San Francisco pictures

Theme Day: Public Transportation

2010-11-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

What reflects public transportation in San Francisco uniquely? The Cable Car. Although it's more a tourist attraction it's also being used as public transportation for locals.

Today is Theme Day at City Daily Photo Blog.uni
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Have a seat ....

2010-10-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

... take a rest. Have a good weekend.

Bernal Heights Street Fair

2010-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Street Fair in one of SF's neighborhoods. Unfortunately not the best weather today and taking the picture with my phone makes it even darker and more miserable than it actually was.

Painting

2010-10-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Reality, painting of reality and picture with both.

Theme day: Graffiti

2010-10-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Graffiti is everywhere, even inside a mailbox.

Today is Theme Day at City Daily Photo Blog:
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

shopping cart underneath

2010-09-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

I wonder who's able to push this thing around? This kind of shopping carts loaded with plastic bags are usually used by homeless people to carry their stuff stowed away in plastic bags with them. However this one was just sitting there on the sidewalk, abandoned by it's owner.

inside Moscone Center West

2010-09-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Moscone Center is a place where a lot of conferences, forums take place. Big place with a lot of space for keynotes, a showroom and technical sessions.

Church on Church

2010-09-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile not only the "C" in Church is missing, the whole building/church got demolished. It's been a while since that happened. I always liked the blue building, not it's an empty space and they are going to build apartments there.

Farmers Market II

2010-09-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Another picture from the Farmers Market I mentioned yesterday. This time with the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

2010-09-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

This month's Theme Day at City Daily Photo Blog is open markets. I know, I'm way too late for the first of the month's picture. However I went Saturday to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, so I thought I take a picture of the market and the "Ferry Building" along "The Embarcadero". Unfortunately the weather wasn't too good and the fog was still in.

Fishing crabs

2010-08-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the US and in this beautiful city. Today I went to the beach and saw these people fishing crabs. They were successful though.

Statue

2010-07-24T23:34:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving tomorrow, to go on vacation in Germany, seeing friends and family. I will be back mid August. I wish everyone visiting my blog a peaceful and happy time. See you then.

swing

2010-07-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I saw this swing in front of the house with the funny sign, I posted last month.

Worl Cup Final

2010-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Recreation & Parks teamed up with AMERICA SCORES, and TeacherBus and put a giant screen in front of the Civic Center Plaza! The game was about to begin a couple of minutes when I took the picture.
Now the World Cup 2010 is over and Spain won the cup!

(Look at that gray sky and I got a sunburn - damn!)

Shoes in a window

2010-07-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

and no, it's not a shoe store it's an appartment.

bike in tree

2010-07-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Does a tree grow bikes. No! Someone put it up there. Why would someone put a bike on a tree? A bike someone also snatched away the wheels? I suspect it's stolen and hidden.

Theme Day: Reflections

2010-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I posted a similar picture last year. The garbage can reflects my camera, the street with houses and the chairs and benches outside the coffee place. It's Martha & Bros, a coffee place in Noe Valley. Most of the times the place is packed with people chatting over a cup of great coffee.

Today is Theme Day at City Daily Photo Blog.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

another funny sign

2010-06-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

The sign is not very sharp but very small and not in focus. In case it's difficult to read, here's what it says: "I Child-Proofed My House. BUT THEY STILL GET IN."

Noe Bagel

2010-06-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

in, guess where, Noe Valley, one of the neighborhoods in San Francisco. The place is on 24th street, right in the heart of "downtown" Noe. That's one of the places where you can get your breakfast bagel from and while eating it, sit on the bench outside.

The She's

2010-06-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it was, but there was a little show going on in this little neighborhood place: The She's playing and a little zoo for kids in the parking lot.

World Cup

2010-06-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Mexico just scored 2:0!

Trophies

2010-06-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

A collection of trophies handed out at the Shark City Nationals & Tiger Claw’s KungFuMagazine.com Championships held in San Jose, last Saturday. Not a typical San Francisco picture but from an event close enough to put it on my blog I guess.

Gecko

2010-06-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

this guy is loosing one of his skins. I'm not sure if the German saying translated to: "To fly off the handle" is the one fitting here. Saw this Gecko today at the Academy of Science.

Theme Day: Funny Signs

2010-06-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

This month's theme day at City Daily Photo Blog is: Funny Signs. This sign was on the package of a sleeping bag. Just in case you wonder, I didn't use my teeth.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Garageband

2010-05-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today was Carnaval in San Francisco and on the Festival on Harrison Street I saw this band playing in a garage. I believe their name was "Faith". Because I was late for the parade, no pictures of it. Instead a picture of the Festival and a band contributing to the Festival.

Smile ....

2010-05-28T21:40:00.001-07:00

I took the picture a while ago and when I passed the location last week, I saw there's a lot of construction going on, the "Smile" is gone and I don't know what the place will become.

Oakland Bay Bridge Toll

2010-05-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Driving from Oakland to San Francisco you have to pay the bridge toll. At certain times there are a lot of cars. Guess, today I was lucky.

another statue

2010-05-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not uploading pictures recently. But I've been pretty busy the past weeks.

I'm not 100% sure, but I guess this statue is Avalokitesvara. It's a Buddha who's "main purpose is to listen to the cries for help from those in trouble and provide them with aid. He is the protector from danger and his sacrifice symbolizes infinite compassion, the sharing of mankind's misery and a willingness to help those in distress. The eight arms symbolize his reaching out with compassion to save the world. The famous Chinese view of Avalokitesvara is a women known as Kuan Yin (or Kwan Yin)."
I saw the statue outside of the San Bao Temple, where I went yesterday.

Theme Day: Statues

2010-05-01T22:28:00.001-07:00

This month's theme day at City Daily Photo Blog is Statues. I saw this little Buddha statue at a restaurant in the city.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Have a seat ....

2010-04-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

and enjoy your weekend. But hopefully you'll find more comfortable chairs than those.

Memorial - San Francisco earthquake 1906

2010-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

The earthquake struck at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906.
The fire hydrant (at the corner of Church and 20th Street) is painted in gold, because that's where the fire, destroying most of the city, was finally stopped. Today the "San Francisco History Association" put a wreath on it (their website shows the event as: "1906 Earthquake & Fire Rememberance").

Phoenix Books

2010-04-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile they moved further up the street. The bookstore will have it's 25th anniversary next week. The interesting thing is the brown box. People can drop their used books (well, also new ones they don't want to read) in there. Then other people can look through the box and see if there's anything in there they like to read. This way books can easily be shared among a broad audience. I like the idea and have taken books from the box as much as I have brought my used books there.

Spring

2010-04-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

Red lantern in Chinatown

2010-04-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Today is "Theme Day" again, the topic is "Red". Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Where else than in Chinatown would I find a motive to represent the topic. Red has a lot of meanings in Chinese Traditions, among them happiness, fortune and honor.

House I

2010-03-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Some houses just look different or relocated from somewhere else. For example this one caught my attention, cause it may very well fit into the woods and not on the streets of SF.

movie in Chinatown

2010-03-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, they were blocking off a block of Grant Avenue in Chinatown to shoot a movie. Don't know what the movie is about but I'm always excited, when I see camera teams working on sets. However, although they must shoot a lot of movies in this city, I rarely see them.

24th street

2010-03-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

The photo shows how streets, well in this example the 24th street, are laid out in straight lines. This street is one example, but others are the same, so that they form a grid and it's easy to orientate.

View over the Mission ...

2010-03-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

... Noe Valley, Portrero Hill, and the Bay (did I miss a quarter?). If you turn around where I took the picture for Monday March 15th, you get this view. Well almost at the same spot, you've got to move a little further up or down to get some houses out of the sight.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

that's what the little guy on the poster in background suggests too.

close up view of "Twin Peaks"

2010-03-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

steps and steep

2010-03-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Once they put steps in the side walk you know the street is really steep! That's also why cars have to park sideways.

View with back to Science Hall

2010-03-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

That's accross from the
Science Hall I posted in January. Far in the background you'll see the ocean. Well, I guess not really on the photo, since it's all blue, grayish anyways.

fund schools not war - protest

2010-03-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

Day of education protests ...
"Thousands of students rallied today at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University and many other schools across the Bay Area and beyond, expressing anger and frustration over the decline in funding for California's beleaguered public education system."

Theme day topic: Passageway

2010-03-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Today is Theme day.
I know I didn't post anything the last month and wanted to take the opportunity to do better this month, starting with the theme day.

The picture is the J-Church Muni tracks. The tracks can't continue on Church street for a while because it's going up and down, so there's this passageway
I posted the other side of it in another sfdailyphotos posting.

See what other City Daily Photo bloggers from around the world are posting:
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

City College - Science Hall

2010-01-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

Although I haven't posted regularly anyways, and you probably won't notice that I'm gone, but I wanted to let my dear readers know: I'm heading to Australia, therefore no updates in the next two weeks for sure.

City College - Smith Hall

2010-01-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

One of the buildings at San Francisco City College, Ocean Campus. I was impressed by these clouds piling up. It's been raining a lot recently.

street art

2010-01-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

This morning, I just walked by this painting on the sidewalk.

Victorian style house

2010-01-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Picture of the house from my Halloween doorway picture. Someone asked to see the photo of the entire house. And there's another Victorian house right next to it, so I got two at the same time.

flying pig

2010-01-01T23:18:00.001-08:00

I hope it's a lucky pig. In Germany it's a custom to give lucky charms as a present on New Year's Day. A lucky pig is such a lucky charm and is meant to bring good luck to the new owner in the new year. The meaning goes back to the Germanic tribes where the boar was standing for fertility, prosperity and wealth. Today it mainly means luck for everything.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and of course a lucky one too!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T01:05:00.000-08:00

to all visitors of my blog.

The building is the former Bank of America or 555 California Street. The building is second in height to the Transamerica Pyramid and 31st tallest in the US. If I'm not mistaken, the Pyramid reflects in the windows of the building. This certainly wasn't intended and I am surprised to see it.

Transamerica Pyramid

2009-12-22T22:59:00.001-08:00

another picture from the Transamerica Pyramid Building. I was standing right next to it. Very impressive building.

shop window

2009-12-17T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today I came across this interesting display window. I found it very creative and special. It was not a cactus or flower shop though.

In case you wonder ...

2009-12-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

... what that thing is? - It's an elevator coming from the basement
... what these metal doors in sideways are for? - Sometimes they open up to stairs going into a basement of a store, or like in this case for an elevator.
... why the picture is that bad? - It was shot in rainy weather, evening and with an iPhone, running by. But I won't blame the iPhone though.

Theme Day: waiting ...

2009-12-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

... for the next train was my first thought, when I saw the choice of December Theme Day.

See what other City Daily Photo bloggers from around the world had in their mind: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Fall

2009-11-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

That's how I love fall, blue sky and trees turning yellow! And yes, there are some trees changing colors even in SF. However you can still see flowers in the winter!
Have a good weekend everyone.

Fire alarm box

2009-11-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

and the German store "Lehr's" in the background.

United States Mint San Francisco

2009-11-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

I was wondering what this big building located higher up at Market Street, is. Now I know. It is the
United States Mint at San Francisco. This building was built in 1937 and workers moved from the old facility to this new building. I hope I'll be able to take a picture of the old building, which is turned into a museum, too.

Halloween front yard

2009-11-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I hope I don't bore anyone with all these Halloween pictures, but it's only once a year and the art of decorating houses and even front yards are great motives.

Halloween doorway

2009-11-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Halloween and the Theme Day of CityDailyPhoto bloggers is "Doorways". I thought I combine both and show you another picture how people decorate their houses at this time of the year.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Halloween

2009-10-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

During this time of the year, you'll see pretty amazing stuff hanging outside of people's houses or shops.

wigs for pipes

2009-10-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Another image of some artist stuff one wouldn't expect. I saw a couple of them at different places, so someone must have really put some work into it.

Scarecrow or man on stilt

2009-10-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Today was Noe Valley Harvest Festival. This guy was walking on 24th street on his stilt exceeding everyone else.

Wigs

2009-10-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

With Halloween coming up soon, you'll need a wig.

car without tree

2009-10-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

I just saw this beautiful old car in the same neighborhood, where a tree was fallen on a different car a couple of days ago (see my previous post). I love these old cars and I also liked the white against the red garage doors.

stormy weather and fallen tree

2009-10-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

The sign missed warning about falling trees. Today was really stormy and it rained all day long. We haven't had this for months! I feel sorry for the tree and the owner of the car.
I am sorry that I haven't posted pictures on this blog lately. I had a really stressful time and then I got sick too, still am (feel almost like the tree in this picture). Hopefully soon I will be recovered and presume my activity.

Bay Quackers

2009-09-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

There is always something new to learn about San Francisco. Today I saw this red "car" catching my interest and it turns out to be a refurbished World War II Amphibious landing craft. According to the Bay Quackers website, It's used for a Surf & Turf Duck Tour of San Francisco and the Bay.

Zeitgeist

2009-09-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

it's the name of the bar. But it's also a German language expression and means "spirit of the times or the age". I already like the term in German but I also like that they picked it as name for the bar. In addition to that, the bar has a "beergarden". Not the ones I'm used to in Germany, but hey, it's still a outside space where you can drink a beer under a tree (the one on the left side of the picture). If I'll get the chance I'll post a picture from the inside.

Sunday afternoon

2009-09-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

At first I saw the very red house on the right, then the brown "Bernal Hill" in the background.
The hill is the one I took this picture earlier this year.
And last but not least the teenager with his skateboard ran or rather skated into the picture. Skateboarding is very common in this city with all the hills.

Twin Peaks - red sky

2009-09-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

This evening we got this beautiful red sky, sunset, which I rarely see in this part of the city.
The thick grey stuff looking as clouds is fog, covering part of the hill. For me it's always a incredible spectacle watching the fog rolling in. I guess the city is famous for it's fog and I've never seen anything like this anywhere else.

One more, close up of the tower:

Flight or up in the air

2009-09-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

taken during my flight from Portland to Oakland. I admit not necessarily a picture from "my" city but it was taken getting there, so hopefully it's a valid picture.

Duboce Ave

2009-08-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Muni J-line goes underground here and above are some parked old muni streetcars.

another historic streetcar

2009-08-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

Newsstand

2009-08-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

There's a guy selling the local newspaper in the underground, at the Muni and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) station. This picture was taken at Powell street in Downtown.

Evening sky in Chinatown

2009-08-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

California Secretary of State

2009-08-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Debra Bowen presenting the Keynote with the title:"Opensource, Open Government" at the OpenSourceWorld, San Francisco today.

Golden Gate in layer of fog

2009-08-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

today I went to Baker Beach, from there you have a spectacular view of the Golden Gate bridge. While I was enjoying the sun and ocean, I saw how the fog got burned off by the sun and uncovered bridge, (see my other blog for a series of images.)

Mural or have a seat

2009-08-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Maybe the huge wall with the mural was also the one wall to someone's living- and bedroom. Maybe the sofa and be was just put out on the streets for someone to pick up. Maybe someone thought to make an open air museum out of it, with art and seating. Whatever it is, I found the combination interesting enough for a photo.

Ming House

2009-08-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

they do alterations, dry-cleaning and maybe laundry (wash and fold). It's another night shot.

Theme Day night: 24 hour Donut shop

2009-08-01T00:45:00.000-07:00

This Donut shop is open 24 hours -every day and night-! I'm always impressed that it is really open at midnight and no matter what that there are actually people in there. The smell of sweet donuts at midnight is also somehow appealing, although I managed to withstand the temptation of having such super sweet sugar thing in the middle of the night.

Join City Daily Photo Bloggers worldwide for their view of the night:

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Empty too

2009-07-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

I started the month with a picture of a woman collecting empty bottles (Theme Day was Empty) and I conclude this month with a picture of collecting empty cardboard boxes for recycling. You can see those pickup trucks collecting empty cardboards a lot in the city.

Transamerican Pyramid

2009-07-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

I guess that's one of the most recognized buildings in San Francisco. The building can be seen from a lot of places and be easily spotted due to it's extraordinary shape.

Windy tonight

2009-07-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

These two flags (US and California) were waving in front of the 555 California building, formerly known as the Bank of America Center. It's the second tallest building in the city, 52 stories high, 779ft or 237.4m.

Bay Shore - Central Waterfront

2009-07-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

the area is all industrial and parts of the harbor, in the background is Portrero Hill with it's housing projects and very far in the back is the Twin Peaks transmission tower.

Gum machine

2009-07-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

... poses threats for dogs. Dogs be aware, danger comes from the machine! I found this sign pretty funny when I pictured a dog running off with a machine in tow.
The sign says: "Please do not tie dogs to this machine ... Danger of falling!! Thank you."

Bastille Day

2009-07-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today is "Bastille Day, a French holiday. Before I repeat what the holiday is about, you can read about it on Wikipedia

The balloons mark the entry to an Irish Bar located in or close to the French Quarter in Downtown SF were they were celebrating it.

Today I realized that actually yesterday was the first anniversary of my DailyPhoto Blog. One year ago, on the second day, I uploaded a picture of the same location to this Blog. So I thought, as long as the Bar will celebrate this and as long as I will keep the Blog alive, I'll celebrate my yearly anniversary with a picture of the balloons of Bastille Day celebration.

Stern Grove - Joan Baez II

2009-07-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

Please excuse that I took one of the pictures from yesterday and uploaded it for today's post.

I wanted to write one more thing about Joan Baez at Stern Grove, and needed a picture from the event.
She greeted the Iranian people, dedicated two songs to them and when singing "We shall overcome" she shared the stage with Tahmoures Pournazeri from Iran. Watch the following videos on Youtube:

Joan Baez shares her stage with Tahmoures Pournazeri for Iran
Joan Baez For Iran, 12 July, S F
Joan Baez, July 12

I must say very very impressive and touching! Thank you, Joan Baez!

Stern Grove - Joan Baez

2009-07-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the Stern Grove Festival. Today Blame Sally a local band was playing first and then Joan Baez! I had to go and see her, she's such a legend! And the place is beautiful too. It was packed, 10.000 people, they were even sitting all the way up in the woods. See next days (July 13th post)

Church

2009-07-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

I found the sky and the church and cross against it very impressive so I had to take the picture, although the church surely isn't that beautiful.

Layer of fog (close)

2009-07-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Another picture of fog in the city. I like the thick layer of white fog and with the blue sky above. It also spares part of the city, while some parts are sunny with blue sky, other parts are completely covered by this grey, wet substance.

Just $1

2009-07-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

I saw the dog and a lady setting up the table and signs at the Jazz Festival. You can barely see it but there were $1 bills stuck in the dogs collar. I took a picture and then she called me over for help and I watched her table for a couple of minutes. That was my contribution.

Fillmore Jazz Festival

2009-07-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today is the Fillmore Jazz Festival. It is one of the largest free Jazz Festivals on the West Coast. Visitors can listen to live music, enjoy art and craft, food and beverages over 10 blocks on Fillmore Street.

Layer of Fog

2009-07-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today the thick layer of fog didn't get burned of by the sun and stayed there all day. It always impresses me how the fog is just in certain parts of the city while other parts are completely sunny.

Theme Day: Empty

2009-07-01T00:34:00.000-07:00

Today is Theme Day empty. The picture shows one of a couple of people in this city looking for empty bottles or cans in garbage cans. They bring them to places for recycling and make a little bit of money out of it.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Iran Protests - Theme Day

2009-06-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

I posted a photo of Twitter, because Twitter became one of the most important platforms for the Iranian protest, as well as other social websites.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Bike

2009-06-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

I saw this bike yesterday morning. Very impressive how innovative and creative some people are! On bigkidbike are even more bikes.

Little car (Fiat 500)

2009-06-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

This car produced between 1957-1975 by Fiat was marketed as a town or city car. How true this is even today. I bet you can get parking easily with such a car. And finding parking is one of the most concerns in a populated city with rare parking space.

Swoops the attacking blackbird

2009-06-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

People watching Swoops.

There's a bird, actually two birds in SF financial district who became famous, attacking people.
It protects it's nest, build in one of the trees. When people walk by to close to the tree, he attacks them. There's a bird blog with news about the bird, some youtube videos. for example a video from Assoziated Press and one from CNN

So of course I had to go there as well to take a look myself. There were quite some people sitting or standing and watching what was going on. It was a great live comedy with the little Alfred Hitchcock twist.

The bird is getting ready, watching for someone to get too close to it's tree:

Person attacked and bending over to avoid the attack (the bird was too fast to catch on the photo):

Shooting a movie

2009-06-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Just recently I wondered if I ever will walk by a scene where they are shooting a movie to take a picture for my (almost) daily city blog. Today I did!
I walked by a corner, where they were shooting Shahruhk Khan's new movie "My name is Khan", an Indian drama based on a true story.

Fire Hydrant

2009-06-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

Green House

2009-06-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

It's not a green green house, since it contains hazardous material. The area, an old naval shipyard is contaminated with toxic substances resulting from past shipyard operations. The area is still being cleaned up.