San Francisco from Alcatraz Photo

Photographer’s Note

In 1934, Alcatraz became a federal maximum-security prison, and it became infamous for Mafia criminals and high-risk convicts. Alcatraz Island is only a mile from the mainland and the omnipresent view over the city of San Francisco was certainly in the dreams of many prisoners, men like "Machine Gun" Kelly, Al Capone and Robert "The Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud who spent many bleak hours in cells measuring six feet by nine feet. But the waters of San Francisco Bay are treacherous and very cold and should the escapees fall in, there was little chance of survival. In fact, Alcatraz was the only prison in the federal prison system that touted hot showers, a luxury designed to keep prisoners from acclimating to cold water.

Since Alcatraz' decommissioning as a federal prison, birds have seen their opportunity and are nesting there in ever-growing numbers.

japiey, rigoletto, kiwi_explorer, feather, axiotea, siolaw, jhm, albertopiubello, Floydian, Angelillo, jwmunro, evanrizo, ChrisJ, Photo65Net, cessy, josepmarin, lucasgalodoido, photographer123, danos, Gerrit, leo61, chrisnet, Clementi, erdna, Pitoncle, cly-redix has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

japiey (9471) 2007-08-25 3:28

Hi Vincent.

Beautifull shot again, and with an amazing moment of the flight of a bird and the sail of a boat !!
Perfect balancing.
Lovely colours.
Kudos, dear friend.
Nice WE.

jean paul

rigoletto (25934) 2007-08-25 3:40

Hi Mr. Zolt,
This is like a sci-fi city. And what a nice POV!
Light and blue are superb, and the most i like is the gull-boat duo, adding contrasting charm to the left part.
Regards,
Deniz

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-08-25 4:10

Hi Vincent,
Good inclusion of the bird and running boat ... it adds a nice dynamics to the scene. Well captured and composed. Good image quality and notes to describe the scene. Well done! tfs and have a nice weekend.
Cheers,
Renier

axiotea (15895) 2007-08-25 6:41

Bonjour Vincent
Superbe vue sur San Francisco et du "golden gate bridge" (pas sure) depuis un bon PDV. Pendant une fraction de seconde, j'ai cru voir un biplan à la place de l'oiseau :) les bateaux avec leurs trainées blanches ajoutent du dynamisme à l'image. J'aime bien aussi les reflets scintillants sur la mer.
Amicalement
Marilyn

siolaw (25692) 2007-08-25 7:44

Salut Vincent,
Ils avaient une belle vue depuis Alcatraz!Mais ils ne devaient pas trop l'apprécier, remarque!
Nous par contre, on peut en profiter... De belles tonalités de différents bleus, bonne netteté et cadrage. L'oiseau bien près est un bonus intéressant
Amicalement
Laurent

albertopiubello (2589) 2007-08-25 8:22

Bonsoir Vincent,
très belle image riche en tonalités et composition intèressante avec l'oiseau et le bateau en premier plan qui capturent l'oeil.
Bon we
Alberto

jhm (81637) 2007-08-25 8:23

Hi Vincent,

With a 17-85mm lens on these distance you make a very well picture.
Very nice sky line and also the silhouettes of the city gives a nice composition.
Very well done.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

Floydian (30970) 2007-08-25 8:33

Hi Vincent,
So you have been to the most beautiful city on earth...i am sure you had a great time ;-)
The view from Alcatraz is always very difficult, it's the fog and the haze what makes most images soft and hazy, just like yours. But if i see this one comparing with mine taken in Sep this view is much better, at least clearer than mine.
Nice that you waited for a boat, gives a nice touch to it...
Have a nice weekend, Henk
p.s
Maybe reducing the blue cast a little?

delkoo (33894) 2007-08-25 9:07

bonjuor vincent
je suis un moins conquis par cette photo que la precedente, heureusement qu il y a l'oiseau qui sauve en partie l'image.

amicalement
didier

Angelillo (9065) 2007-08-25 9:25

Bonsoir Vincent,

Très belle prise de vue de la cité, aidée par le bateau qui marche vers l'horizon et qui, avec les mouettes, donne dynamisme à l'image. C'est très belle!

Salut!
Angel.

Stepan (27167) 2007-08-25 11:01

On se croirait dans un film ou une serie TV. Comme il y a un petit je ne sais quoi dans la définition, on se croirait en fait dans un film ou une série TV des années 70 !!
Très sympa, cette sensation.
Stéphane

jwmunro (6859) 2007-08-25 14:03

Bonjour Vincent -

"I left my heart..." This is my home town and every time I see an image of SF Tony Bennett's song comes to mind. I now live in Denver and dream of returning to "..that city by the bay.." I think you know all of the limitations on this image so I won't mention them. I will just look at your image and think about "...little cable cars..." that "...travel half way to the stars..."

Thank you for a trip down memory lane.

John

evanrizo (456) 2007-08-26 0:32

Hi Vincent, this is a great interesting shot from this place, especial with the ship in the sea and the airplane in the air.
Best wishes.
Evan

ChrisJ (69430) 2007-08-26 1:23

Hi Vincent

The 2 aircraft are a good addition to the San Francisco skyline. Good sharpness & excelelnt choice of a panoramic format. Tfs! Bon travail!

Photo65Net (43084) 2007-08-26 1:28

Salut Vincent,
La vue est classique, mais elle fonctionne bien, tant il est toujours intéressant de contempler cette skyline.
En plus, de belles couleurs et deux éléments "accrocheurs" dans l'image : le bateau et l'oiseau.
Bien vu,
Bon dimanche,
JB.

cessy (13647) 2007-08-26 2:26

Hallo Vincent
very nice cityscape, with nice adding elements : the boats, birds, and the famous gate
have a nice sunday

josepmarin (33571) 2007-08-26 3:24

Bonjour Vincent,
une belle vue panoramique sur SF, d'un point de vue historique comme la prison d'Alcatraz.
J'aime les tons bleus que tu as obtenus sur la photo, et les éléments qui la composent, les bateaux en naviguant par la baie, les mouettes en volant, très bien capturées, et la ville avec le grand pont dans un arrière-plan.
Une belle réalisation.
Amicalement,
Josep

lucasgalodoido (16537) 2007-08-26 7:00

Hi Vicent!
Very nice image of this city, all details are available in this image, and I liked of pigeon too!
Congratulations and Hug!

feather (49848) 2007-08-26 7:57

Alcatraz is an excellent POV from which to capture the iconic SF skyline. Although it is a bit hazy you didn't have the usual fog from preventing this shot. The boats, the Bay Bridge(?) and the seagull are all good features of the image.
Kath

Graal (57208) 2007-08-26 8:08

Bonjour Vincent,
pleasant view on S.Francisco, good shot from Alcatraz. Fine caught of bird in image, well composed. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

photographer123 (5720) 2007-08-26 8:52

Hi..
Very cool shot…composition is very good…
Inclusion of bird and boat are well placed…
Blue is looking good here…
But you should add some contrast here…
Best wishes…subir

Gerrit (35417) 2007-08-26 11:57

Hi Vincent,
fantastic view. The skyline is impressive and the hill in front makes it different. The seaguls are a fine extra.\
Regards, Gerrit

leo61 (42740) 2007-08-26 13:23

Hi Vincent!
A Good shot taken from a great POV.It`s a nice view at the skyline and I like the blue tones.The boats and seagulls are nice details.
Regards,Leo

chrisnet (20354) 2007-08-26 14:34

Salut Vincent,
Belle vue de San Francisco, le bateau et l'oiseau apportent beaucoup de dynamisme, c'est bien vu!
Amicalement
Christian

Clementi (42815) 2007-08-26 16:00

Hi Vincent.
Beautifull shot again,
the bird and running boat it adds
a nice dynamics to the photo .
well done
Giorgio

erdna (5346) 2007-08-26 16:19

You captured the atmosphere of the city from afar. The slight haze of fog and the seagull. If you were on Alcatraz at sunset this would even be better.

Thank you for your visit and comments on my photo, "Lost City of Petra". I appreciate it.

Andre'

danos (31562) 2007-08-27 1:08

Hello Vincent,
a nice shot of San Francisco from the worldwide known prisons of Alcatraz.The flying bird and the ships that penetrate the sea give a nice stoke in your capture.Very informative your note.Well done Vincent.

Regards,Danos

prumod (8258) 2007-08-27 5:22

hi vincent...
nice view of sanfranciso... beautful sky and sea... nice light falling to the city!
greetings...

Angshu (33215) 2007-08-27 20:47

Hello Vincent
You had to battle the fog and the haze it appears, which makes the picture hazy. Good inclusion of the boat & the flying gull. Nice one!
Regards
Angshu

saigon (5444) 2007-09-04 1:42

salut VINCENT.
je suis de retour apres un sejour au VIETNAM fantastique!
tres bon POV sur la baie de S fransisco!
amitiés....aldo.

Pitoncle (3743) 2007-10-11 0:03

Bonjour Vincent,
Je dois reconnaître, bien humblement, que ton image est plus percutante que la mienne malgré l'absence du premier plan qui t'intéressait !!!
L'ampleur du ciel contribue à la magnificence des constructions bien mises en valeur par les différentes tonalités de bleus qui les entourent dans une très belle lumière ; la cerise sur le gâteau étant bien évidemment le vol de la mouette.
A bientôt sur TE pour de nouvelles aventures.
Gérard