to take this picture. The overcast sky and therefore rather boring lighting does not make this a special image but it's better than nothing I suppose.
San Francisco is known for its hills and steep roads, I think these images capture this quite well.
The town hall is the seat of government of San Francisco.
The iconic cable cars. Surprisingly it is still possible and legal to stand on the side of the car and just hold on.
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay is home to the famous abandoned prison and the oldest lighthouse of the West Coast.
The Prison was turned into a very fascinating museum.
Top: Cell Block D.
Bottom: Interior of a cell in the main tract.
The lighthouse in the courtyard.
Los Angeles city hall with the colorful Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain in the foreground.
The famous Hollywood sign at sunset.
View over downtown LA from Griffith Observatory.
The 305 mm Zeiss refracting telescope from 1935.
Finding a spot where you can photograph the observatory exactly from the front is a bit harder than it looks.
Century city, LA.
Downtown LA as seen from Baldwin Hills. This would be a perfect vantage point for sunset pictures but the strong haze unfortunately made the mountains very faint and the colors completely washed out. When the colors don't turn out I'm always inclined to process the image as black and white.
San Diego downtown at sunset.

To be continued…

The next article will feature more and especially large wildlife. Continue here.


Thanks for reading!


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