Finally catching up on the last of the 2025 workshop photos! Everyone told me October is the best weather for SF…I’m a little confused because it is, by far, the worst weather I’ve experienced in any of my visits…gloomy and rainy the whole time. Might have to go back to August as my workshop month. We made the best of it, though. On the plus side, the GGB was the nicest visit I’ve had – not windy at all, which was a total shock, and not very busy. So, that was all a pleasant surprise.

Here’s a look at what we saw on our 3 days exploring one of my favorite US cities despite less than ideal weather.

Day 1

Starting with the Golden Gate Bridge I already briefly mentioned. We did have a brief moment of sun here.

Next, onto the deYoung Museum. I chose to focus on the angles and mix of architecture and nature.

Some pillar reflections at the Palace of Fine Arts and a dome detail.

We ended the day in City Hall. I’ve shot quite a bit here, so I only have this one image to show for it this time around.

Day 2

The day started quite rainy, so we got a bit of a late start at SFMOMA. Olafur Eliasson’s bridge is always a favorite spot to photograph here.

The rain stopped briefly, and we shot for a bit in the Yerba Buena Gardens and the plaza outside the Contemporary Jewish Museum. I decided to use the rain-covered marble and the reflection of SFMOMA for the first shot.

Some fun patterns in a building facade.

After lunch, the rain let up for awhile, and I dragged everyone to the alley behind SFMOMA. I always love the layeriing of buildings back here.

Onto Salesforce Transit Center with its curvy facade and rooftop garden with views of surrounding highrises.

Taking cover once again at the Palace Hotel. The lobby here is stunning. Since I’ve shot this a number of times, I just have this one shot of the pillars and a peek at the beautiful chandeliers.

A random mix of buildings I liked on the walk to our next location.

Columbus Tower.

Transamerica Pyramid. Kinda disappointed in myself at this location this time around, but here’s one shot I managed.

Day 3

So happy we started with some sun at our first stop of the day, The Pacific Gas & Electric switching building. Love the texture of the facade of this brutalist beauty.

The clouds started to roll in as we approached MIRA but I like the icy blue cast on the facade.

Onto more brutalism – The Hyatt Regency. Some graphic angles outside and inside.

Quite the contrast with the swirly sculpture inside, further exaggerated with some ICM.

A curvy glass ramp along the Embarcadero. Always love abstact reflections created by curved glass.

Back to some geometry with the other side of the Hyatt facade.

A couple of Urban Quilt additions as we wandered throughout the day.

We made a couple of other stops before our final stop, but I didn’t get any images I liked. So, I’ll wrap it up with one of my favorite San Francisco buildings – The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption. It was raining pretty hard when we arrived, so we spent a bit of time inside.

I love the geometric wire sculpture that contrasts with the curves of the ceiling.

There are these massive pillars in the four corners of the church that I’m kind of obsessed with. Every visit, I struggle to make an interesting shot. This year, I managed one I’m relatively happy with and can’t decide if I prefer color or black and white, so you get both!

They seem to have changed the lights that line the center of the church with these dreadful cool-toned bulbs. Honestly, they’re atrocious. And, they’re WAY too bright. So, for the most part I avoided shooting the central part of the church. I’ll share the one shot I made in color and black and white for the comparison and so you can see just how bad these lights are.

The rain cleared, and the sun appeared for the briefest of moments, and I managed just one shot of the exterior roof. Once again, I’m sharing black and white, which I think I prefer and in a vertical orientation. Plus, the color version in its original orientation. Just for comparison sake, and to show you how an image can feel different just from a rotational change. Something worth considering, particularly when dealing with abstraction.