Leaving San Francisco

This post has been delayed somewhat, catching up after having 4 weeks away and phone problems.

The photos for trip posts are all taken on my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. Unfortunately, it has been running down the battery in just a few hours, even a new battery, for several months. It also runs the battery down while plugged in to the mains power if I try and use it. All this made posting to my blog and Twitter, etc a bit of a problem.

I just managed to edit some recent photos that I took on it and it will be replaced this week. Hooray!

We finished our photo trip to California and Canada with an evening in San Francisco after our jaunt around Napa Valley. Some new beers at the Mikkeler brew pub to try but no new photos around the city, I gave myself a few hours off!

We returned on Virgin Atlantic on 9th June, flying over the main SF bridges as we left.

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco

Bay and Oakland Bridges

I have 72 rolls of exposed Ilford 120 film. Mostly FP4, but also 16 rolls of 400 Delta (rated at 500 ISO in case you're interested) and a few rolls of SFX infrared film. 20 rolls processed so far, just 52 to go, probably spread over 3 more days. It will be a while until I start scanning them. None of the film I took with me was subject to x-ray machines, Jan put a lot of effort into pre-arranging a hand search at Heathrow Airport. San Francisco and Vancouver Airports did hand searches as soon as we asked on arrival at the x-ray machine, as is usual in North America.

Travelling South

From Whistler Jan drove us back to Vancouver. A Bald Eagle swooped around the road just north of the city.

Next day it was more photos around Vancouver, as well as good beers at the Tap and Barrel pub. Back to Steamworks Brewery in the evening but they ran out of stout, obviously no call for it there either!

Vancouver Chinese Garden

Then it was a travel day flying back to San Francisco. Very slow into city as ball game had just finished at the stadium between Airport and city centre.

After a slow start we collected a hire car and Jan drove us over Golden Gate Bridge for photos from Marin Headland. We parked at Vista Point and using the underpass beneath the road reached the footpath to the top. Quite a clear day. Took FP4 with a red filter and SFX infrared photos.

Then on to Napa. Walked into town for a wander and again in the evening for food, no photos though.

Napa Hotel Courtyard

Today we visited the Robert Mondavi vineyards north of Napa. Very interesting 'signature' tour with Dick, and tasting of 3 wines. Could be the start of a new vineyard photo collection! The words at the start 'there's just one rule on this tour, take as many photos as you like' made a very pleasant change to the usual restrictions. Even so, I loaded my Mamiya 7 camera with Ilford 400 Delta 120 film rated at 500 ISO for hand-holding. I thought I would get left behind if  I tried using the tripod!

The photos shown here were all taken on my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. It will take a few weeks to get the trip photos processed and the negatives scanned.

Mondavi entrance

Fermentation room

Barrels and vats

Filled barrels

New Photographs of San Francisco

I have added quite a few new images of San Francisco to my website. All taken in January and February this year.

Transamerica Pyramid

Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge and Moon

Union Square

Palace of the Arts

San Francisco Photos Day 3

We thought we would try looking at San Francisco from a different angle so we took the ferry across to Sausolito. It takes about 30 minutes. It was sunny and warm again but not clear like the last 2 days. The smog had come in to obscure the longer views so no view back across the bay to San Francisco.

I took a few shots from the ferry before we moved too far and a few around Sausolito. We had a bit over 3 hours in the town. Also tried the Boont Amber Ale in the bar which went down very well.

Took a few building shots around the financial district too. Forgot to take photos on my phone for this post until the building shots.

San Francisco Day 2 Photos

Another day of photography in San Francisco with blue skies and temperatures over 20°C. They're having a tough winter over here!

Today I took shots of the Bay Bridge, Transamerica Pyramid, Yerba Buena and a few others.

Now we're in the Thirsty Bear pub for a burger and a stout or two.

San Francisco Photography

We are in San Francisco on a photo trip. Clear blue skies and 19°C yesterday, also clear views which was good. That's warmer than Derbyshire in the summer!

Took quite a few shots, all on Ilford FP4, around Fisherman's Wharf and along to the Golden Gate Bridge.

As usual I forgot to take much on my phone to illustrate this post but here are a couple, edited in Snapseed. Sea Lions at Pier 39 and the bridge from one of the many marinas.

On Saturday we fly to Denver for a few weeks with friends in Boulder, skiing and snowshoeing.

New Black and White Images

I have added some new images on the Dave Butcher Photography web site. They are the last few scans that were done for my new book City Light. Included are Wellington in New Zealand, Sydney, Washington DC, San Francisco, Buxton, and Manchester.

There are one or two more on the web site.

Manchester Trinity Bridge

Buxton Turner Memorial and Town at Night

Washington Memorial Flags at Night

Wellington Carter Fountain at Night

San Francisco Transamerica Pyramid

Sydney Strand Arcade

All of these are in my new City Light book, out in March. I should have the cover design soon and will post that when I have it, along with more information on what is in it. At the moment it looks like there will be 119 different black and white photographs and the sub-title will be 'Cities of the World and Buxton'. Buxton is my local town here in the English Peak District.