Alcatraz
I’ve been meaning to visit Alcatraz when I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area and fortunately before my recent work trip I finally remembered to book a ticket. As expected, Alcatraz was in many ways an old, decrepit prison. Actually, in all the ways. But the history is interesting and the views from the middle of the bay are fantastic.
When I arrived at SFO, I hurried from the airport to my hotel, checked in, and walked to the Alcatraz ferry to catch the last tour of the day. I took along my Fujifilm GFX 50S ii with Mitakon 65mm f1.4 and an adapted Yashica 50mm f1.9.
The latter is difficult to love, but if you’re drawn to photos that look nostalgic, that’s your lens. It’s easy to tell which of these photos were taken with the Yashica because of the heavy vignetting. That lens was only intended to cover 35mm film.
Regardless, I got a few shots I’m happy with from both lenses and quite enjoyed the afternoon ignoring the audio tour, exploring on my own, and nearly stealing the audio tour player as it beeped at me while 300 people in the return ferry line stared.
I find myself needing to balance how much of my life is dedicated to taking photos, so I made a point of only shooting one day and putting my camera away during the rest of the trip. That meant that, for this trip, Alcatraz and the tourist-y nearby Fisherman’s Wharf area is all I managed to shoot this time.
