Bay Area in Pictures

[fieldsofdreams]

This is my first post ever for Skyscraper City, and this is probably the best place for me to start. My name is Anthony, I have lived in Manila from birth until after my 18th birthday, and I now live in the San Francisco Bay Area. You may have known me through other forums, but I am here in a completely blank slate, ready to make a bold statement, especially in photography.

My photography tends to focus on Urban and Suburban life, and considering that I live north of the Golden Gate Bridge -- Novato, to be exact -- I consider San Francisco as my playground, a place where I get inspiration for the future of sustainable urban growth and development. Image topics tend to be on transportation, building views, highway and traffic views, and the occasional bad signage on a shop window. For my debut, here are some of the photos I've taken lately on a trip to Fisherman's Wharf on my way to tutoring (yes, I am a statistics and math tutor on the side, on top of being a student).



















And here's potentially one of the things that I'll truly focus on:



Note: all pictures are taken by yours truly, and there are over 18,000 images in my collection that I am going to share here over time. For any questions, comments, or suggestions on what you'd like me to show you, leave them below.

[openlyJane]

Great. I love San Francisco.

[fieldsofdreams]

Thanks, Jane. However, that's just the beginning of a long string of photos I've taken over time. I will even share suburban pics from around my region to complement Sam Francisco's urban landscape in the future.

[christos-greece]

Great, very nice shots from San Francisco; and welcome to SSC forums

[fieldsofdreams]

Thanks, Christos! By the way, you've racked up so many posts over that period of time? Dang, makes me think how I'll keep up with users that have tens of thousands of posts! Maybe these iPad and Android apps will work with me to reach that faster than before (given that I'm using my iPad and phone nearly all the time).

[Student4life]

Great pics . Keep them coming !

[Taller, Better]

Welcome, Anthony!

[Yellow Fever]

welcome to our forum, anthony! Your photos are great and please keep them coming!

I was in SF couple weeks ago and I just love this beautiful and sexy city and I'm planning to go back for more next year.

I also have a SF photo thread in this section, please check it out.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1544049

[Linguine]

thanks for sharing your great photos....

[fieldsofdreams]

Thanks for all your kind words of support! I will indeed work my best to add photos in here as much as possible.

And by the way, here's my project in the works: www.anthonynachor.com - specifically, I am working on my galleries, in which I am adding even more transit photos for sharing and discussion.

Yellow Fever: I will have a good look at your SF collection as soon as possible and tell you which places I've visited by foot or by transit. And which place did you enjoy the most on your trip?

[fieldsofdreams]

I have nearly 19,000 images in my Photobucket albums, and I'm wondering which among these pictures you want me to post on this particular thread. Choose up to three so that I can rename this thread soon:

Urban (San Francisco):


Urban (Oakland & Berkeley):


Urban (San Jose):


Suburbia (Marin County):


Suburbia (Napa County):


Suburbia (Santa Clara County):


Suburbia (Sonoma County):

[Yellow Fever]

I personally would like to see all your photos and you can take all the time you need to post them all here and just rename this thread to something like "My photos of the Bay Area". But if I really have to pick three, they would be the SF, Oakland and SJ.

Btw, only mods and admins can change the thread title, so just let me or TB know when you are ready!

[fieldsofdreams]

Yellow Fever: I could do that, but it's a huge collection that I might end up splitting the thread into two (Urban and Suburban Bay Area) or four (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Suburbia) since it's like 1,700 images on San Francisco alone, plus over 500 for Oakland and San Jose (each) and over 200 for the rest (with Marin County leading at over 500). It's like... Hmmm, what would be a best plan to showcase the immense collections?

Plus, that's just one part of like 28 sub-albums under my album network, with a huge collection on Bay Area transport alone. If you want to see the extent of the collection, check out http://photobucket.com/anthonynachor (I have upgraded my account to Photobucket's beta version, so feel free to get lost in the huge collection) and see what we can plan on. I'd love to share my photos and participate a lot in here. (Edit: trying to get the right link!)

[Yellow Fever]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

Yellow Fever: I could do that, but it's a huge collection that I might end up splitting the thread into two (Urban and Suburban Bay Area) or four (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Suburbia) since it's like 1,700 images on San Francisco alone, plus over 500 for Oakland and San Jose (each) and over 200 for the rest (with Marin County leading at over 500). It's like... Hmmm, what would be a best plan to showcase the immense collections?

I'm actually doing something like that for the 2,000 plus photos I took in SF. Beside the thread of the general urban SF, I've also created two other threads of SF's Japantown and Chinatown in the Japan and the China forums respectively. I actually even have enough images to open another thread of the little Italy in SF if I want to.

[fieldsofdreams]

See, Yellow Fever, that's my idea: splitting up my albums into several sub-albums that it's hard to decide what the pattern might be because I travel so frequently around the Bay Area that I call Marin County my home and the rest of the region my playground, given the fact that I actually live here.

So, I'm thinking of either doing Urban & Suburban Bay Area, or the three major cities and suburbia... It's so hard to choose when you have a massive album to play with.

[Yellow Fever]

I'm sure whatever you want to do would be fine with us.

[fieldsofdreams]

All right, Yellow Fever. What's your name by the way so that I will call you by your name instead of username? So, with that... I will show my urban collection here, with a suburban collection in a separate thread.

How do I view (and love) San Francisco? Let me show you in pics:

Ghirardelli Square:


Pacific Heights, from the foot of Hyde Street:


If you think San Francisco has only one large shopping mall (Westfield San Francisco Centre), then you're in for a big surprise: San Francisco has two large shopping malls, with Stonestown next to my university being the other mall (note: Borders has since been replaced by Sports Authority):




Being a major Financial Center, San Francisco, at one point in its history, had its own stock exchange that rivaled New York and Chicago. However, it's now closed, and the former Pacific Coast Stock Exchange is now home to a fitness club:


San Francisco is a uber gay-friendly city, and it is more than just The Castro District. Check this out along Polk Street: a bar that welcomes gay patrons with open arms (thanks to gay flags outside):


Union Square may be a focal point for San Francisco, but if you're after parks, then The Palace of Fine Arts is a great place for a stroll:


You've seen City Hall and the Library. Now, here's what's inside the San Francisco Public Library - Main:




And, finally, here's the ultimate reason I love the City: the Bay and its views.

[fieldsofdreams]

Continuing my debut week here on SSC, here are some photos of Marin County where I currently live. Listed as the highest-income county in California--and the 17th in the United States, with a median household income (2010) of $89,268--the county is blessed with natural beauty on the doorstep to San Francisco. From the Golden Gate Bridge (yes, it's the boundary and one of the few ways to travel between San Francisco and Marin County) to Point Reyes National Shoreline, Mount Tamalpais to Mission San Rafael, Marin County is a world away from the urban jungle of San Francisco.

Here are some of the highlights:

San Rafael (County Seat):








Novato:






Corte Madera:




San Anselmo:




Sausalito:


Fairfax:


The (infamous) San Quentin Prison:


Ross Valley & Mount Tamalpais:

[fieldsofdreams]

Here's what a morning in September looks like heading out from Novato: low fog from overnight.

[fieldsofdreams]

Made quite a huge accomplishment today, as I finally published a large gallery full of MUNI buses. Check out the full gallery list at www.anthonynachor.com/galleries.html - for the new pics, head to www.anthonynachor.com/muni-bus.html