Holding hands, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

Craig (macjake) has recently returned from his trip to San Francisco and he provoked me to upload some more of my SF photos. We have missed each other there just by about two weeks so we can say that it was a TE-(almost)-meeting. In spite of having a lot in common we are interested in a different type of photography. I am a declared postcard type of person and he is the creative one. So I guess we will not duplicate photos. Here comes another postcard from San Francisco. It was taken in the Golden Gate Park. In spite of the name this park is not very close to the Golden Gate Bridge. The photo presents probably the most interesting building in the park (not counting Japanese Tea Garden): Conservatory of Flowers.

ABOUT THAT DAY
This photo was taken on May 15th 2011. It was a special day in San Francisco. In the Golden Gate Park we have seen plenty of strange clothed or barely clothed people (not visible in this photo though). The most interesting was a couple dressed as Kate Middleton and Prince William both dressed exactly as for their wedding. Of course, they were accompanied by Kate’s sister and the other prince. We first thought they were the original ones. Similarity was stunning.
Apparently it was all due to the annual Bay to Breakers footrace.
Bay to Breakers (May 15 in 2011) is the longest consecutively run footrace in the world, dating back to 1912. The 7.46 mile (12 km) route runs from Howard Street near the San Francisco Bay, continues across town, through Golden Gate Park and out to the Great Highway and the breakers at Ocean Beach. Bay to Breakers garners national attention not only for the number of participants but for the zany and satirical costumes many don. Or don't don - nude runners are such a staple of the race that they have their own Bare to Breakers website. Outside of the naked runners, other renegades include participants dressed as salmon who run "upstream" in the opposite direction every year.
(source and more info here)

ABOUT THE BUILDING
Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. With construction completed in 1878, it remains the oldest building in the park, and the oldest municipal wooden conservatory remaining in the United States. Conservatory is an elaborate Victorian greenhouse with a central dome rising nearly 60 feet (18 m) high and arch-shaped wings extending from it for an overall length of 240 feet (73 m).

lousat, jhm, Elaine_Blath, Sonata11, macjake, vasilpro, raszid62, Graal, bukitgolfb301, danos, Charo, gildasjan, subhendu_bagchi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lousat (57542) 2011-06-24 2:15

Hi Mariusz,very nice choice of point of view to create this rich composition from these gardens,perfect quality as usual and very interesting too.Thanks for share,have a nice weekend,Luciano

mauro61 (52527) 2011-06-24 2:23

ciao Mariusz,
una composizione ricchissima di elementi con una scelta del POV perfetta che permette di gustare per intero la scena.
Immagine animata dalle tante persone con giardini ben curati.
buona giornata
maurizio

holmertz (26876) 2011-06-24 3:28

Hello Mariusz,
A nice but slightly peculiar building in beautiful surroundings and a couple who deservedly gave the picture its name. The colours are very well captured and the sharpness is perfect.
Kind regards,
Gert

jhm (122334) 2011-06-24 3:34

Hello Mariusz,

You chose a nice title with this couple holding hands middle of the picture.
You create a wonderful panorama view with the garden and nice buildings in background.
Good notes too.
Excellent captured, nice composed.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

Elaine_Blath (8509) 2011-06-24 4:44

Hi Mariusz,

another interesting and finely shot place from your trip to California, my added plus for the informative note!

Have a nice weekend, Ivana

Sonata11 (28235) 2011-06-24 4:56

Witaj Mariusz,
nigdy nie byla w tym miescie, ale miejsce imponujace. Wyglda uroczo, mozna patrzec i przebywac w tym miejscu godzinami. Slicznie wykonane zdjecie, perfekcyjnie. Swietnie zachowany balans w kolorach, doskonala ostrosc, punkt widzenia. Jednym slowem cudne zdjecie. Moje gratulacje.
Serdecznie pozdrawiam,
Barbara

Sergiom (39122) 2011-06-24 5:08

Bonjour Mariusz

Un très bel endroit qui dégage beaucoup de calme. Les couleurs du jardin sont magnifiques et la verrière est spectaculaire.

Amicalement

Serge

macjake (39207) 2011-06-24 6:09

Hi Mariusz
haha...thanks for the plug, i never knew i was the creative one! :)
Well, we did drive through the park but we didnt' walk it or really take the time to explore it like you did here. We rented the car and drove into Oakland and Berkley.
Now seeing this scene, i wish I did go into this area.
seems like you had a decent day with the weather, especially with those clouds.
love the wide angle format, and the overall lighting/exposure, it looks fantastically clear and sharp.
great overview...nice work as usual.
cheers
craig

pajaran (36149) 2011-06-24 8:43

Pozdrav.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst o mestu i dogadjaju ...
Lep pogled na deo lepog parka i belu arhitekture, lepe boje i fotografija.
Dobar ugao snimka, ostrina, kontrast i kompozicija, moje cestitke na dobrom radu.
Prijatan dan i dobar vikend.
Paja.

Google.

Hello.
Very interesting and good article about the place and event ...
Nice view of the beautiful parks and white architecture, beautiful colors and images.
Good angle shot, sharpness, contrast and composition, my congratulations on the good work.
Have a nice day and good weekend.
Paja.

SWEETFREEDOM (18389) 2011-06-24 8:48

Hi Mariusz,
an interesting building in the bg and wonderful flowers.
i like the palms too.
regards
Alessandro

vasilpro (40172) 2011-06-24 11:18

Hello Mariusz,
Beautiful day for relaxing in such wonderful place, interesting white building, lovely light and colors, excellent POV, perfect sharpness and clarity, TFS!
Have a nice weekend, Vasilis.

raszid62 (18168) 2011-06-25 0:07

Cze¶æ
Piêkny tropikalny park z cudownie rozplanowanymi i kolorowymi kwietnikami. Piêkny bia³y pawilon w g³êbi. Brakuje mi u nas w kraju takich trawników, gdzie mo¿na przysi±¶æ. Wszystko zabronione.
Doskona³a kolorystyka i perfekcyjna ostro¶æ.
Pozdrawiam
Józek

Graal (88808) 2011-06-25 0:11

Czesc,
piekny park i ciekawy opis tego dnia w S. Francisco. No i zdjecie moze byc za pocztowke a Craigowi nie daj sie prowokowac.
Milego dnia zycze.
Aleksander

rodgerg (55767) 2011-06-25 1:34

Hello Mariusz,

An another excellent presentation of an element of the californanin architectur. Very efficience FG, rich in various elements nad full of life. The white edifice arise very well in the BG.
Best regards,
Roger

bukitgolfb301 (30039) 2011-06-25 1:47

Hi bonjour my dear Mariusz

Another so impressive and attractive shot by using many colors/light, wonderful framework and best considered compostion. Clear and sharp image as always. Thanks for your sharing finest work and have a good weekend!

Best regards,
Takero from very muggy Tokyo

Silvio1953 (98001) 2011-06-25 5:58

Ciao Craig, great view of lovely garden and beautiful architecture, splendid light and colors, wonderful composition with a lot of people, bravo, ciao Silvio

Longroute (19390) 2011-06-25 7:11

Hi Mariusz,

here we are again... (:-)

I always have liked parks, Botanical gardens or as such and I always try to visit one of them when travelling. Surely this is a place where I'd spend at least one morning if not a whole day... it reminds me of Kew Gardens in London (the green house is very similar to the ones one finds there). Light seems the best feature here, at least what impresses me at first, a very fine afternoon light which make the scene so warm and so sweet, and then of course one appreciate all the interesting and appealing ingredients, the trees, the flower beds, the white clouds which match the green house, and the people relaxing about. The composition is so well thought (or maybe chance?) that the holding hands couple is just in the right place!
Very pleasant,
Donato

Fis2 (73032) 2011-06-25 14:06

Witaj Mariusz!
Super miejsce,
Ciekawa budowla w glebi.
Ladny kadr i kolorystyka.
Sielankowy klimat.
Milej niedzieli
Krzysztof

danos (73926) 2011-06-26 1:07

Witaj Mariusz,
colourful the snapshot with the lots of people to enjoy the bauty of the gardens of the park with the Conservatory of flowers to dominates the backdrop of the image.I like the pair that cross the grass holding their hands,the most effective optical point of the image.

Have a good Sunday,Danos

jemaflor (68837) 2011-06-26 6:29

Hi M,
Beautiful composition, the monument is well placed in the photo, good effect with this light and these colourful flowers, perfect white for the building.

sacimar (25957) 2011-06-26 9:07

Hello Mariusz,

this is a beautiful area of this park, I like the colorful composition you present, it's a good place for relaxing, well done,

Best regards,

Sergio

Charo (51174) 2011-06-26 10:47

Witaj Mariusz,
Park jest piękny i ma atrakcyjny kwiatowej dekoracji, budowanie wspaniałej oranżerii.
Doskonałe perspektywy, że dołączył fantastyczne nieba.
Optima światła i definicji.
Pozdrawiam,
Charo

gildasjan (38166) 2011-06-26 13:02

Bonsoir Mariusz
Une image très bien composée avec ici ces fleurs oranges qui créent une belle complémentarité avec le bleu de ce ciel.
Bonne soirée
Amicalement
gildas

emka (58024) 2011-06-26 16:00

Witaj,

Szkoda, ze tylko piszesz o tych strojach, chętnie bym zobaczyła Kate i Williama oraz Pippę i Harry'ego albo tych barely dressed. Albo chociaż łososie co biegną pod prąd. Ale i bez tego zdjęcie fantastyczne. Podoba mi się ta biała szklarnia i klomby. Fajne kolory i ostrość zdumiewająca.

Pozdrawiam

Małgorzata

subhendu_bagchi (16590) 2011-06-27 0:44

namaste Mariusz,
it is really a superb one from SF. You composed it so well with the flower beds in foreground with the couple holding hands. Great to see the beautiful white architecture at BG. Excellent light that give details in every part of this frame. An excellent one I have to say. Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes.
Subhendu

npecanhuk (53861) 2011-06-27 6:01

Hi Mariusz!
Beautiful park!
Truly attractive picture of it!
Sharpness, exposure, chosen povo, colors, contrasts, horizontal format and composition are all excellent!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

siolaw (37568) 2011-06-29 0:54

Hi Mariusz
A bright and colourful park scene with the couple holding hands attracting the eye. The place looks very relaxed and is perfectly presented here.
Interesting white building in the background!
Greetings
Laurent