San Francisco Sunrise
Earlier in the month I decided it would be a good idea to wake up early to catch the sunrise over San Francisco. I thought it would be fun to take my wife and show her my favorite lookout. She was a little reluctant when I told her about it as we’d have to wake up at 5AM, drive to the trailhead and then start hiking at 5:30AM in the dark. With a little coaxing she decided to join me and for fun we took along our German Shepherd, Zoe. All went to plan in getting to the trailhead, but when she saw I was taking my camera with me she wasn’t too happy. The big variable on our hike was whether the fog would clear for us to see the view once we got to the lookout point. Unfortunately the view of San Francisco was fogged in, but I did get a few photos to commemorate the outing. This was one of my favorites from the morning.
Later in the day I called my best friend to catch up. Discussing our weekend I told him about the hike to watch sunrise with my wife. When I told him how my wife was mildly upset that I was taking my camera on the hike he noted “you’re an idiot!”. I didn’t really think at the time bringing my camera would put a damper on the romantic element of watching the sunrise. Some might say I wasn’t really thinking. Fortunately my wife is quite forgiving and has put up with far worse from me. She’s the best and even if the moment wasn’t as romantic as it could have been, it was still romantic.
Technorati Tags: San Francisco, sunrise, photo, photography, minimalism, romance
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Hi Jim:
I enjoyed your story about bringing your wife along on a pre-dawn “sunrise hunt” – and I enjoyed your friend’s response. My wife certainly likes my photography, but I can’t imagine bringing her along while I shoot. I think it would drive any non-photographer crazy, let alone my wife!
But good for you for trying.
On a related topic, here’s one of my San Francisco sunrise photos from last week. I was actually on my way up to Point Reyes for a day of photography (without my wife
and I just happened to stop at this familiar overlook right about dawn.
http://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/HumanWorld/Cities/SanFrancisco/BlackAndWhite/SFBayMornBoatsBW2007_09_18.jpg.html
Dan
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Dan… great shot. The B&W conversion works really well. My intention wasn’t really to take photos, but I had to bring the gear along just in case. That logic was lost and as soon as the bag came out of the trunk it became a photo outing in my wifes mind.
Regardless we had fun.
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Oh man. I can’t say that I envy your pain. I don’t think I’d be able to wake up at 5 a.m. without a camera in hand. The only thing romantic about getting up that early is the desire to go back to bed!
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What’s wrong with bringing the camera along on a romantic morning or evening? My wife knows that’s a given when we go out. The camera comes with us. She’s come to accept my obsession, at least for now.
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My girlfriend and I have developed a technique to allow for my obsession. If I bring the cameras, she brings a book. This simple little step can really make outings that could turn into photo shoots much more pleasant for both of us. Another good one is for her to do yoga while I’m obsessing over the subject of the moment. Often her doing yoga becomes the next subject too!
cheers,
-Scott
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I think it’s great that you took your camera, that’s some amazing pictures. After all you went there to show sunrise to your wife, not to take pictures, right?
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I just came up with an idea. Use your left arm for holding your wife, and your right arm for shooting. Kill two birds with one stone.
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thanks for all the great responses!
Scott great idea on having my wife bring a book. She mentioned this on out hike down.
Richard and Raoul your perspectives are always great.
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