Posts Tagged ‘san francisco’

Why is the Golden Gate Bridge Orange?

Gate at DuskGate at Dusk

Good question. Seems like they should either paint the bridge gold, or call it the Orange Gate Bridge.

But maybe not.

As it turns out, the “Golden Gate” refers to the straight of water between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

So the bridge spanning this straight would logically be called the Golden Gate Bridge.

Okay, well why is the straight called the Golden Gate?

One story purports that explorer John C. Frémont wrote in his memoirs, “To this Gate I gave the name of “Chrysopylae”, or “Golden Gate”; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn.”

If you ask me that is lame.

Some people say that it is called the Golden Gate because of the San Francisco gold rush, however, the straight was called the Golden Gate before the gold rush took place, so that story doesn’t work either.

I like to think it is called the Golden Gate Bridge because the bridge forms a gateway to beautiful golden sunsets.

I took this shot on a recent trip; I like the silhouette of the bridge and hills with the sunset backdrop.

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Do you like this photo? Have you been to the Golden Gate bridge? Do you know what park I took this shot from?

Pagoda at Golden Gate Park

Pagoda at Golden Gate ParkPagoda at Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park is a beautiful place with lots of hidden “discoveries” to be found.

I happened across this Japanese-style pagoda and had to take a few snaps. There was also a beautiful waterfall around the side of this same pond, that I’ll be posting a picture of in the future.

If I was to take this picture again, I would probably try to get a lot closer and focus more on the building itself. With few exceptions, HDR photography does not lend itself well to flora dominant scenes.

Fountain at 1070

Fountain at 1070 Fountain at 1070

As I wandered around San Francisco at night, I came across a fountain situated in front of an apartment building numbered 1070.

Being intrigued I setup my tripod and took this shot.

I chose a slower shutter speed with the intent of creating a surreal “blurry water” effect. Instead, it appears as though ethereal columns of glowing dust are emanating down from the stones.

Even though this isn’t how I originally pictured the shot, I like how it turned out. But I’m more interested in how you think it turned out!

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