Hand in Hand
Location: Pier 14, San Francisco, CA
Created: 02/18/2017 6:47:19 pm
Camera: EOS Canon 5D iii
Lens: EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens @ 16mm
Aperture: f/18; 30 sec; & f/4.0; 2.9 sec; 3 shot pano; ISO 200; stack
Pier 14 is an unusually long San Francisco pier, jutting out into the bay that lies between the Bay Bridge and the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero. This image was created 75 minutes after sunset during the elusive "blue hour" on a relatively clear winter night. The blue hour (from the French l'heure bleue) is the twilight period, early in the dawn or late in the dusk each day. Technicality speaking, it is during the nautical twilight phase when the Sun is at a significant depth below the horizon. The residual, indirect sunlight takes on that mystical, predominantly blue shade using a long exposure; even the stars are evident in the sky. The scandalous Millennium Tower, seen in the center with the cranes, is the City's fourth tallest skyscraper and contains over 400 multimillion-dollar condo units. It soars 58 stories at 645 feet, providing residents with unparalleled views of the Bay Area. At a cost of $350 million, the skyscraper was completed in 2008, and as of 2023, it has sunk 18 inches and tilted 26 inches since it opened. The Tower will continue tilting and is embroiled in lawsuits. In a contradiction that defies improbability, data shows that around 10 inches of the overall 26-inch tilt happened after 2022, following work to stop the sinking. If you look closely at the center of the photograph, the genuine allure of this image lies with a charming couple at the far end, walking "hand in hand" under the arch at the foot of the pier. As a footnote, there are a series of metal plates to read along the pier walkway, each engraved with enchanting excerpts from Rudyard Kipling's poem, The Sea and the Hills. And for one more treat, far left, you can walk by the 60-foot-tall sculpture of Cupid's Bow and Arrow, "Cupids Span," by married artists Oldenburg and Bruggenof. Then grab a nightcap after your romantic twilight stroll, hand in hand, in the City,
