A S C R A P B O O K O F S O L U T I O N S F O R T H E P H O T O G R A P H E R
Enhancing the enjoyment of taking pictures with news that matters, features that entertain and images that delight. Published frequently.
3 February 2023
We were able to saunter over to the other side of Twin Peaks last week late in the afternoon. The light had changed as the shadows lengthened, making the familiar exotic to us.
The air was still, cold and clear. We'd brought along the Nikon D200 with the 18-200mm Nikkor we did not repair (out of pity, you could say). We knew it would zoom and focus on target even if the viewfinder display would jump around.
We followed Portola to the intersection where it becomes Market St. That is on an elevated stretch of roadway that provides a very nice staging area to shoot the eastern side of the city.
We started with a clear view of Mount Diablo in the east above the Oakland Hills with the Mormon Temple visible as the large white building just below the tree line.
And we continued, interspersing close and medium shots with distant ones, using the 200mm focal length to narrow in a few freighters on the bay, the skyline downtown and then some of the old working class homes in the Mission District.
Then we turned around and shot back at Twin Peaks. The sky was a different color. Cleaner with a deeper blue. The shadows darker with the sun on the other side of the hill.
We had the feeling we were just getting reacquainted with an old friend after a long absence.
We hadn't gone anywhere, but that was the problem. We hadn't been back.
And now that we were, we realized just how right we were to be charmed by it in the first place.