530 - California Street
Every year in the Bay Area a magical event occurs, deemed “San Francisco Henge” by locals. Why it’s called that, Google only knows.
Apparently the term “henge” was coined by Neil deGrasse Tyson, which is defined as “the moment when a sunrise or sunset aligns perfectly with a city street grid.” This phenomenon first appeared in New York, in what could only be called “Manhattanhenge.” (Try saying that with a mouthful of linguini.)
Within just a few years of its discovery, the scene blew up and photographers from all around the world flocked to get the infamous shot. It’s now one of the most Instagrammed scenes in New York City.
In consequence, the West Coast got as jealous as a plantain comparing itself to the global success of the banana. Within weeks the West Coast found its own “henge” to compete with Manhattan, in the lovely city of San Francisco.
Now, I use the word “lovely” with discretion, because the city is only “lovely” if you choose to completely ignore the 65 year old woman taking a shit next to you as you eat clam chowder.
But hey, that’s the good thing about photography, right? No one cares what’s happening 3 inches out of frame.
Which leads me to today’s adventure, where I decided to try my hand at the good ole’ San Francisco henge. But this year was destined to be different than previous years.
For the first time ever, San Francisco’s henge got massive press coverage across the United States. I’m talking Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and countless other mainstream news sources. Then, a couple photos from the previous year’s henge went viral on social media, which added even more hype to the event.
Going in, I knew it was going to be an absolute circus. But luckily, I live in a Prius. And one of the few advantages of living in a Prius is that I can anywhere overnight in preparation for sunrise shoots.
So naturally, I took advantage of one of the very few perks I’m offered by living in a Prius. I popped in around 10pm, scouted out the shot, and parked less than a block away from the spot. (Located at the intersection of California and Gough in Nob Hill for all you nitwits looking for next year’s henge.)
Once sunrise hit, all I had to do was roll out of bed, get the best seat in the house, and nail the photo. So long as I wasn’t murdered in the god-for-saken city.
I didn’t sleep well that night.
Dawn rolled in as quickly as a car door slamming, and I was awoken by the sounds of excited chatter outside my car. I looked at my watch. 6AM. It’s begun.
I squinted out my foggy window and saw 3-4 dweebs setting up their tripods across the street. Sunrise wasn’t even supposed to happen for another 2 hours… And people were already lining up?! I rolled back over and sluggishly contemplated my life.
What the was I doing here? Have I lost my mind? Is this photo art if dozens of other photographers are getting the exact same shot, at the exact same time? Does art matter? What is art? What’s a photo?
Well. I knew the answer to the last question. But I was still half asleep so give me a break.
I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next 20 minutes, drooling like a mammoth dreaming of KitKats.
Another car door slammed and I sprung up, smacking my head on the roof. Hard. My brain went full psycho as I yelled expletives I didn’t know the definition of.
As the pain slowly throbbed away, I came to a single, unified conclusion. I was here to have fun today. To network. Not be an “original artist.” (Say that last line with a French accent for full effect.)
I groggily got my camera gear out, forced a smile on my face, and walked towards the crowd of about 20. Since it was now 90 minutes until sunset, I still had the luxury to get a good spot.
See, setting up a tripod is like staking a property. That spot becomes yours until removed. It’s an unspoken rule in the photography community.
Once settled, I looked around and took in the scene. For the next hour and a half, photographers of all ages, shapes and sizes filed in, claiming their little piece of the intersection. I chatted it up with some people, exchanged a few Instagrams, and waited in the brisk Cali air.
Occasionally you’d hear a snippy photographer yell at someone to move 3 centimeters to the left. Which would set off a whole chain reaction of angry photographers. Everyone wanted the exact same, perfect shot. It was strange, but also comforting knowing you didn’t have to put in much creative work. It really just boiled down to knowing the technical skillset required to shoot directly into the sun.
90 minutes later, and the entire street was full. Easily 300+ people, and the intersection became completely impassable. Not a single cop in sight. I don’t know why I expected any.
Then I had a moment where I realized that there was easily over a million dollars worth of camera gear in this small, 200 ft radius. Someone could low-key take this entire intersection hostage and make absolute an exuberant amount of money in less than 10 minutes.
Yeah… Let’s not think about that. I looked back at the scene.
The sun was poised to rise in about 5 minutes, and the shot wasn’t looking… ideal. In all the previous years, the street/bridge subject was completely devoid of people. This year, there was about 15 people standing in frame- about a mile down the road.
They clearly didn’t get the memo that this was the right street…
Suddenly it all began happening. The sun popped into view behind the bridge, and a symphony of shutters arose in the air as all the voices went silent.
The photo came out exactly as I expected, except with a group of people standing in the middle of the frame. Oof. You could feel the tension in the air as everyone realized they weren’t moving.
But hey, that’s what Photoshop’s for.
“Cali Bud”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM
[ISO 160 ~ 198mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/1000s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I simply got a shot with the sun aligned perfectly, then waited until most people left the frame after it was all over. The I got another shot of a single dude walking across the street and edited it into the original shot.
Cash money.
The hardest part was that I took this shot with a 200mm lens, when the shot is designed for a 400mm+ lens. The extra resolution of the a7rIII helped, but I still lost quite a bit of detail, and had to redraw the cable car lines in. Still looks better than 95% of the other photographer’s shots. You gotta work with what you got.
Anyway.
Was this whole fiasco worth 10 hours of scouting, sleeping, waiting, and editing? Sure. It’s not everyday you get to engage with hundreds of other members in the most introverted hobby on the planet.
I’d call it a successful day.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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