The next stop was Fort Point, a cool old fort right under the Golden Gate Bridge. Alicia and I split the group into two small pods and showed them a few of our favorite spots in the fort with great repetitive patterns, and light. We work with aperture and shutter setting a lot here, and I think it helps to really visually be able to show the class how symmetry plays a part in the shots.

Once we show them a few spots we turn them loose to let them see the fort on their own and explore. We did a really fun and creative group shot during the final few minutes in the fort. Alicia always comes up with great ways to do the group shot that are fun and different.

From the fort things changed. A slight drizzle greeted us after our group as we left lunch and headed for Rodeo Beach. I hate to stop a class because of a little weather. Inclement weather is a part of landscape photography and with the right gear shooting in rain is very possible, and can often yield some great and moody results. We walked out with shower caps to help cover our cameras, and set up to work on long exposures and get some moving ocean waves. Unfortunately the weather got worse, and after forty minutes we waved the white flag and set off.

Even though the rain was there many folks still tried to shoot the Golden Gate from our Marin Headlands perch…the foggy and gloom actually gave the bridge an ethereal glow which was really cool…those who braved a little rain got some great shots. We bumped up our ISO to allow for slightly quicker exposure times for the dusk. 20-30 seconds per shot is easier and quicker than the 2-3 minute shots we do under dry conditions.

The class was a great bunch of enthusiastic photographers and we sure enjoyed spending our day with them!