Golden Gate Fog

Since moving to the West Coast, I’ve been trying to capture one of California’s most iconic images: the low fog rolling into the San Francisco Bay and engulfing the Golden Gate Bridge. The world might not need another shot like that, but I did, and on the second anniversary of moving here, I finally got a chance.

Over the past two years, I’ve seen perfect moments come and go while stuck at work or running out of light. On one occasion, I was positioned high in the Headlands trying to photograph fog that looked more like low, whispy clouds, but my memory card became corrupted, and I lost the best shots.

This weekend, we participated in another iconic San Francisco moment, Bay to Breakers, while the fog poured in from the Pacific Ocean. It had gone by the time I was home, though, and I thought I’d missed my chance again. Later in the day, however, I looked at the webcam and realized the fog was back. I raced up there so fast I didn’t even grab a coat and soon found myself freezing on top of Slacker Point.

I expected that putting myself in the right place at the right time would be the most challenging part, but getting a decent image was really difficult. The fog either stayed on one side of the nearest tower or lay too thick between there and my camera for a clear image. My ideal image would be a long exposure that smoothed out the fog patterns along with a setting sun, but in the end, I’m happy with the handful of shots I captured, even if I know I can do better.