USA - California - San Francisco Skyline

Viewing a beautiful city from across its bay

(photos from 2004 to 2009)

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San Francisco with different moods

The city of San Francisco (map) is blessed with a unique setting at the tip of a peninsula, terminated by the Golden Gate with its famous bridge, and bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. It is described at Wikipedia.

The following scrollable panoramas were taken from the Oakland hills (map), at an altitude of about 250 meters or 800 feet. They span the city limits of San Francisco from near its airport (SFO, not visible) at left to its Golden Gate Bridge at right.

The first panorama was taken under conditions of extreme clarity:
clearly visible on the horizon to the left of the Golden Gate Bridge are the Farallon Islands,
some 40 miles or 65 kilometers from the camera.
Atop the coastal hills stands the elegant tripod-like Sutro Tower (map) with its TV, radio and other transmitters.
To its right starts the two-part San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
which tunnels through Yerba Buena Island, connected to flat Treasure Island to its right.
A part of the nearer section of this bridge collapsed
during the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989.
A replacement bridge is seen under construction.

The next view was taken earlier on the same day, in the golden light of early morning.

The third view shows the famous San Francisco fog (really low clouds)
rolling in summer over the coastal hills and through the Golden Gate
into the San Francisco Bay where it usually evaporates.

The next photo was taken just after sunrise,
as Treasure Island and the near shore still lie in the shadow of the Oakland Hills.

San Francisco tries to emerge from a morning fog.

Rain showers and sunlight compete in the late afternoon.

The same image seen in its entirety highlights the passing rainstorm.

Sunsets over San Francisco

The following images speak for themselves.

Reversing the view

This last (and very wide) panorama from behind San Francisco's Ferry Building (map) looks back toward the Berkeley and Oakland Hills. At far left is Coit Tower on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill; the ship passes in front of Angel Island, while the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge tunnels through Yerba Buena Island, connected to artificial Treasure Island to its left. (The earlier panoramas and pictures were taken from a spot in the Oakland Hills seen here just to the right of Yerba Buena Island.)