Street Photography in San Francisco

Union Square is the shopping heart of the city, with steady foot traffic all day. Nick Gunn's best San Francisco work came from here in golden hour, when low sun cuts between the buildings and lights up faces. Walk two blocks south to the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market, where crews push the cars around by hand while a queue of tourists watches. Stand on the corner opposite and shoot the crowd, not just the car. Caution: this edge of Market Street gets rough, so keep your gear close.

Grant Avenue has lanterns strung overhead and dense sidewalk traffic. The best street life is one block west on Stockton Street, where locals shop for produce and fish. Ross Alley, home of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, is narrow and good for tight frames. Come in the late afternoon so you get daylight and lit lanterns together. Frame a figure under the lantern lines with a 35mm or 50mm. Caution: leave the tripod in the bag and don't push a lens into shop doorways.

North Beach is the old Italian quarter, full of cafes and restaurants with sidewalk tables. Columbus Avenue cuts across the grid at an angle, which gives you odd corners and long diagonal views. City Lights bookstore and Vesuvio bar face each other across Jack Kerouac Alley. Washington Square is the park at the center, with Saints Peter and Paul Church behind it. Mornings there often bring older residents exercising. In the evening, frame diners through restaurant windows from across the street. Caution: some hosts dislike cameras pointed at their customers, so keep it brief.

This is Eric Kim's favorite part of the city. You get murals, produce stands, taquerias and a mostly Latino street life on Mission Street and 24th Street, with cafes and bars on Valencia. Balmy Alley, a block of murals between 24th and 25th Streets, has been painted since 1973. Clarion Alley near 17th Street is rougher and more political. The Mission often clears of fog in the afternoon. Put a walker against a mural and wait for a color or gesture to echo it. Caution: be discreet with gear around 16th and Mission BART.

This is towers and commuters in deep shadow. Come on a weekday at lunch or around 5pm, when office workers flood Montgomery and Market Streets and pour out of the BART exits. The tall buildings make light canyons: shafts of sun between blocks of shade. Expose for the highlights and let the shadows go black. Bump the ISO, since you are often shooting in the shade of towers. Caution: Market Street changes character block by block, and west of 5th Street it gets rougher.

Haight Street still trades on its hippie past. You'll find vintage shops, buskers, travelers and long-time locals with strong personal style. Walk west on Haight to the edge of Golden Gate Park, where drummers and people lounging on the grass fill the east end on weekends. Afternoons are best, after the fog lifts. Try a portrait against a painted shop front, or step back and shoot the park crowd with the trees as a frame. Caution: some people here will ask for money or a tip for a photo.

Start at the Ferry Building, which is busiest on Saturday mornings for the farmers market. Then walk north toward Pier 39, with a stop at Pier 7, a long wooden pier with lamps that gives you strong leading lines. Vintage streetcars run along the Embarcadero, so you can frame a pedestrian against a passing car. Go early, before the joggers and tour groups, or at blue hour when the lamps come on. Caution: waterfront wind is cold even in summer, so bring a layer.