Battery Cranston Is a Short Hike to a Sweeping Golden Gate Bridge View
Battery Cranston is a great place to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge. It sits on the San Francisco side, the hike is short and easy, and the view is excellent, especially at sunset. It is also the spot where I made my print, Sunset at Golden Gate Bridge, so I have a soft spot for it.
Spring flowers line the California hillside overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. From here, I snap this stunning photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge, perfect for any wall in a home or a office.
Additional Information:
Please allow 5-10 days for printing and shipping.
I have the ability to print custom sizes and material (like wood, gatorboard, etc.). If this interests you, please reach out to dj@dalton-johnson.com for a free quote with the size and material you desire.
The walk is the first thing I like. You park, then you walk up. That is really all there is to it. It is not a full day, and it does not require a big plan. It is a short walk, and at the top the bridge opens up in front of you. For a landmark this famous, that kind of easy access is rare, and it makes the spot easy to return to.
I have been to Battery Cranston several times. That matters, because the conditions are different every visit, and it took repeat trips before I got the evening I wanted. Some visits were nice. One was the best I have ever had there. In late March, the hillside was covered in yellow wildflowers, the clouds were light but not too thin, the sky stayed blue, the ocean looked blue, and the red of the bridge glowed against all of it.
The view works because of the San Francisco side. Sunset is one of the most ideal times to photograph the bridge, and from here it glows. Low light warms the International Orange until it reads as a deep red, and the hillside in front gives the eye a place to start. If you are after a sunrise instead, I would send you to the Marin side, since its access points look toward the sunrise. Battery Cranston is an evening spot.
On the night I shot it, I did not start at the edge. I began in the obvious place and found a lovely frame with the bridge between two trees. There were no flowers, though, and I wanted flowers. So I moved toward the hillside where the yellow was thickest. One honest note. Part of that area sits near a steep drop, and a fall there would be serious. The ground felt solid to me, but I would not encourage anyone to stand where I stood. Stay well back from the edge and use a longer lens instead.
That brings me to the lens. I arrived with my whole camera bag, one body and three lenses. I expected to use a wide Tamron zoom, the 16 to 30, but at that width the bridge looked very small. So I switched to the Tamron 70 to 180 and found that 70 millimeters was close to perfect. It brought the bridge in, kept the flowers in the frame, and gave the scene a sense of scale.
I shot vertical and horizontal, but in the end I liked the horizontals better. The bridge is a long, wide subject, and a horizontal frame lets it stretch across the hillside and the water. That is also why the wider print sizes suit this photograph so well.
If you go, give yourself time. Arrive well before sunset, walk up, look around, and settle on a composition while the light is still building. I cut it close on my evening, and I would not suggest that. Plan for more than one visit if you can, since the sky, the season, and the flowers all change.
The result is a real photograph, made by a person standing on a hillside, and it is available as a fine art print in several sizes and materials.
Go check out all the prints by Dalton Johnson.
About the Author
Dalton Johnson is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker who tells stories about real people pushing themselves in the outdoors, from the High Sierra to the far reaches of every continent. He has shot and written for brands, tourism boards, and editorial outlets, including Nike, Patagonia, Four Seasons, PBS, GoPro, and Ford, with more than 160 campaigns and hundreds of published articles to his name. Off assignment, he bikepacks, trail runs, swims open water, chases big waves, and rock climbs.
