Photos as I Like It

Moving on to option four for access on and off the island of Alameda, I planned a ferry ride for the 10am moment. I have a friend visiting, so I figured this would be a fun outing to take the ferry into the City and then wander around a bit and take the ferry back. (Of course, this being my run-nine-miles-for-fun friend, Galen, that meant we climbed the approximately 400 steps up to Coit Tower and back down, on our way from Pier 39 to the Ferry Building.) Even though it ended up being a fairly foggy/overcast day, the ferry ride was fun and great views all the way across. I love in this picture that the water is shining from the little bit of sunlight and how you can see the strength of the wind from the whipping of the flag. 10am on May 30 And, I had to post this one outtake from the ferry ride. As we were approaching the dock, a flock of seagulls decided to tag along and I love this shot of how close one bird got, with the little bit of skyline below. Molly 10am Sar...

Keeping in the theme of transportation on and off the island of Alameda, this morning I decided to check out the Fruitvale Bridge . I discovered while reading about it this morning, that it used to be the route for a train to come to the island. That is now officially defunct, but some of the tracks are still there. Instead of the bridge picture I was planning, I was very intrigued with the remnants of the train tracks with weeds and stones starting to blend in. 9am on May 12 Molly 9am Sarah 9am

Continuing the theme of transportation options on and off the island of Alameda, here is a rush hour picture of the Posey Tube. The Posey/Webster Street Tubes is my most frequented route on and off the island. But, having the luxury of working from home, I don't often experience it during rush hour, and this morning at 8am there was definitely a back up of cars making the trek to work. 8am on April 30 Molly 8am   Sarah 8am

I was very excited to find something for 7am, just past sunrise to highlight the entry of daylight hours to our challenge. But as I woke up on Wednesday I discovered it was quit a foggy overcast day.  I decided to photograph the Park Street Bridge. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but Alameda is an island, right next to Oakland and in the middle of the Bay. I think there are only four or five ways to get there, a tunnel, some bridges and a ferry. (Maybe the rest will be future subjects.) Other than the Webster/Posey tunnel/tube, the Park Street Bridge is one of the most well known, and like many other bridges in the Bay Area, has it's own style and distinctive color, green.  Here's the perspective of a pedestrian looking east into Oakland. 7am on April 9 Molly 7am Sarah 7am

I figured by the time we reached 6am this would start getting easier, but for some reason last night I did not sleep well and kept waking up thinking it was time to go. This is our first moment that was on a weekday and there was no time to return to bed for a nap. Plus I had a general idea where I wanted to go, but not exactly what would work and how much light there would be yet, and it was raining, so today was a bit of a challenge. All this lead up explains my blur on purpose of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco skyline. I went out with the intention of finding something across from the Oakland port where there are cranes and ships and lots of lights, but nothing quite worked. It was pretty dark still and cloudy and rainy, and I felt a little odd wandering around an old abandoned Navy base, shooting through a chain link fence, so this was a quick capture with no tripod setup and a lot of very dark, black Bay in between me and San Francisco. I really am looking forward to dayligh...

For the 5am moment, I have another new location to feature. I'm in Santa Cruz, which is the beach town I grew up in. Not knowing what would be lit at this time of the morning, I gave myself extra time and drove along west cliff to see if there were any interesting lights from the wharf or Boardwalk. It was pretty dark for awhile, and then I found a few lights reflecting off the water from the wharf and surrounding shops and hotels.  5am on March 22 Molly 5am Sarah 5am

For the 4am capture, I decided to wander outside and see what this sleepy island of Alameda looks like in the middle of the night. It was very quiet, at least at my corner of Bay Station in middle Alameda. There wasn't another person or car coming my way, so I focused on the corner market which was closed, but still had a little light coming from inside.  I'm definitely looking forward to moving into morning hours, and soon daytime hours. I'm sure many people consider 4am morning, but it still feels like the middle of the night to me, somehow 5am feels significantly different.  4am on March 15 Molly 4am Sarah 4am