Golden Gate Glow

I wrapped up a California trip with a quick evening in San Francisco to make an attempt at this image. It's always great to be able to tack on an additional location to a shoot, but the downside is that I don't have time to scout a new place out and have to just wing it. This resulted in me choosing Baker Beach as my primary spot with Marshall's Beach as a backup location depending on what I found when I arrived. I knew they'd have nice light at sunset and the swell coming in just right would add to the image. I got there with plenty of time and sure enough I wasn't feeling the options at Baker. Already sore and worn out from Death Valley (in particular, the two trips out on the sand dunes) I grudgingly decided to hike the somewhat strenuous mile or so down the beach, up the hill and back down to Marshall's for a better angle. I was thrilled to find this view and immediately knew I'd made the right choice as the sky exploded, the waves crashed and the tide gave me beautiful reflections on the sand...until 30 minutes after sunset and I realized I had maybe 20 minutes to get back to my car before getting locked in behind the gate and probably missing my flight back home. I'm writing this more than five months later and still have a limp on the left side, but I made it!