Foggy Frame at the Golden Gate

Foggy Frame at the Golden Gate, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

This view has become a cliche, but I loved the multiple layers of fog interacting with the landscape.


Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200L w/ 2x extender, f/8 @ 1/1000, ISO 400.

Amazing video of San Francisco, shot just days before the 1906 earthquake

This story is a couple of years old, but I just ran across it. I think it's one of the most beautiful videos I've ever seen, and I was incredibly moved while watching it. It connects me with the history of San Francisco in a way that I've never felt before. I wonder about all of the people walking Market Street, most unaware that they are being recorded. Who is the little boy who pops his head out of the car? Where did he live? What was his experience of the earthquake just days later? Did he live to tell his grandchildren about the days of horses and carriages on Market Street and the great earthquake and fire of 1906?

The story behind it -- that it was made just days before the 1906 earthquake -- makes it even more special. And the other story behind it -- how historians determined that it was in fact filmed in April 1906 -- is also extremely interesting. Enjoy, and I hope you fall in love with San Francisco even more deeply.

Here's more information on David Kiehn's incredible sleuthing from the SFGate Blog:

The film was shot by early San Francisco film innovators the Miles Brothers and has been widely available through the Library of Congress and You Tube (which has a novel version set to an Air soundtrack) and was originally dated to the fall of 1905 but recently local author and silent film historian David Kiehn made some surprising discoveries about its date. He had seen "A Trip Down Market Street" many times over the years but it was only around 2005 that he managed to get ahold of a 16mm print which made him "all the more curious about it." The Library of Congress had researched and dated the filming to September or October of 1905. Per Kiehn, "some thought it was shot earlier in 1904 but since the Library of Congress had narrowed it down to that point everyone thought that it was shot in 1905." Read the Library of Congress' description of the film's date here.

At first Kiehn was just trying to confirm the 1905 shoot date so he thought "gee, there were 5 newspapers in San Francisco at that time so somebody must have written about it." He dug through the San Francisco Public Library's collection of microfilm starting with August of 1905 and running through October 1905. He went "page by page and couldn't find a single thing about it so I looked at the film again more closely and I noticed that there were puddles in the cavities by the rails on the street and especially at the end of the film autos drive through puddles splashing water." So, he went back to the papers and checked the weather reports for the period only to find that September and October of 1905 were "as dry as a bone."

Kiehn took a look at the angle of the sun and narrowed the time of year to late March or April 1906. Then he examined the buildings along Market Street, the state of construction narrowed the window down to late 1905 or before the earthquake in 1906. To tie all these pieces together he "went back to the papers to look for information on filming and weather reports. In March and April, especially late March 1906, there was a lot of rain but there weren't any references to any filming being done." But, "being a film historian I then realized that there was a theatrical magazine where filmmakers of the day advertised their films called the New York Clipper. The San Francisco Public Library coincidentally has that magazine on microfilm so I looked at late March and April of 1906."

In the April 28th edition he saw an ad by the Miles Brothers for two films that they were just releasing called "A Trip down Mount Tamalpais" and "A Trip down Market Street." The ad appeared ten days after the April 18, 1906 earthquake but Kiehn notes that this wasn't someone playing games with history. Since print publications required a long lead time for composition it was most likely composed by April 18th, 1906. The films were shot on or around April 12th and shipped to New York on April 17th, the eve of the quake.

That would appear to confirm the date for the film but Kiehn dug deeper by dating the early license plates on cars in the film. The DMV told him that the records no longer existed but he found them in the California State Archives in Sacramento. He eventually found one of the plate numbers from the film, 4867, and traced it to a Jay Anway who registered his car in early 1906 which further verified his research.

There are many other twists and turns along the way to confirming the film's date. Kiehn has written up the entire tale in the most recent issue of the Argonaut.

Kiehn has managed to get the IMDB to change their date for the film but the Library of Congress hasn't updated theirs yet. He hopes they'll come around soon.

Rolling in the Deep

Rolling in the Deep, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Watching this fog spectacle at the Bridge was pretty surreal. I was standing in filtered sunshine in near silence, watching the cars come and go into nothingness. The Bridge cast a seemingly three-dimensional shadow into the fog. Amazing.

The image looks a bit grainy, but that's actually not an artifact - it's due to heat distortion from the sun burning the fog off.

Soundtrack: Adele, "Rolling in the Deep"

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200L w/ 2x extender (my beloved 100-400L is temporarily out of commission :()

Fog, Glorious Fog

Fog, Glorious Fog, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Beautiful, thick fog engulfed the Golden Gate this past weekend.

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 24-70L

Spring at Olompali State Park, Marin County, California

Spring at Olompali State Park, Marin County, California, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Even though I grew up in Marin, I'd never visited Olompali State Park, which is an interesting mix of hiking trails and building ruins that were built over a period of 150 years.

I checked it out last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find a trail of wild calla lilies meandering through a meadow, growing over a streamlet. So pretty!

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, Tiffen circular polarizer.

Aspens

Aspens, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

This might look like it Colorado, but it was actually taken in the Eastern Sierra this past fall. I repeated the image and stitched it for a hotel client, who will be hanging a 6' print of it in their elevator lobby. I like the resulting subtle repetition in the image. I also pulled out more greens than the original image had, since the client was interested in spring greens and this was taken in October.

Violet

Doesn't she have the most stunning eyes? I love this in b&w, but also had to share the color version so that you can see how blue her eyes really are!

Baby Bradley

...is not quite a baby anymore! He's a little toddler now, running around, chasing balls, making monkey noises. It's hard to believe how much he's grown in 15 short months!

Debleena & Miki: San Francisco Engagement

I had the pleasure of photographing Debleena and Miki's engagement in San Francisco last weekend. Despite the chilly wind, we had a lot of fun - thanks, Debleena, for being such a trooper! I love how comfortable they are with each other - it made my job really easy.

We started at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Did I mention that they're super sweet together?

How cool are these giant green doors at the Palace of Fine Arts?

Back to back. Miki's only a *smidge* taller.

Debleena, you're adorable.

And Miki, you're not so bad yourself. I love when a guy can pull off pink!

And then we explored the Marina neighborhood a bit.

And then we hit the beach. The sun popped out right before sunset and gave us some great light. I planned it that way. Obviously.

Yup, sparks between these two. Literally.

I love how these two laugh together!

And then we went to the Bridge. A San Francisco engagement session isn't complete without some great Golden Gate photos!

How's this for some San Francisco glamour?

Not enough glamour for you? How about this?

Or this?

Near the end of the session, we were treated to this gorgeous sunset. If you look closely, you can see the Farallon Islands right below the setting sun!

Thank you, Miki and Debleena! Best wishes for a wonderful wedding this summer!

Sutro Baths: Blue Mood

Sutro Baths: Blue Mood, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Taken a bit later in the evening than the glowing, gold version. While I like the golden version, I think the bluer tones capture the spirit of the ghostly Sutro Baths a bit better.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/20 @ 10s (to smooth out the water), ISO 50. Lee 2-stop GND handheld in front of the lens.

Golden Gate Breaking Storm

Golden Gate Breaking Storm, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Another image from Thursday evening's dramatic sunset. The clouds were moving and changing so fast that each image I took seems so different.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, 2/22 @ .6s, ISO 50. Lee 2-stop soft and 3-stop hard GNDs stacked and angled.

Crissy Beach Stormy Sunset

Crissy Beach Stormy Sunset, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

I lucked out yesterday evening as the storm broke up right at sunset and the clouds lit up with pink and orange-y red. The not-so-neutral density filter lends a slight magenta cast to the image, which I've kept because I liked it :)

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/14 @ 5s, ISO 50. GND .9 hard and .6 soft, stacked and angled a bit diagonally.

Sutro Baths Sunset

Sutro Baths Sunset, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

I'd passed by the Sutro Baths for years without knowing they were ever there. Thanks to Flickr, I'd seen some beautiful images made there and finally went to explore last weekend. I found the place so inspiring, with so many interesting angles! It dawned on me that I might have found it so interesting because I haven't seen many images made there, and so I have fewer preconceived postcards in my mind, allowing my mind to wander freely. I still made a few images from this location, which I'd seen before, but I have a bunch of others that I'm excited to share that are (hopefully) somewhat unique.

There was a beautiful, partly cloudy sky overhead, which created the pretty reflections in the water.

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 24-70L, f/22 @ 3s, ISO 50. .6 soft and .9 hard GNDs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

A valentine, photographer-style :)

This is Seal Rock, just offshore from Lands End.

Magic Light, Lands End

Magic Light, Lands End, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

In the spirit of photographing more of the Bay Area's non-postcard views, here's an image of an underrated San Francisco destination: Lands End. The cypress forest and beautiful green understory near the Cliff House are often bathed in magical light like this. If you haven't been there, check it out!

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/7.1 @ 1/40, ISO 400. Handheld.

Summery Winter Sunset

Summery Winter Sunset, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

This was taken last week during the crazy string of amazing sunsets. The view of the Bay Area from the East Bay hills is amazing. This vantage point is near Grizzly Peak up above Berkeley.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200L, f/10 @ 10s, ISO 50. No filters.

Pilot's View of LAX approach at twilight

This video is so cool that I had to repost it. Los Angeles isn't the most beautiful city, but this descent into LAX at dusk with millions of lights twinkling is pretty awesome!

Ipanema Sunset

Ipanema Sunset, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

A simple photo of the one decent sunset I saw in Rio over the course of a week.

This is a blend of two exposures since I was traveling light - no tripod, no filters (too flashy for South America).

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 24-70L, f/3.5 @ 1/100 & 1/20, ISO 125.

Sunrise Over Devil's Throat, Iguazu Falls

Sunrise Over Devil's Throat, Iguazu Falls, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Here is another view of sunrise over Iguazu Falls. The platform in the shot looks out onto Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long cataract on the Brazil side of the falls.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 100-400L, f/6.3 @ 1/80, ISO 200

Vultures in the Mist: Sunrise at Iguazu Falls

Vultures in the Mist: Sunrise at Iguazu Falls, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

If you look closely, you can see dozens of vultures waking up in the trees.

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 100-400L @ 350mm, f/20 @ 1/5, ISO 50. No filters.

Sunrise Over Iguazu Falls

Sunrise Over Iguazu Falls, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

Hola from Argentina! I just arrived in Buenos Aires after two days spent visiting Iguazu Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. It's a truly stunning place.

I took this photo right at sunrise from the rooftop of my hotel, the Sheraton, which is in Iguazu National Park. Unfortunately the park is closed to visitors until 8am, so shooting the falls up close at sunrise was out of the question. I do like this wide view, with the mist plume catching the pink/orange glow of the rising sun.

This is a blend of two exposures. The rainforest was just too dark otherwise.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70L, f/11 @ .6, ISO 50. I didn't bring a tripod with me on this trip, so instead I balanced the camera on the rooftop using a small towel and used mirror lockup.

Bodiemobile Under Stormy Skies

Bodiemobile Under Stormy Skies, originally uploaded by Della Huff Photography.

One of the famous cars in Bodie State Historic Park. We had some really interesting light and clouds when we visited in October.

Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 24-70L, f/11 @ 1/250, ISO 400.