This is easily my most favorite selfie that I’ve taken all year. This was my first visit back to San Francisco since moving back home 4 months prior. I went up there for a week in February, strictly to hang out with Jerry and Taco and photograph different parts of SF throughout the week.

The good thing about having 2 brothers is being to share each other’s stuff. So, when I went up there, I borrowed Jerry’s North Face jacket, a JBL Clip speaker, and more importantly, his scooter. It was the middle of my vacation week and that day I decided to go night shooting.

One of my favorite things as a photographer is reaching a new destination and not knowing that the photo I’m about to take is going to look badass. I went to Pier 14 for a few reasons- One reason is I’ve never walked to the very end of this Pier because it’s always cold and windy…but because of that, I knew that it was going to be isolated and nobody would be around to interrupt my shots, especially at night.

I used a timed slow-shutter speed for this capture and took a few re-takes until I adjusted some slight imperfections. I had no plan on throwing my fist in the air….but it turned out to look cool on camera. You see that tall building to the left with the white top? That’s the Salesforce Tower- which is the tallest building on the West Coast. Jerry’s Restaurant (Trailblazer Tavern) is also part of the Salesforce community and works right across the street, so this photo was kind of my way of including him in this story.

That was a fun solo night of shoot all around The Embarcadero. I was happy to be back to the area that I called home for the last 6 years. Fortunately, I’m able to visit every 3-4 months to “recharge” and visit old friends and places. Every year goes by a little faster, and 2019 definitely held true to that for me. Looking forward to 2020.

Peace and love, everyone.

-J