Marin County Sunset

One of my San Francisco photo excursions was to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco across... more

by Alexis Birkill

Title

Marin County Sunset

Artist

Alexis Birkill

Medium

Photograph

Description

One of my San Francisco photo excursions was to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was planning on shooting the city at dusk, and wanted to try a viewpoint that I hadn't used before, so I decided to hike up the Coastal Trail to Slacker Hill, a viewpoint overlooking the bridge and the city, in time for the blue hour.

However, as I hiked up the steep trail, the haze in the valley below started to catch and reflect the light of the setting sun, and I had to stop and photograph the sunset. Pushing a short way off the trail into the bushes, and keeping a careful eye out for rattlesnakes, I set up to take this shot as the sun inched towards the horizon.

It was amazing to be standing on the side of a completely deserted hill, looking out over such a beautiful landscape, while just 3 miles behind me was the busy city of San Francisco. I did continue my hike up to the top of Slacker Hill to photograph the city at the blue hour, but was very pleased that I was in the right place to photograph this much more peaceful scene at sunset.

Uploaded

August 16th, 2014