Golden Gate Park

For my final project in photojournalism, we have to do what is called a photo story. Over the course of 6 weeks, or the equivalent of 16 hours, we have to shoot either a person, a place, or a topic, and have a finished product of 12-20 pictures that tell a story. I was struggling with what I wanted to do, because I wanted to do something really different that no one was doing, and also something that I was interested in and would enjoy shooting. She showed us a bunch of examples of stories people have done in the past...a firehouse and following firemen, the Burning Man festival, an animal shelter, someone recovering from a stroke, someone dying from cancer, etc.

My initial thoughts were along the lines of something in the medical field...following a nurse or following a paramedic/EMT. This failed, due to patient confidentiality and problems with access. Then I thought about shooting behind the scenes at a winery in Napa, also shot down. Equestrian center? Too far away.

Running out of time, I decided to just go with Golden Gate Park. I was not thrilled about it because it did not sound very interesting and kind of felt like a cop out. But I started researching a bit, looking into all the events happening weekly as well as the different activities available, and it turns out it is a really interesting place!! I have only shot a few days so far, but it is a really fun place to explore and shoot and I am happy with my decision.

On the weekends it gets packed with families picnicking, bikers, rollerbladers, and all different kinds of people and activities. I was there on Sunday, and it was a gorgeous day. Monica tagged along, here is a picture of us in front of the Conservatory of Flowers. At the end of the semester I will have my final photo story up on Flickr.

My camera and lens used that day: roughly $1000
Monica's Polaroid camera: $40
This one exposure: $1.60
Price/gallon for my gas to drive to GG park: $3.98
Sunny day in SF that I can get out and enjoy: PRICELESS!!!!!!!! :)