Best of San Francisco Photography Tips
Updated: Aug 27
The Great Outdoors of City Life | San Francisco, California USA
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Golden Gate Bridge
There are so many places for great landscapes of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you are driving north on the bridge toward Sausalito and Muir Woods, take the pull off to a parking lot on your right-hand side. This parking lot will give you views of the cars on the bridge and fun shots of people with the bridge in the background. Before leaving this area, I recommend driving down to the Moore Road Pier. A small pier that will give you a waters edge snap of the bridge looking toward the Pacific Ocean. You can also get some great photos of the San Francisco cityscape and skyline from this pier. I always grab a few quick photos of birds or wildlife in the area as well.
Photos of Golden Gate Bridge from northeast parking lot and Moore Rd Pier
On the northwest side of the Golden Gate, you will want to take photos from Battery Spencer area. There are a few different areas to take photos from on this side of the bridge.
Photos of Golden Gate Bridge from northwest at Battery Spencer
When driving south on the Golden Gate, you will want to set your GPS to Marshall’s Beach. There is a parking area and then a pretty steep walk down to the beach area, but I love this view of the bridge. The walk back up from Marshall’s Beach is not so fun, but luckily short distance.
Photo of Golden Gate Bridge from Marshall Beach - southwest of bridge and the walk back up
Crissy Field will give you an entirely new view with green grass with the rolling hills behind the bridge and is located to the southeast of the bridge.
Muir Woods National Monument
I’m a lover of nature, so a great escape to nature just north of San Francisco is Muir Woods National Monument. Great photos of huge redwood trees and just an enjoyable time spent in nature.
Photos of Muir Woods National Monument and the beautiful redwood trees
Fisherman’s Wharf & Pier 39
Many different things to photograph in this area from street performers & cityscapes to wildlife & Alcatraz Island. There will be tons of tourists around, which is probably why I prefer the photos of seascapes from the pier.
Photos from Pier 39 and the street performers of Fisherman's Wharf
Ghirardelli Square & Original Chocolate Factory
Don’t miss the huge Ghirardelli sign and original chocolate factory just off San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. You can also catch photos of trolley & street cars as well. Try some chocolate, I am a huge fan of dark chocolate!
Lombard Street & Cable Cars
Lombard is famous for the one block of hairpin turns. Cool to drive, but difficult to photograph without a drone. I would love to see others photos of this street. There are also some great streets that look down the hills of San Francisco toward the bay that make great photographs. Don’t miss taking photos of cable & trolley cars.
Painted Ladies of Steiner Street
My sister was obsessed with seeing these colorfully painted Victorian row houses on Steiner Street, because they make an appearance in the Full House opening credits and another estimated 70 movies, tv programs and ads. I’ll admit, it did give me a decent photograph below and it is located off a peaceful park called Alamo Square.
