After having gone to the fireworks display at pier 39 twice and regretting it, I've tended to avoid the overcrowded July 4th festivities. This year, however, I decided to go to the other side of the bay to enjoy the fireworks from a calmer environment. As fate would have it, however, the weather would not cooperate.
I stopped for a bit at the vista point on the Northbound 101, just after the Golden Gate Bridge. Below was my target for viewing the fireworks this year: Fort Baker. As an aside, I need to go exploring around there when I get a chance.
After the sun set, I began to have my doubts as to whether or not we'd actually be able to see anything from here due to the fog. It was just over the deck of the Golden Gate bridge and hung there. If only it had been about 20 feet higher up...
Right before the fireworks started, I took a snapshot for comparison. You can't really see it here, but right above the lights was a thick layer of fog. You can click on the picture for a larger view, but the center of the lights is the Ghirardelli Square sign.
This is essentially what it looked like. A group of us were standing on a small rock formation, freezing our respective rear ends off (weather reports from yesterday had it at about 55ºF [12.7C] with wind gusts of up to 30MPH). When we heard the boom of the first firework, there was cheering, followed by an immediate, collective "Oh." What followed was more like a thunderstorm than a fireworks show.
Now maybe I've been watching too much Stargate, but this photo reminded me of the effect that they use for the transportation rings. Perhaps I'm just too much of a sci-fi nerd.
At this point, a coast guard boat happened by. I was shooting .8 second exposures, so it got caught in the act.
And this was the finale. At this point I started packing up my camera to help avoid the rush to get out. There's only one road leading into and out of the fort, so it was a bit difficult to leave.
All told, I shot 315 photos last night, but as I shot them in rapid sequence, there were a lot of repeats. I think these were the best of the bunch. I think it's worth it to try this again next year, provided the weather cooperates. However, I won't try taking photos again until I have a longer lens. My crappy 18-55mm kit lens is starting to show it's major weaknesses.
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