Palma's
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Alcatraz, October 2008
Coming up on the dock on the Rock, aboard the Ms. Katie, a 65 foot water taxi (we stood on the open deck), not the tourist ferry The local camera shop, Keeble & Shuchat, organized a trip to Alcatraz Island. We met at the Pier 50 in San Francisco at 3pm and returned from Alcatraz after 10pm. It was a long and tiring day on the Rock. My goal was to focus on just three images: sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge; inside the cell house; and San Francisco at night. Additionally, I thought I would try to put together a solid photo essay on Alcatraz. Things turned out different than I expected. Through insufficient preparation, luck, and how the stars aligned, I managed to achieve these goals, but different than I had expected. I also managed to drop my camera (ouch), cracking the extend battery pack housing, but luckily not damaging the camera or the lens. I was able to continue shooting after this unfortunate incident. In addition to replacing the battery pack, I will be getting a new tripod head. On another note, the weather also really cooperated. It was beautiful and clear, around 80 degrees, and with almost no wind. On the downside, this made getting a picture of the flag blowing in the breeze was difficult and time consuming and the results were not nearly as dramatic as I was hoping. Also, I was dressed expecting temperatures to be about 20 degrees cooler. I was even still in just shirt sleeves on the boat ride back to the city at 10 pm. So I was lugging around a jack along with all the other gear I brought, that for the most part I never used, while hot and sweaty. Oh, and the sun gave the bird guano a nice toasty aroma.
A window in the model industries building My thanks go out to the folks from Keeble & Shuchat, Tamron (who provided demo lenses to try out), the crew of the Ms. Katie, and the rangers and staff from the National Parks Service who hosted us on Alcatraz. It was a great experience to be on the island after hours and going into areas that are off limits to get some amazing shots. They put up with a bunch of photographers intent on spreading out in search of unique opportunities. At one point, a small group of us rushed to make the sunset on the far side of the island, scrambling through the cell house, the ranger using a pry bar to open up a stuck door, then rushing down a stairway that was very unstable, then trying to get through a stuck fence to get us into the industries building where we shot the sunset through the old windows (I think these turned out much more interesting than I thought they would). They took us through the tunnels, down into the dungeon, up on the roof of the cell house, into the gun galleries, and through derelict buildings. They also stayed 3 hours after closing to give us this chance.
On of our hosts, thank you We met at Pier 50, just south of AT&T park, where we had rented Westar Marine's 65 foot water taxi for the ride out to Alcatraz and back. While there was a cabin below, we all stayed out on the deck. This was not the comfortable ferry normally used to take people out to the island. No food, no shelter from the elements, no seats.
Getting ready to depart Pier 50, on the after deck, aboard the Ms. Katie And for those of you who always thought I would wind up in trouble, a special treat, enjoy this picture
Me, doing time on B Block, on Broadway Finally, here are two maps of Alcatraz Island- the first is an overview of the island and the second shows the cell house.
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