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Cable car, San Francisco, California.

The San Francisco cable cars are hands down the funnest way to get around just about any city.  These things have been in use around San Francisco for over a hundred years!  Today, they would never build something that required some of the passengers to stand on a narrow platform using a single bar for balance as you hang off the side of the car and sometimes pass within a foot of similar passengers hanging from on-coming cars!  It is crazy but fun.

Last week we walked almost the entire length of both routes trying to find different vantage points to photograph this attraction – these are two of a handful of photos that will one day be added to our collection of San Francisco photos.

Riding a cable car in San Francisco, California.

The Cellhouse at Alcatraz, San Francisco, California.

This place is just eerie but fascinating – it is hard to imagine what prison life was like on this cold, remote island.

I took the tour to Alcatraz some 20 years ago and thought it was one of San Francisco’s best kept secrets.  At the time the boat ride alone was worth the price of admission.  Today the place is anything but a secret.  Alcatraz was so crowded with visitors all walking at the same pace listening to the prerecorded message on Ipod like devices, that it is almost hard to pass through some areas.  But, the recordings are really well done and include first hand accounts from guards and former prisoners.  Really the whole place is a very unique experience and should be near the top of the list for any visit to San Francisco.  Just be sure to swing by a day or two before to buy you tickets.

A chowder stand along the San Francisco waterfront, San Francisco, California.

This was some wonderful light Thursday morning in San Francisco – we have had some really nice weather!

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California.

This is a quick photo from Fisherman’s Wharf from yesterday before I head out the door for sunrise this morning.

A homeless person sleeps on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco, California.

I was attracted to the dichotomy of the high rise building and glamorous model compared to the homeless person sleeping on a sidewalk early yesterday morning.  I was glad he didn’t hear me taking this photo.

Some more random thoughts:

San Francisco is a very interesting city.  Along with the fancy buildings and wealthy businesses and individuals is a large homeless population.  I  don’t remember seeing so many homeless in a city except maybe in Reno.  Along with the homeless is a large population of, for lack of a better word, weird people.  After just one full day, seeing someone walking around talking to themselves doesn’t even draw my attention any more.

San Francisco has to be right up there in cell phones per capital and by in large the most technically advanced population that I have encountered.  Last night I saw a person digging through trash cans for recycled bottles stop to answer a cell phone!

Thanks to Priceline, we were able to rent a nice car for $21 per day – I didn’t except to pay more then twice as much for a 24 hour parking spot then I did for the actual car!  Although that is part of what makes San Francisco great – thanks to a wonderful mass transit system, you really don’t need a vehicle unless you are heading out of town.

Pier 39, San Francisco, California.

So here is the deal.  This trip has definitely been very different then most our photography trips from Alaska.  First, as most of you know, we spent a week with a family issue.  Then we spent a week that was effectively a vacation.  For the first time in probably 10 years we  spent some time where photography or the photography business wasn’t our sole focus and main priority.  Sure I have still been taking photos, but as more of a secondary activity.

During this week we spent the time around Lake Tahoe and San Francisco with some long time friends and had a great time.  I saw my first professional football game, and did lots and lots of fun stuff that I am really grateful for – it was a blast.   But now we are back to “work”.  We are now in San Francisco and are back to full time photography mode where we hope to improve on our collection of San Francisco photos.  The above photo was from last night at Pier 39 – we hope to hit this area hard over the next couple of days before moving on.