California Photo Scout

Golden Gate Bridge with Fog from Battery Spencer

The Golden Gate Bridge is the most famous and most recognized icon of San Francisco. Writing a photographer’s guide to the most photographed landmark in the nation is daunting. I decided to split my guide into several parts to cover all the angles.

In this article, you will learn about some of the most famous views from the Marin Headlands.

No matter how often I drive on Highway 101, I am always tempted to stop here as the changing light and weather patterns always create unique photographic value. Whenever you will visit San Francisco, I am sure you will want to photograph this famous bridge. Let me help you figure out the best angles.

How to get there

click the image to enlarge

After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge from the south, take the first exit after the bridge (Alexander Ave exit) and turn left. Drive underneath Highway 101 and back towards the city, but do not merge onto Highway 101. Instead, follow the road to your right up the hill. In this map I marked the trails blue and the road to drive red.

GPS position

Battery Spencer:

• 37°49’39.32″N 122°28’53.67″W

Hawk Hill:

• 37°49’40.29″N 122°29’57.75″W

How to photograph the North Views of Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge at Night from Hawk Hill

You can almost be certain to take good photographs from up here if you arrive at the right time (next section). It is hard not to. I will focus on a few compositions and options to help you maximize your potential for great shots.

Hawk Hill Parking Lot:

From the Hawk Hill parking lot, walk the trail up to the mountain. This only takes 5 minutes and you will get an even better view from up there. If you are staying until after sunset, bring a flashlight. Officially the park will be closed at this hour because of the lack of lighting. Get on the first concrete structure to the right of the trail for the best view and take your time to set up your tripod. Use a bubble scale since it is easy to set up slightly tilted with the bridge at this angle.

Always use a tripod, even during the day.  Set your aperture to the sharpest aperture of your lens. If you do not know where that is, set it to f/8. Use a cable release and snap the first couple of shots. Review and adjust your exposure to move the histogram to the right but without clipping. The pictures may look more washed out, but if you have done this before, you know that you can restore the pop and get less noisy pictures as a result. If you have not done this before, practice it at home first.

Take your time and shoot a few panoramic images. In my article about Twin Peaks, I highlighted some of the techniques for panoramic photography.

Pullout:

Keep an eye on the left pillar of the bridge, when you are driving down the mountain from the Hawk Hill parking lot toward Battery Spencer. There is one pullout on the right, where the tower of the Transamerica Pyramid lines up perfectly with the pillar. Set up your tripod and take a shot with a telephoto lens showing the tower next to the pillar. This is a classic shot that most people miss.

Battery Spencer Parking Lot:

Drive down to the parking lot near Battery Spencer and take the short trail out. Again, there is absolutely no light, so bring a flashlight if you do this in the dark. From out there you can take a shot emphasizing the bridge. I have found this to be a good place even during fog (photo at the top of the article). You need a wide-angle lens (about 28mm of focal length for a 35mm camera) to get the entire bridge into your shot.

Use a narrow aperture if you are including some of the hill in the foreground and bump up your ISO if necessary so that the cars on the bridge will be sharp. At night use the lowest ISO and a long exposure of 10s or longer to blur the lights of the cars.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

I like to photograph from Hawk Hill and Battery Spencer from late afternoon to night. In the afternoon, the direct light on the bridge will make it glow red and the city in the background is nicely lit. In the morning, you will photograph against the sun resulting in washed out colors.

The location is good year round with no particular preferences towards any season. The low angle of the sun during the winter months gives you more time to explore, but you will have shorter daylight periods for your travels.

Time required

Driving up the hill takes almost no time at all. But be careful. The road is narrow and there can be many bicyclers on the road as well as cars turning around at the numerous pullouts. I recommend spending a little more time here and taking the drive down to Point Bonita Lighthouse. On the way you will pass another excellent viewpoint of the bridge that is slightly more unusual. If you take the extended tour, you should plan for an entire afternoon. One hour is sufficient to photograph from Hawk Hill and 1-2 more hours to photograph from Battery Spencer as well.

Equipment

• Tripod
• Cable Release
• Flashlight (The trail to Battery Spencer is not lit)
• Telephoto Lens
• Wide to Normal Zoom Lens
• Panoramic Head (optional)

Fees

Driving on the Golden Gate Bridge from North to South costs $6 unless there are at least three people in the car (carpool) and you happen to arrive during the rush hour.

Close Locations

• Kirby Cove
• Golden Gate views North East
• Point Bonita Lighthouse
• Little known views of Marine Headlands
• Sausalito and Tiburon
• Angel Island State Park
• Fort Point
• Berkeley Bay Views
• San Francisco Presidio
• San Francisco Marina
• San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts
• Muir Woods
• Mt Tamalpais
• Baker Beach

Useful Resources

Golden Gate Bridge Travel Guide

My Photos of San Francisco

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