Coit Tower, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

This is a panoramic shot of San Francisco near sunset. I took this from one of the steepest hills in the city, on Vallejo Street, which for a couple of blocks becomes just a stairway without even a road, before continuing as a street at the top of the hill. As most people are aware, San Francisco is a city with a lot of hills, which makes for some nice photographic opportunities, but makes it a lot harder to get around. Those hills are a lot steeper than I realized! The tower in the photo is the Coit Tower, one of the city's many landmarks. The tower has an observation deck for viewing as well as some very interesting murals.

Well, thanks to some prompting from Stephen I think I have to put some more notes on this tower:
The tower is named after Lillie Coit, who was a wealthy and eccetric philathropist who left funds for the construction of the tower, supposedly a monument to the firefighters of the city who did so much good work during the great earthquake and fire that struck the city in 1906. The tower was completed in the 1930's and has an art deco design. The murals were very controversial because of their socialist themes. The tower is 210 feet high, and is visible throughout the oldest part of the city.

singuanti, glemcolmgilles, peter1892, wilkinsonsg, capthaddock, Marche, nwoehnl, ChrisJ, jbweasle, anney ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

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singuanti (15250) 2005-11-28 22:48

Hi Alvin. I'm glad you told us what the tower was because with it being the focal point I really wanted to know! What a nice warm light being cast in the distance. I love the feeling of peeking through the silhouetted trees. Very nice one Alvin!

PixelTerror (0) 2005-11-29 5:03

Hi Alvin,
Oh you've been travelling south of the border !
A landmark of San Francisco this coit tower, I like on this view your framing using the trees and the light falling just right on the tower while the rest is dark already (but with good details)..
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

peter1892 (1681) 2005-11-29 5:21

Beautiful image (of one of my favourite places!). The light is superb, the framing of the subject using the trees is very effective.

wilkinsonsg (8662) 2005-11-29 5:42

Some nice details here - the tower is like a pointing finger to the sky - TFS :)

Fis2 (171849) 2005-11-29 9:54

Hi Alvin!
Nicely composed landscape. Magic light and colours. Good sharpness and depth. Well done. Congratulations.
Regards
Krzysztof

capthaddock (28790) 2005-11-29 10:22

Hi Alvin - welcome to SF, wonderful light and framing, it makes it look like a forest within the city, and thanks for bringing the BC rain, we really needed it.

Ann75 (0) 2005-11-29 14:27

Wow, stunning photo. I love how the sunlight falls onto the background. Great composition, great colors and beautiful scene. A place I would love to visit some day!

Great shot!
Ann

Marche (4307) 2005-11-29 15:35

Bonsoir Alvin,
Superbe photo de San Francisco, rarement prise de cet endroit. Joli cadrage et lumière. Beaucoup de netteté et contraste.
Bravo.
Amicalement.
Martine

nwoehnl (122) 2005-11-29 15:48

Hi Alvin. Beautiful effect with the late-afternoon sun casting a glow on the buildings surrounding Telegraph Hill, and you made a nice framing with the foreground trees, and Coit Tower as an off-centered anchor for the composition. Beautiful photo - from one of my favorite cities - that also reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

ChrisJ (172378) 2005-11-30 4:20

Hi Alvin

Good use of the foreground trees as framing devices. They also add graphism. Execellent color, lighting & sharpness. Congratulations!

john_c (24666) 2005-11-30 19:58

Hi Alvin,
A well composed shot of the Coit. The lighting is superb and your framing with the trees is very artistic. I like the play of light and shadow here and also the great clarity that allows us to see the various details of the buildings even in the shaded area. Well captured.
John

jbweasle (9393) 2005-12-01 14:37

Hi Alvin, you have a wonderful light and subtle colours in this shot. The trees make for a great frame.

anney (144) 2006-08-13 22:25