Alcatraz, also known as "The Rock"

dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
edited October 31, 2010 in Journeys
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 <a href="http://www.kspphoto.com/">Keeble and Shuchat Photography</a>. 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.
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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.....

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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.
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Same cell as above but of course without John ;-)
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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.
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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
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Stack on the power house building
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The old and now unused water Tower
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Inside the industries building

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To show support and pride to the World Series bound SF Giants, the Park Rec lit up the light house bright Orange.
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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
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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.
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I found a very interesting site that gives a tremendous amount facts about the Islands history. If you interested, Please check it out..<a href="http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/mainpg.htm">Alcatraz and its History </a>
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Comments

  • Jeremy WinterbergJeremy Winterberg Registered Users Posts: 1,233 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Lovely Set! Makes me want to watch the movie "The Rock" again. Mhmm I'm gonna go do that :) I really like the one of the light house and warden's house.
    Jer
  • WillCADWillCAD Registered Users Posts: 722 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Jeremy Winterberg wrote: »
    Lovely Set! Makes me want to watch the movie "The Rock" again. Mhmm I'm gonna go do that :) I really like the one of the light house and warden's house.

    Forget "The Rock" - if you want to see Alcatraz, watch "The Enforcer", the third Dirty Harry film. The climax takes place on Alcatraz and was actually filmed on the island. I seriously doubt that much of The Rock was actually filmed on the island; it all looks like studios.
    What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
  • telefotoguytelefotoguy Registered Users Posts: 52 Big grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    wow excellent set!

    any strange sounds when you went around after dark?
  • ows4428ows4428 Registered Users Posts: 93 Big grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Nice set. I'm a sucker for skyline shots, and that's a great one.

    Giants are looking good, I can't believe they've hit so well this series.
    http://ows4428.smugmug.com
  • EXILEREXILER Registered Users Posts: 26 Big grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    awesome set! great work. im actually coming up to san fran and visiting alcatraz in a 2weeks.. cant wait :)
    http://photoholiks.com/
  • rontront Registered Users Posts: 1,473 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Great photos!! I enjoyed all of them!!

    Ron
    "The question is not what you look at, but what you see". Henry David Thoreau

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  • PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    WillCad I disagree about the Rock. The last time I watched it I just noticed all these areas that were familiar from visiting! The courtyard, the tower, the grounds surrounding. All kinds of stuff!
    My Pictures can be seen at http://prezwoodz.smugmug.com
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  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited October 29, 2010
    Nice Dan. I've been a K&S customer for years and just found out about their mailing list...
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • ir robbieir robbie Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Love the b/w images
    Ir fanatic
  • InsuredDisasterInsuredDisaster Registered Users Posts: 1,132 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Really nice shots. So nice in fact I'm a bit dissappointed there arent a few more "bigger picture" shots. Like the firetruck in fact. I even went to your gallery. I really like your BW shots. Care to say a bit more about how you did them?
    My blog
  • rpcrowerpcrowe Registered Users Posts: 733 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2010
    Great Shots
    Your images are great! Theymake me want to visit Alcatraz which I have never desired to visit.

    Is that where they put Giants fans?
  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    telefotoguy wrote: »
    wow excellent set!

    any strange sounds when you went around after dark?


    rolleyes1.gifNo strange sounds but i did run into a rat while I was taking a Pano of the city skylineeek7.gif
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  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    ows4428 wrote: »
    Nice set. I'm a sucker for skyline shots, and that's a great one.

    Giants are looking good, I can't believe they've hit so well this series.

    Someone gave their bats steroids...I am convinced of thatrolleyes1.gif

    I am enjoying every second of this years Giants team.....GO GIANTS!!!!wings.gifclapwings.gif
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  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    ian408 wrote: »
    Nice Dan. I've been a K&S customer for years and just found out about their mailing list...

    Its ok Ian....I just found out that KSP buys used equipment to go towards new equipment for a fairly decent trade price. No more EBAY for me.
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  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    InsuredDisaster wrote: »
    Really nice shots. So nice in fact I'm a bit dissappointed there arent a few more "bigger picture" shots. Like the firetruck in fact. I even went to your gallery. I really like your BW shots. Care to say a bit more about how you did them?

    I am not sure what you mean by "bigger picture" shots. Could you please explain...I am a little slow at timesrolleyes1.gif

    The B&W conversions were done in Lightroom. I did nothing special to them other than adjust contrast and apply a little dodge and burn.ne_nau.gif
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  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    rpcrowe wrote: »
    Your images are great! Theymake me want to visit Alcatraz which I have never desired to visit.

    Is that where they put Giants fans?

    This is where the Dodger fans are keptrolleyes1.gifroflrolleyes1.gif
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  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Wow, awesome photos and what a wonderful closing Panorama. So this was the place featured in the Movie, Rock.
    Oh, that is same guy lol, i read only one name "John" and saw three men, made me wonder which one is John..
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    Awais Yaqub wrote: »
    Wow, awesome photos and what a wonderful closing Panorama. So this was the place featured in the Movie, Rock.
    Oh, that is same guy lol, i read only one name "John" and saw three men, made me wonder which one is John..

    Hey Awais, thanks my friend for the compliments

    Hahaha.....all three are John ;-)
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