Morning came early for this Midwestern girl on the West Coast.
Three o'clock was too early and five o'clock was too early....
but 6:15 was just right.

I padded around my room and checked in with Patrick and the world on my phone and ipad.
The rest of the world was already up and at em'...
San Francisco was just beginning to stir.



Taking pictures out of the windows was full of glare but I remembered that the Hotel Vitale had terraces.
(I saw them in the Hotel ads.) So I went in search for a better place to shoot.
It was about seven o'clock when I walked out into the beautiful morning light.

It was so peaceful and beautiful and my attention was fixed on the bridge and the Ferry building.
There is something about that Ferry building that I just love.

But then I lowered my camera for a minute and what do I see,
right there on the terrace level was a window, leading to a hotel room....
and someone was sitting on the bed with their robe on!

Was I on their terrace?

I can't be. I thought. I hoped.

Stalker on the terrace.

But the light was too pretty. I put my camera up to my eye, and kept shooting.

I looked very professional with my big lens on...they will think I am on assignment.

Yes. That's what they will think.

And so I waited for the sunrise. Pretending everything was alright.
And it was in the end.
I was not scolded or arrested.


"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission"
~Grace Hopper



f-stop: 22.0
shut speed: 1/125
ISO 400


I ran out to get a Chai at Starbucks and then waited for the moment when I would go down to the lobby and meet
all of the people.

I was nervous.

It's scary to meet new people, isn't it?

But oh my gosh! What a waste of energy!

The first person to come up to me was Anne.
Anne who I thought was all business and so serious. Anne, who I only knew from our emails back and forth.

You see. Anne doesn't use smiley faces in her emails or say things like
"I'm too chubby to wear a t-shirt, can I just get a small for one of my girls."

So when I met her I couldn't have been more surprised!




Anne was beautiful, friendly, thoughtful and welcoming.

I was instantly at ease.

The eight of us (bloggers from all over the US) and five women from Adobe sat around in a comfy spot and shared about ourselves. The lovely women from Adobe were curious to get to know us. It was kind of surreal.

At about 10:00 we walked over to the Ferry building to shoot. We could split up or walk around together.
I hung with Julieanne Kost for a little bit, interested to watch a real pro in action and get to know her a little.
(She is an amazing artist but so unassuming and fun! You would love her!) (No picture of her today...but tomorrow...a real cute one :o)





Inside the Ferry Building are speciality shops. Local Artisans.





I so loved the color and comp of this one...but blew it on the aperture.
I shot this at 1.6 and the depth of field was too shallow for that label and the bottles to both be in focus.

too bad.




(I just readjusted the color. How could I not see all that blue this morning?)

Here is Lindsay. She is so young and pretty.
Let me tell you....I could have been many of the girls' mother!

But I'll think about that tomorrow.

Lindsey had a Nikon so she could share my 17-55 2.8 with me.
That was fun! So many people have Canon's and I can't share lenses with them.

Lindsey blogs at Cafejohnsonia

There is a lovely picture of my double chin over there. You can visit it if you want.
:op





Oh! One more from the market. Look at the name of this cheese! LOVE!



Then it was time for lunch already! Woo!
What a lunch! Such unique and delicious food.
What fun ladies. We were able to get to know one another better over this long and fabulous lunch.

We talked about the food and our families and our blogs and the people we knew.

Drew, on my right was from California and I asked her if she knew of Tara Whitney and Drew said yes! Tara took her families pictures a few years ago. She showed me the pictures on her phone! I love technology!
That was fun!

And Lotus. She is pretty famous. She speaks at Blissdom and is good buddies with the founder Allison Worthington!



Lotus is very quick and will make you laugh.

I am Lotus

I called her Locust once and she did not kill me. I am thankful for that.



Dungesness Crab deviled eggs with chipotle aioli.

I think I had two. Or three. They had a kick. ummm.



Ahi Tuna crudo with lime vinaigrette.

My first sushi. Heart shaped one is for Cindy.

Our food was the most photographed food in the history of food.
The waiters placed the food on the table and everyone grabbed their cameras.
It was very funny.





After our leisurely lunch we headed out to explore San Francisco.




This is Gayle. How cute is she? That's her new camera bag.

She shot me too.

You can go and meet Gayle and see the shot she took when I took this....

Gayle@MomandCamera

You can also visit my double chin there....
Gayle took my favorite picture of me too...so I forgive her for the double chin shot.



Off we go....

I thought I would be walking and I would die.
But we had a party bus. :o)

Yay.

More tomorrow...
I shot these pictures in Raw by accident so the editing is talking me super long...
but I will do my best....
Hope you are enjoying the ride.

Thank you for not being mad and jealous.
You are all so kind to be happy for me.

Now I need to go stand up.
I've been sitting her for three hours.

I'll have some cheese with my whine.
Thanks!



See you in the comments and thank you for reading!

Encourage one another,
Donna