Bridging the gaps

Well it has been a while, I hope everyone checked out Anna's blog at Countingclare.blogspot.com, there are more funny pictures to come... so keep checking back to see if she has posted something new. Anyway, last time I blogged it was right before the weekend. As everyone who know me is aware, I love photography. I recently purchased a new camera and since then, I have had a resurgence in my interest in it. Over the last month I have been out several times taking random pictures of unique areas here in the bay area. I am hoping to keep up with this, but only time will tell. For a formal viewing of some of my best work, please go to www.clarephotography.com, or just click the letters in red.

Last weekend Anna and I went into the city and ended up in the Marin Headlands. For those of you who are not familiar with this area, it is right at the northern tip of the entrance to the Bay, right at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge... my favorite bridge. We arrived at night, so all the pictures I took are night time shots.Since I was a little boy, I have always had a love and fascination for this bridge. I was born in southern Marin, and until I was 4, I used to have a view of the bridge from where my parents lived. They would often take me to the bridge so that I could walk across it, keep in mind the bridge is over a 1.5 miles,and it is always windy and cold. I am assuming that I didn't walk most of that distance, but instead was carried by my dad. It is hard to say what drew me to this bridge, and why I was so fascinated by it. There are 7 bridges in the bay area, but only one is red... I don't think it was the color necessarily that drew me to it, but who knows!Honestly, I think it was the way the bridge suspended across such a long distance over treacherous water; though from my pictures, you can not tell how fast the water is moving, time lapsed photography has that effect on water, notice there are cars going across, they become blurred images of light the longer the shutter is open, and the shutter has to stay open longer because it is night and there is very little light.The bridge opened back in 1933 and offers some the most spectacular views of the city. Though it is not the longest suspension bridge anymore, when it first opened it was, it is still considered an architectural masterpiece. An interesting fact to note; it is one of the 7 most recognized landmarks in the world, more recognized than the Statue of Liberty... which remarkably did not make the list. In fact it was the only structure on the U.S. that did make the top seven.
I have a lot of fond memories when it comes to the G.G.B., I used to build replicas out of my blocks, I had several children's books about it, I never get tired of driving over it... though I do get tired of paying the 5 dollars in bridge tolls.