February 9, 2020 — East Bay Hills, California
The San Francisco Bay Area abounds with breathtaking views. The views from the hills across the Bay from San Francisco are among the best — looking straight back across the Bay.
The Golden Gate Bridge is an impressive feat of engineering and construction. When it was built in 1937, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It has since been surpassed, but the main span of 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) is still worthy of awe.
But then there’s this cloud…
(Nikon D500, Tamron 100–400mm f/4.5–6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
AMAGA Photography Blog 
Who would’ve thought clouds could compete with the famous bridge? I like your title ‘Scale’.
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My first impulse was to do a pure cloudscape and crop the bridge out of it. But no, it needed context.
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Nigel just came over and I showed him your photo. Response was “surreal!” in awed tones and he thinks it’s “wonderful”. Funny thing is, he immediately mentioned the likeness of the upward-turned face at the top of the cloud formation. I’d thought that too when I first saw the photo but hadn’t said anything, his comment confirmed for me that the likeness is recognisable.
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Thanks to both of you! Now I definitely see a face. Were you thinking of a particular likeness?
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For me (and this sounds rather fanciful I know), it’s like a Roman Centurian gazing up into the heavens complete with the plumed helmet, so very ‘heroic’ haha 🙂
I’ve just published a new post that quotes you from a comment you left on Mike Powell’s post, about the joy of simple things. I loved what you said.
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Thank you very much. For a moment I thought I saw some other guy.
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Hahaha! Nope.
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Whew!
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Nature can outdo us at every turn. That’s a magnificent cloud.
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It sure is. Noticed the very small horizontal extension of the cloud at the bottom is almost exactly the length of the span. I was tempted to slide the cloud over and Photoshop so that the little one exactly lined up with the span. I resisted the temptation.
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I think that it is fine as it is. I doubt anyone would ever say it should be otherwise but I understand the temptation and have had mixed results myself with resistance.
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It’s better as it is. Too orderly is too contrived.
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One would think. OTOH, sometimes it does line up perfectly. Then you have to decide whether to wait for it to get out of alignment or not.
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If I had gotten there about 10 minutes earlier, it would’ve lined up perfectly. If I am going to contrive something, I will really contrive it. 😉 Witness the palindrome poppy recently posted.
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SF has it all….and you are there to show us.
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The Bay Area is a fascinating and often beautiful place to live. It almost makes the traffic worth it. Of course, we don’t have too much traffic these days…
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Nothing compares to Nature’s wonders – the bridge is only an accessory.
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Exactly.
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So imposing- nature will always come to remind man of his size! My most overriding memories of the Bay and it’s Golden Gate are indeed these clouds, even on warm days. This makes me want to reread all the Tales of the City again.
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Thank you. It’s an excellent read. Now you’ve got me going.
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Amazing greys and composition.
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Thank you very much. You should see the original RAW file. This took a lot of work.
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As the bridge straddles the Golden Gate, Ansel Adams’s life straddled the building of the bridge, and he photographed the Golden Gate before and after the bridge crossed it. An online search shows that in both periods he played up majestic clouds there, just as you’ve done.
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That Ansel, always messing with the clouds.
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I also like the contrast of the bridge’s straight lines, with all those curves. The bridge looks like a child’s plaything, compared to that mass of clouds, great shot.
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Exactly. This magnificent structure completely upstaged by vapor.
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The cloud is not a detriment to the photo, Michael. By this time, everyone knows what the Golden Gate Bridge looks like. Now you’ve shown it in a more artistic (yet natural) way. Nice work.
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Thank you. The cloud is indeed the star. At first I considered cropping it so that it was a pure cloudscape with no bridge, no water, no land. No nothing. But I decided it needed context. But clearly, the star of the show is the cloud.
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Oh, my…. that cloud hangs beautifully above the bridge. Almost like a …regular! 😉 Perfect capture, my friend!
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Thank you. Just happened to be there. Got lucky.
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…I’m sure that this cloud has always been there!
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Those clouds billow, the water shines and the bridge fades away. So many photos of the bridge make it the centerpiece; it’s interesting to see it still there, but taking back seat.
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Thank you very much. How could it take anything but a back seat, sitting amidst nature’s splendor?
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A few years ago, as a photographer was telling me about a media backlash that occurred during a photo event at Hanging Lake he also noted that the location had been photographed too many times. I suggested that is what would be the best challenge….to create an image that was unique.
You have offered the world a unique vision of the Golden Gate Bridge…amazing image. The stillness of the bay and the subdued bridge…with the energy and light of the clouds…the power of nature and her stilled silence…I am humbled.
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Thank you very much, Brenda. Yes, the bridge is much photographed, to the point of being a cliche. Mother Nature helped me out a lot on this one. I was very fortunate to be in the hills on that particular day and time. This one took a lot of post processing to help Mother Nature out a little bit. Ma an I have a mutually beneficial relationship. The original RAW image was gray on gray on gray on gray on…
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