Thursday, October 28, 2010

Trip to The Rock

Three years ago was my first visit to the infamous Rock called Alcatraz. For a native San Franciscan, people used to harass me about never visiting an Island that hosts nearly 130,000 visitors a year. Three years ago I finally visited the island with a group from Keeble and Shuchat Photography. Every year Keeble and Schucat hosts a trip to Alcatraz that allows its participants a full private guide of the Island that most visitors never see. We arrive after all the normal visitors leave at 4pm and stay until 10pm.

We were picked up not by the normal Blue and Gold fleet but a Tug Boat. Took a few shots while on the Tug but since the the salt water spray started to get a little stronger I put the camera back in the bag for the rest of the boat ride.


Once we got to the Island we were split up into small groups and led by Park Rangers that have worked on the Island for Decades. These guys had tremendous amount of fascinating information from the history, to the stories of famous inmates and even about the flora and animals species that populate the Island. Just a wealth of information that made the trip just that much more exciting.

This is a grill of the 1934 Diamond T Fire Truck that still runs and is used in case of a fire. The truck was restored by inmates at the Nevada State Prison at Las Vegas in 1998. The Irony of it.....



Without the hoards of visitors, we were able to capture shots of the cell blocks and corridors void of people. Very cool.

First I took a few pics of my buddy John before splitting up and shooting on our own. I always wanted to shoot this type of picture in one of these cells just to give a perspective of how small these cells really are.

Same cell as above but of course without John ;-)





After shooting a few shots in the cell blocks, we went outside and walked around to the west side of the Island to catch the sunset behind Golden Gate Bridge. We lucked out with the weather and had a beautiful sunset. Normally, fog would block any chances of such a scene.


Once the sun went down, we walked around the perimeter of the Island taking random shots of the severely worn structures and equipment that use to keep the most dangerous people in the country behind bars.

The old generator room I am sure has seen better days

Stack on the power house building


The old and now unused water Tower

Inside the industries building


To show support and pride to the World Series bound SF Giants, the Park Rec lit up the light house bright Orange.


A view of thew lighthouse and the warden's house from the Parade grounds. The Warden's house was gutted by a fire started by the Indians that took over the Island in 1970


On the Island is a very unique perspective of San Francisco's Skyline. Coit Tower and the Transbay Terminal are also lit up in orange to pay homage the the world series bound SF Giants.

I found a very interesting site that gives a tremendous amount facts about the Islands history. If you interested, Please check it out..Alcatraz and its History

5 comments:

Schmoo said...

Great set and I love the night shots in particular. Are these from last year or last week?

dadwtwins said...

Hey Schmoo, thanks for stopping by. These pics are from last week. I wanted to try and shoot different views and objects from that of last year's trip.

Jamie Hamilton said...

Love it!!! We need to get together and shoot!! I will
Head out there???

Jamie Hamilton said...

Dan check out my new look

www.insightfullens.com

Look at my blog too... Would love thoughts!!

dadwtwins said...

Your new look rocks...great job Jamie. Now it is time to fill it with galleries