Tag Archives: baker beach

Battery Chamberlain

AE7I0023.jpgOur visit to Baker Beach included something I hadn’t realized was there. The coast around the entrance to the Golden Gate is dotted with old gun batteries and it turns out that Baker Beach is another location. This gun emplacement is called Battery Chamberlain. While the concrete installations are still pretty much intact, the majority of the battery is long gone. However, one of the gun positions has been preserved and the gun is installed.

AE7I0030.jpgI took a quick look around while one of the guys who looks after things was working on the gun mechanism. He was changing the elevation of the gun and working on the mechanism that aligns the gun. I was able to peer down the barrel and take a look at the rifling. Apparently they run tours periodically but I just took a quick mooch around before heading on my way.

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Fishing the Surf

AE7I0066.jpgAt the end of Baker Beach there are some rocks.  One guy had set himself up here to do a bit of fishing.  He knew exactly where the waves would crash over and where they would miss – unlike some of the other people clambering across the rocks.  The image of him alone with the sea seemed rather compelling to me – certainly more so than the view in the opposite direction of a naked guy on the beach applying sunblock!

Baker Beach

AE7I0054.jpgThe Bay Area is not short of photogenic locations.  Probably the most famous is the Golden Gate Bridge.  I have certainly photographed it many times from different places.  One that I have not shot from before, though, is Baker Beach.  Located on the outside of bridge on the south shore, it provides a nice angle on things.  I had seen plenty of shots from there before but my previous effort at visiting had occurred on a day when visibility on the shore was just good enough to see your hand in front of your face.

AE7I0021.jpgNancy and I decided to check it out as a fall back when something else we had planned proved to be so busy we couldn’t find anywhere to park.  We headed to the beach and strolled along the sand avoiding (most of the time) the waves rolling up on the shore.  The view of the bridge was much as expected.  As we wandered around, a number of container ships came into view heading for the bay.  I was curious to see just how large they looked when compared to the bridge.  We loitered until one of them went under the bridge.  It suddenly looked a lot less impressive, even though it reached a good distance towards the bridge deck.

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