Why I made a Photowalks Episode about the Golden Gate Bridge

My favorite Photowalk video yet

“Have you seen the Golden Gate Bridge? It glows golden red. It’s almost like a dream. You can’t believe it’s real.”—photographer Chris Michel

Every September, since 2008, I’ve paid a visit to San Francisco, usually to cover a new Apple release.

And every time I’m there, I am endlessly knocked out not just by the majesty of the most beautiful city in the USA, but it’s jewel, the nearly 2 mile Golden Gate Bridge, the photo subject that never gets old.

Additionally, I’m also in awe of the entire playground that has been built around her for us. I’m talking you Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

This is one of the largest and most spectacular urban national parks in the world, with 82,000 acres of land that stretches from San Francisco proper in Crissy Field and nearby Baker Beach to across the Bay in Marin County. If you haven’t been there before, make it a point to spend time. It’s that stunning.

I’ve made a few videos showcasing the good, bad and ugly of the Bridge and the playground (remember I was robbed there a few years ago) but when I started making PhotowalksTV episodes for Scripps News and the show expanded in scope, I realized I had a great opportunity to do something a little different.

I could devote a show to a single subject—the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, while also exploring the history, the surrounding park, the best photo spots (there are so many of them) and that great little ride in Marin: the seaplane that takes off from Sausalito and flies over the Bridge.

If you haven’t watched the episode yet, I hope you will. I think this one is a personal best, and I’m really proud of it. I hope you agree.

But know that in putting it together, I only spent one day this September filming it—but luckily I had a backlog of great material I’d been compiling over the years that I could also add in.

At its core, I produce Photowalks episodes by running around town with an iPhone and wireless microphone in my pocket, and a tripod under my arm. I also have a backpack filled with additional iPhones, battery packs and other accessories, but for this production, I was mostly in solo creator mode.

I started the day at 6 a.m. up in Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands getting photos of the Bridge, stopped down to Battery Spencer for a different look and to do some “stand-ups,” where I address the camera. I attached an Insta360 X5 to the back of my Subaru and GoPro Hero to the front and drove back and forth on the bridge four times, to get shots of the Bridge drive experience, and ran from interview to interview.

Meanwhile, even though it was a “solo” production, it wasn’t really. So many people helped out and played a part in this episode, both in 2025 and through the years.

• That time Flipboard CEO Mike McCue invited me to take a “Photosail” with him on his boat and we got to go under the Bridge, cameras rolling. Thank you Mike.

• Last December when I filmed my first 2025 episode for Scripps and Debbie Lindemann helped me out on some scenes in Crissy Field.

• If it wasn’t for Rick Loughery and action camera manufacturer GoPro, I might never had picked up that amazing footage from the skies via the Seaplane. GoPro a few years back staged a press trip on the plane, which is based near Sausalito. That was my first time up in the air in a seaplane, and I was knocked out. What a view! This year, in putting the new episode together, I reached out to the company and was lucky to snag some time with owner Aaron Singer. Perfect interview, fantastic soundbites and….he also let me use some of his promotional aerial footage, which is breathtaking. (Before the interview I was taking pictures in Sausalito near his dock and slipped in the mud bigtime—but that’s another story.)

  

• It was Rick who also introduced me to Crissy Field, the public park that opened in 2001, many years after I had left the City. (I lived there as a young adult.) Rick’s GoPro event started there. The huge green lawns of Crissy Field covers about 1.5 miles of prime real estate, with a killer view of the Bridge from every possible angle. It includes a beach, picnic areas, walking and biking trails. Yes, again, this is where my camera gear was stolen a few years back, but I blame myself for that one, for standing too far away from the camera while recording. I’ve learned my lesson. No hard feelings Crissy. (Major Dana H. Crissy, a U.S. Army pilot and early aviation pioneer is who the field is named after.)

• About two years ago, my friend and fellow Substacker Joshua Weinberg met me when I was in town and suggested we go to the Roundhouse Cafe, which is right across from the Bridge Visitor’s Center. While there, he pointed out a really cool adornment on the window: a big heart that people could selfie pose in front of. You know, the heart we left behind in San Francisco. I never forgot it—and made sure to include the heart window in this episode, where I was lucky to grab an interview with the Roundhouse manager as well.

• Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, who does public relations for the Bridge, agreed to meet me this year at the Visitor’s Center, talk the Bridge history and stats and turned me onto to priceless historical footage. What a treasure! Thank you forever Paolo!

  

  

  

  From top left: Paulo Cosulich-Schwartz from the Golden Gate District, Elias from the Roundhouse Cafe, Rick Loughery, Chris Michel, Jake Ricker, Aaron Singer, the heart of the Roundhouse Cafe, Debbie Lindemann and Mike McCue

• An internet search for a Bridge photographer led me to Jake Ricker, who spent 6.5 years going to the Bridge every day with his Leica. While there, beyond getting amazing photos, he says he played a part in talking 90 people out of jumping and ending their lives. Thank you Jake for that! And meeting me at Crissy Field to talk the Bridge.

• Several years ago, when I was still at USA TODAY, I met the investor and photographer Chris Michel, whose photos of the Bridge (and North Beach hangout Caffe Trieste) absolutely knocked me out. Like Chris, I was also a huge fan of Trieste, and we would meet up occasionally over the years and share our love of San Francisco and photography. So I knew exactly who I wanted to talk about the Bridge for the show—we open with Chris’s quote, which is pure gold, directly from Caffe Trieste, of course. His quote also kicked off today’s newsletter.

For this edition, I just wanted to give you a little backstory about how these shows get made and hope you find it interesting.

Remember that after I get back to the studio, I archive the video and stills, and then start editing on my Macbook Air, using Final Cut Pro software. Then, once the basic story, clips and photos are assembled, it’s time for graphics, and most importantly music.

Most online videos you watch use royalty free music services. Photowalks is mostly all original, thanks to the genius of my prolific brother Jez “I’ve Got the Music in Me” Graham and pal Paul Ellis. If you hear guitars, that’s me and Paul. If it’s keyboard based, it’s coming from the Atlanta studio of Jez. (Note: a link to buy a soundtrack album by Jez is prominently displayed on the Photowalks YouTube channel page.)

The great animation at the front of the video was created by our son, the uber-talented Sam Graham.

Sean Fujiwara, the brilliant video maven who I have been working with since 2012 (really!) helps me polish each video with his brilliant skills.

So much for this solo production.

Now that I’ve given you the backstory, I also want to give you a little news you can use. The episode points out the ten best places to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve got a cheatsheet available for you on the spots, via the Photowalks website and this link.

Did you enjoy this behind the scenes post about the Golden Gate Bridge episode? Please let me know—and I’ll do more of them. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show—the good, bad and ugly.

Tune-in alert: this weekend we’re in Zion National Park, the second most visited N.P. in the nation, which despite the shutdown, is still open for business, with limited services. Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on Scripps News.

Thanks as always for reading, watching and listening.

Jeff