San Francisco

This year for the 4th of July, we did not want to drive a lot but we were still looking for an camping trip. We looked at several possible options but they were all booked (some booked over a year in advance). My wife got the idea to check out Pinnacles National Park. It’s so close to the Bay Area that you can drive to it in less than 2 hours (excluding traffic). Pinnacles is known as a climbing mecca (in winter months), for its California condors and for the large bat population living in the caves. We were expecting a lot of people during the 4th of July weekend and yes the campground was almost full but you read it right, on the busiest weekend of the year, there was still space left in the campground. Pinnacles, I found out, is the best kept secret in...

Sunday night’s supermoon was the brightest and closest to Earth in 20 years. It was 14% bigger and about 30% brighter than usual. I did my usual research about possible locations in the week leading to the Full Moon. I found one promising location but Saturday was an extremely foggy day here in the San Francisco Bay. I had made up my mind that it was not worth going, until late Sunday afternoon, when a friend of mine sent me this text: “Moon shoot tonight?”. He lives in San Francisco so he had direct information that our friend Karl (see Karl the fog) was not coming over. I drove quickly (but safely) to San Francisco to meet my friend and we went to my planned location. I knew I would not see when the Moon exactly rises over the horizon because of...

A couple weeks ago, I went to take pictures of the PCA GGR Autocross in the old Alameda Naval Base. An autocross is a circuit marked by traffic cones that you have to go through as fast as possible without touching any cones. It’s a very safe way to drive your car at its limits (or at your limits) with very low risks. The course is setup at the old Alameda Navy Base, on the old runway. There is plenty of space for you to spin out of control without touching anything (except your ego). The view from there is fantastic, you are on the other side of the bay, with an unobstructed view of San Francisco: Here is a view of a car going through the course: Most cars are unmodified cars, no extra security except you have to wear an helmet, you are not driving that...