a week in Santa Clara

[john_valjean]

<p>I will be spending a week in Santa Clara and usually have the afternoon open. Anyone from the area can recommend places where I can go shoot in that town or in Sunnyville? thanks ...</p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>Unless you like business parks I suggest you get out of the valley although there are a lot of birds near the waste treatment plant in north Sunnyvale.</p>

<p>You're less than an hour from San Francisco. Tons of things to shoot there. Muir Woods just north of the Golden Gate is amazing. Point Reyes is further but also pretty.</p>

<p>There are a couple of overlooks on I-280 near Crystal Springs Reservoir going north to SF. Drive around CA92 and Skyline Blvd down to Half Moon Bay. There are lots of state parks and preserves just west of Silicon Valley. Look at a map of CA and google. </p>

<p>The Pacific Coast Highway (CA1) is one of the most beautiful roads in the world. I think the prettiest part is near Big Sur and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. That's further away but the days are long so if you are really free at noon then you can get down there and take the 101 back.</p>

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[David_Cavan]

<p>Walt's ideas are good. One more thing to do - take the drive up to Lick Observatory later one afternoon, in time to catch the sunset over the valley. A great drive, although coming back down in the dark will take some time.</p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>On SF, two classic tourist views are from Twin Peaks and Coit Tower. You can see the whole city, bridges, Alcatraz, etc. If you like people / street kind of stuff then Chinatown, Market St. Heck it's SF, probably anywhere.</p>

[Monophoto]

<p>That area is rich with possibilities:</p>

<p>Wineries in Los Gatos and Saratoga (and Napa is a possibility)<br>

Filloli House and garden<br>

Crystal Springs<br>

Alviso Marina<br>

Santa Cruz amusement park<br>

Santa Clara Mission (on the Santa Clara University campus)<br>

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco - Strybling Arboretum & Japanese Garden<br>

Lands End in San Francisco<br>

Fort Point in San Francisco<br>

Military installations in Marin Headlands<br>

Sausalito<br>

Downtown San Francisco; Fisherman's Wharf (mainly people)<br>

Lick Observatory outside San Jose<br>

San Jose Museum of Innovation<br>

Gamble Garden in Palo Alto<br>

Sanford University Campus in Palo Alto (especially the church and the Cantor Museum)<br>

Pidgeon Point Light</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Taking 17 over the mountains there are a number of potential locations in the Santa Cruz area - several coastal redwood state parks, Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad - a narrow gauge steam operation that runs through the redwoods. </p>

<p>The Monterey Peninsula area is maybe an hour and a half drive and I'm guessing less congested/rush hour impacted for a long afternoon than trying to get up into San Francisco and back.</p>

[SteveH]

<p>Try New Almaden in South San Jose. Headquarters of the area's former quicksilver mining. Great park for hiking. Historical buildings, old mines in Almaden-Quicksilver Park. <br>

Palo Alto Baylands for birds.<br>

Don Edwards Wildlife Area, and also the salt evaporation ponds at the south end of the bay.<br>

Second the motion regarding Alviso, the marina and the town. It was great for old rusty stuff. Haven't been there for a while. <br>

San Jose has a Rose Garden that should be blooming.<br>

For other outdoor opportunities check out the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District here <cite>www.<strong>openspace</strong>.org/preserves/</cite> </p>

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[john_valjean]

<p>Thanks to all the replies. I did take the trip, unfortunately I did not have as much time as I wanted, but in 4 nights (6-9PM) this is what I was able to do (take pics):<br>

Afternoon 1: San Fran (Fisherman's Wharf, couple of piers next to it, coit tower, golden gate bridge, botanical garden, a catholic cathedral next to the street that leads to the tower (can't remember the name), golden gate bridge beach and trail.<br>

Afternoon 2: Standord campus, downtown palo alto<br>

Afternoon 3: Winchester house, downtown san jose (Santana row)<br>

Afternoon 4: santa cruz, beach, beach walk, downtown<br>

Afternoon 5: mission church santa clara university, bay trail, you get to see the nasa bldg at a distance, google.<br>

Bad news is I made the biggest mistake a photographer does, I did not download my pics on a daily basis and my PNY Pro 16G crapped out, used 10 recovery SW and none of them worked.</p>