Here is my guide to the perfect sunny spring day in San Francisco!
Gear
Sony A7Riii with the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM Lens and the Sony FM Telephoto 100-400mm f/5.6 GM lens, iPhone 12 pro.
You could bring a tripod for the sunrise but with the Sony sensor I feel it is not needed.
Locations visited:
Battery Spencer
Kirby Cove
Conservatory of Flowers
San Francisco Botanic Garden
Outer Richmond Neighborhood
Ocean Beach
Lands End Trail
Palace of Fine Arts
Crissy Field
Itinerary
Start your day with the sunrise at Battery Spencer, a concrete battery with amazing views in every direction. It’s only a 20 minute Uber ride from downtown. Before you leave, be sure to download a map of the surrounding area as service is spotty in places.
Sunrise views of the Golden Gate Bridge from Battery Spencer
ISO 640 - 29mm - f/10 - 1/125 sec
Silhouettes at sunrise
ISO 125 - 70mm - f/11 - 1/125 sec
View towards Kirby Cove from Battery Spencer
ISO 640 - 55mm - f/10 - 1/125 sec
From the battery, walk one mile down to the secluded Kirby Cove. The road leads through wildflower meadows and forests so keep an eye out for deer, lizards, woodpeckers and hummingbirds.
Trail to Kirby Cove
Costa’s hummingbird
ISO 500 - 400mm - f/5.6 - 1/800 sec
Calla lilies
ISO 100 - 70mm - f/4.0 - 1/800 sec
Enjoy the views from the cove. Take a walk down the beach and take advantage of the rest of the early morning light. You may very well have the beach all to yourself at this hour.
Sun peaking over the hills at Kirby Cove
ISO 100 - 39mm - f/22 - 1/250 sec
Next head back up the hill to the main road and catch a ride back over the bridge. Make your way to Golden Gate Park and a stop at the Conservatory of Flowers.
Conservatory of Flowers
To me this is an ideal place to photograph at mid day as the harsh sunlight will be diffused through the opaque glass panes creating lovely conditions to photograph the interior of the greenhouse.
Water lily in full bloom
ISO 100 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/800 sec
Greenhouse interior
ISO 100 - 39mm - f/2.8 - 1/500 sec
Golden Gate Park is full of great things to do. After the Conservatory I suggest walking through the park to the San Francisco Botanical Garden for a stroll in the shade. My visit in March was made lovelier by the blooming magnolias.
Magnolia blossoms
ISO 100 - 70mm - f/5.0 - 1/1250 sec
Cherry blossoms
ISO 100 - 70mm - f/3.5 - 1/400 sec
From the park make your way to the Outer Richmond neighborhood for some lunch. Although the architecture here is not as famous as the San Francisco Victorian style homes you can still see some very pretty pastel rows of buildings in this area and dabble in some street photography.
“Keep your paws off my lawn!”
ISO 100 - 48mm - f/3.5 - 1/4000 sec
After lunch I walked down towards Ocean Beach where I spent some time people watching. Then I wandered towards the rock formations at the end of the beach to photograph the dramatic breaking waves and seabirds. I was exceptionally glad to have my telephoto lens here as it allowed me to photograph the waves while keeping myself and my gear safe and dry.
Ocean Beach
ISO 100 - 70mm - f/7.1 - 1/1600 sec
A beach day with pride
ISO 100 - 300mm - f/7.1 - 1/1600 sec
Cormorant dodging waves
ISO 100 - 100mm - f/7.1 - 1/1250 sec
At the end of Ocean Beach a short walk up the road leads you to the Lands End Trail, a fantastic but quite busy network of trails with great views. I walked from Ocean Beach all the way to Eagle Point and it took about an hour with plenty of stops. Definitely bring some extra layers for this walk as it was quite cold and very windy.
Sutro Baths ruins
ISO 100 - 24mm - f/7.1 - 1/640 sec
View through the trees from the Lands End trail
ISO 400 - 70mm - f/10 - 1/125 sec
From Eagle Point it’s about 30 minutes by bus or 10 minutes by car to the Palace of Fine Arts. I visited right as golden hour was beginning. At that time this would make a lovely spot for some portrait photography. As I was traveling alone I continued on by foot to Crissy Field Marsh for the sunset and some birdwatching.
View from Crissy Field at Sunset
ISO 100 - 121mm - f/5.0 - 1/1600 sec
And that’s the day! This was a full 12 hour day in San Francisco but really gives you the opportunity to take so many interesting photographs of nature, landscapes, wildlife, macro scenes, architecture, people and of course the famous bridge.
I hope you enjoyed my guide to San Francisco. Stay tuned for more and leave any suggestions for me in the comments below! Thank you for reading.