Our Last Evening in San Francisco
Our visit earlier in the day to The Palace of Fine Arts was beautiful and, honestly, I could have spent another few hours there just shooting photos of the gardens, architecture and wildlife. I am drawn to classic architecture and this architecture is classic, immense and not something you see often on this continent. Additionally, there was plenty of wildlife to capture in images all day long as well.
The environment, as a whole, was peaceful and comfortable while the weather was sunny and beautiful especially since we were still mostly accustomed to the snowy, wintry weather we had departed just a week earlier. Unfortunately, our time in San Francisco was very limited since this was just one city of many we visited during our long cross-country journey by rail. We had a lot to fit into two short weeks so there was no lingering to be done during any of our sightseeing excursions. Before long, we needed to get going.
We had one more thing planned for our day after walking around The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco so, even here in this beautiful and peaceful outdoor Palace, we knew we were on a bit of a tight schedule. Of course, just seeing and experiencing this grand, life-size piece of art for only a short time was far better than skipping the experience altogether. It was better to see it briefly than not see it at all.
After making a complete lap around the grounds, the sun was beginning to get a bit low and shadows a bit long so we knew we needed to get moving. We had planned to meet Sheila's cousin, Gary, at a restaurant in downtown San Francisco for dinner so we needed to head back to our rooms to freshen up and get a change of clothes for our night on the town.
Before heading back to the Inn, I knew we would be hoping for a few cold refreshments in our rooms for before dinner as well as for after dinner. Adam and I also knew it would be a special night so I suggested that we look for a convenience store before heading back to the Inn. Sheila and Sue stayed at The Palace of Fine Arts while Adam, Joi, Will and I walked a few blocks to the nearest bodega to purchase a few different types of drinks.
I think Sheila and Sue thought we were nuts for this last minute run to a store but they weren't aware at this point that Adam intended to ask Joi for her hand in marriage. At this point, only Adam and I were in on this plan. I asked Sheila and Sue if they wanted any drinks for the room and then the four of us headed a few blocks away in search of a store while Sheila and Sue relaxed in the sun at The Palace of Fine Arts.
After freshening up a bit and getting a change of clothes for our night on the town, Adam and Joi were ready before everyone else. In the photo below, they are relaxing on the porch of the Inn as they wait for the rest of our group...
Everyone was ready on time and now we are waiting on our car to take us downtown...
We made our way into San Francisco to meet Gary for a delicious meal at Original Joe's...
After dinner and a proposal, we walked a block away to a church so we could attempt to do an impromptu engagement photo shoot... in the dark... with no photography lights or flashes. Now I was a bit worried.
Adam and Joi had scoped out the area after the proposal while the rest of us talked at our table. While they were out and about after the proposal, they found a church a block away that they felt would make a nice area for some engagement photos.
They came back into the restaurant and asked if I would mind shooting some engagement photos. I have to admit that my first thoughts about this last second engagement shoot idea were leaning toward this being a total photographic disaster... dark, grainy photos... motion blurring... flat photos... crazy, uncontrollable shadows producing dark raccoon eyes... I was now wishing I had at least one small flash head and a white umbrella. Regardless, I agreed to give it a shot with not a single light.
We stepped outside and Adam pointed to where the church was located... I was able to just make it out a block away on the other side of a very dark park. There were some relatively dim streetlights lighting the sidewalks and streets but the lights were so high that I was concerned about getting dark raccoon eyes.
Eyes with no light on them are referred to as "dead eyes" by photographers because they make the subject/model look lifeless. Without illuminated eyes, it is impossible to capture emotion. Without emotion, photos become typical, run-of-the-mill snapshots. That is not what anyone wants when you think of engagement photos. I was worried about this plan... or, well, lack of a plan. To be honest and to the point, I don't accept "snapshots" as true photography and I definitely wasn't about to start producing snapshots on an engagement shoot.
We had to balance positioning Adam and Joi in available light from streetlights... trying to get the available light to illuminate their eyes... avoiding crazy shadows across their faces... keeping the shutter speed fast enough to capture crisp photos... while still avoiding crazy, distracting backgrounds. Plus, it was getting a little bit damp and chilly at this point so Joi was warming up in a jacket between shots because she was shivering without the jacket. It was a memorable night for many reasons, not the least of which was this unplanned photo shoot, that is for sure!
Even though I was there and I was actually the one who shot all these photos, looking at these few engagement photos now, I am still amazed that we successfully accomplished this challenging photo shoot with no planning and absolutely no lights or flashes. It was so dark out there and the lighting was horrendous yet the colors in these images look well-saturated, there are great tonal qualities, each photo is crisp with no motion blurring and we somehow managed to get illuminated eyes! I knew that I would need to shoot photos in the restaurant during the actual engagement and I had planned on that (although I was still a bit worried about being in an overly dark restaurant) but I had not planned on a short engagement photo shoot... at night... in unfamiliar streets... in the dark... I truly am amazed at these results.
Everything about this day was memorable... and it was a very long day! We started the day by hiking along the western border of The Presidio overlooking the Pacific Ocean... walking across the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful day... then walking back across the Golden Gate Bridge in damp, chilly fog... exploring The Palace of Fine Arts... but our dinner with Gary while Adam proposed marriage to Joi was perhaps the most memorable part of this long and eventful day.
Dinner was delicious and the company was very enjoyable. Thanks, Gary, for showing us a bit of downtown San Francisco and hosting us for a delicious dinner.
At this point in the evening, regretfully, it was time for us to head back to our suites on The Presido, begin packing, and begin to say goodbye to what would become our most memorable and pleasurable stay throughout our journey. We would be departing The Presidio and heading back to the train station early in the morning to begin our cross-country rail journey back home...
The environment, as a whole, was peaceful and comfortable while the weather was sunny and beautiful especially since we were still mostly accustomed to the snowy, wintry weather we had departed just a week earlier. Unfortunately, our time in San Francisco was very limited since this was just one city of many we visited during our long cross-country journey by rail. We had a lot to fit into two short weeks so there was no lingering to be done during any of our sightseeing excursions. Before long, we needed to get going.
We had one more thing planned for our day after walking around The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco so, even here in this beautiful and peaceful outdoor Palace, we knew we were on a bit of a tight schedule. Of course, just seeing and experiencing this grand, life-size piece of art for only a short time was far better than skipping the experience altogether. It was better to see it briefly than not see it at all.
After making a complete lap around the grounds, the sun was beginning to get a bit low and shadows a bit long so we knew we needed to get moving. We had planned to meet Sheila's cousin, Gary, at a restaurant in downtown San Francisco for dinner so we needed to head back to our rooms to freshen up and get a change of clothes for our night on the town.
Before heading back to the Inn, I knew we would be hoping for a few cold refreshments in our rooms for before dinner as well as for after dinner. Adam and I also knew it would be a special night so I suggested that we look for a convenience store before heading back to the Inn. Sheila and Sue stayed at The Palace of Fine Arts while Adam, Joi, Will and I walked a few blocks to the nearest bodega to purchase a few different types of drinks.
I think Sheila and Sue thought we were nuts for this last minute run to a store but they weren't aware at this point that Adam intended to ask Joi for her hand in marriage. At this point, only Adam and I were in on this plan. I asked Sheila and Sue if they wanted any drinks for the room and then the four of us headed a few blocks away in search of a store while Sheila and Sue relaxed in the sun at The Palace of Fine Arts.
After freshening up a bit and getting a change of clothes for our night on the town, Adam and Joi were ready before everyone else. In the photo below, they are relaxing on the porch of the Inn as they wait for the rest of our group...
Everyone was ready on time and now we are waiting on our car to take us downtown...
We made our way into San Francisco to meet Gary for a delicious meal at Original Joe's...
After dinner and a proposal, we walked a block away to a church so we could attempt to do an impromptu engagement photo shoot... in the dark... with no photography lights or flashes. Now I was a bit worried.
Adam and Joi had scoped out the area after the proposal while the rest of us talked at our table. While they were out and about after the proposal, they found a church a block away that they felt would make a nice area for some engagement photos.
They came back into the restaurant and asked if I would mind shooting some engagement photos. I have to admit that my first thoughts about this last second engagement shoot idea were leaning toward this being a total photographic disaster... dark, grainy photos... motion blurring... flat photos... crazy, uncontrollable shadows producing dark raccoon eyes... I was now wishing I had at least one small flash head and a white umbrella. Regardless, I agreed to give it a shot with not a single light.
We stepped outside and Adam pointed to where the church was located... I was able to just make it out a block away on the other side of a very dark park. There were some relatively dim streetlights lighting the sidewalks and streets but the lights were so high that I was concerned about getting dark raccoon eyes.
Eyes with no light on them are referred to as "dead eyes" by photographers because they make the subject/model look lifeless. Without illuminated eyes, it is impossible to capture emotion. Without emotion, photos become typical, run-of-the-mill snapshots. That is not what anyone wants when you think of engagement photos. I was worried about this plan... or, well, lack of a plan. To be honest and to the point, I don't accept "snapshots" as true photography and I definitely wasn't about to start producing snapshots on an engagement shoot.
We had to balance positioning Adam and Joi in available light from streetlights... trying to get the available light to illuminate their eyes... avoiding crazy shadows across their faces... keeping the shutter speed fast enough to capture crisp photos... while still avoiding crazy, distracting backgrounds. Plus, it was getting a little bit damp and chilly at this point so Joi was warming up in a jacket between shots because she was shivering without the jacket. It was a memorable night for many reasons, not the least of which was this unplanned photo shoot, that is for sure!
Even though I was there and I was actually the one who shot all these photos, looking at these few engagement photos now, I am still amazed that we successfully accomplished this challenging photo shoot with no planning and absolutely no lights or flashes. It was so dark out there and the lighting was horrendous yet the colors in these images look well-saturated, there are great tonal qualities, each photo is crisp with no motion blurring and we somehow managed to get illuminated eyes! I knew that I would need to shoot photos in the restaurant during the actual engagement and I had planned on that (although I was still a bit worried about being in an overly dark restaurant) but I had not planned on a short engagement photo shoot... at night... in unfamiliar streets... in the dark... I truly am amazed at these results.
Everything about this day was memorable... and it was a very long day! We started the day by hiking along the western border of The Presidio overlooking the Pacific Ocean... walking across the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful day... then walking back across the Golden Gate Bridge in damp, chilly fog... exploring The Palace of Fine Arts... but our dinner with Gary while Adam proposed marriage to Joi was perhaps the most memorable part of this long and eventful day.
Dinner was delicious and the company was very enjoyable. Thanks, Gary, for showing us a bit of downtown San Francisco and hosting us for a delicious dinner.
At this point in the evening, regretfully, it was time for us to head back to our suites on The Presido, begin packing, and begin to say goodbye to what would become our most memorable and pleasurable stay throughout our journey. We would be departing The Presidio and heading back to the train station early in the morning to begin our cross-country rail journey back home...
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