The other day I noticed some piers in the water on the Embarcadero, and I went out this morning to use them as a foreground element in a sunrise shot of the Bay Bridge. I made those exposures, got pretty much what I was after, then packed up and went back to the truck to come home. As I was passing by the spot I’d been shooting minutes before, I noticed a big container ship heading out of the Alameda estuary and approaching the Bay Bridge, the sunrise hitting it t a very appealing angle.
I thought that might be photo-worthy, so I grabbed a parking space and a camera and hoofed it back to the water. By the time I got there, though, the ship had moved too close to the bridge to allow the shot I’d had in mind. Bummer. Then I noticed, however, a man wearing headphones and enjoying the sunrise by dancing to music only he could hear.
This guy was a GREAT dancer! He was up on one of the concrete pedestals that line the Embarcadero, doing his thing. I started photographing him from various distances as I drew closer and closer. He looked fantastic silhouetted against the sunrise, with the bridge looming to his right. Suddenly a seagull flew through the frame, and perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps because he saw the bird and welcomed it by spreading his own wings, I got a photo I’m very pleased with.
Info: Made with a Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera
