Photosecrets San Francisco & Northern California: The Best Sights and How to Photograph Them

My wife and I just returned from our first sightseeing trip to northern California. We used PhotoSecrets as both a general guidebook and a photographic guide. It was awesomely on the money! The section that gave detailed driving instructions to reach the Marin Headlands for a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco was worth the price of the book. We also would never have known about other little-known (to us) gems such as the huge wind power array in Altamont Pass (near Livermore). From now on, if there's a PhotoSecrets book for one of our travel destinations, I'll definitely buy it.

Filled with fabulous full color photos, and covering Northern California, from Big Sur to the Oregon border to the Nevada border, and, of course, San FRancisco, this book is both a tour guide and photography guide in one. The book is organized by region, and the San FRancisco section of the book is divided into the various neighborhoods. The book features its share of postcard shots, but goes beyond the "pretty picture in a tour book" to tell the reader HOW to acheve the same photograph. Listed alongside each featured neighborhood or attraction is a lighting guide, with suggestions on angles, f-stops, shutter speeds and the best time of day to take the photographs. Also listed are admission prices (which may have changed, as the book was published in 1997) and phone numbers. The book goes beyond San Francisco to cover areas such as Monterey, Silicon Valley, Wine COuntry, the coastline to the Oregon border and the Gold country. There is also a section on Yosemite, although Yosemite is discussed in its own book in the same series. The one drawback is that the author does not spend much time discussing topics more advanced photographers might be interested in, such as using filters, backlighting or composition, but this is not enough to detract from the overall quality iof the book. The photographs found inside are inspiring and the tips to help recreate these photos take the photographer far beyond the standard vacation photos. Overall, I highly reecommend this book for the travel photographer. I just wish the series could be expanded to include areas other than the United STates.

This is a great book but you must understand that it is neither an instruction manual on photography nor a real tour guidebook for San Francisco. It is written to help give you a chance to get great shots of northern California landmarks. It not only points out the best locations from which to take pictures but also provides other info such as which time of day proviides the best lighting.On a recent trip to SF I got some amazing shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from places I would never have known even existed without this book. It shows you perspectives from several different locations for each landmark so you can choose your favorite. This allows you to head straight for the spot you've picked out and know what time of day you need to be there to get them. This kind of plan of attack will greatly increase your chances of getting great pictures.

My travel companion and I took a recent trip to California. We started in the Napa Valley and drove down the coast to San Francisco, Monterey, and Hearst Castle. This the first time either of us had been to this area. We both enjoy photography and when I read about this book I knew I had to get it for the trip. I brought two other guide books-the AAA book and "The Eyewitness Guide to California (The Eyewitness Guides are a worldwide series of guide books which I highly recommend for the info they provide and the photographs). "PhotoSecrets" was the book of choice. It gave great suggestions of where to go and what to photograph. I can't say that we got the exact photos as suggested but I got hundreds of great shots based on suggestions from the book. My favorite shots were taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all using the suggestions in this book. The book gives suggestions about the best times to take photos and I used this as a guide to planning each days itinerary. My biggest regret is not having enough time to visit all the great places suggested. This book has a unique prospective and I hope that someday there will be a whole series of "PhotoSecret" books.

I am a 24 year resident of San Francisco but a beginning photographer. I wanted to find places to photograph and this book did an excellent job. Plenty of color photographs to help inspire you. It gives in good details how to get to the specific area to take the best photographs and the same one as shown in the book. This book guided me to places I have never been and even made brief suggestions as to things to do in the area. An excellent guide for the tourist and the residents of the bay area.