Eye in the Sky: Airborne with the Bernalwood Air Force

March 6, 2012March 8, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 19 Comments

Last weekend the Cub Reporter and I had the opportunity to take to the skies with the Bernalwood Air Force for a routine observation and reconnaissance flight over the Bernal Heights motherland.

The skies were clear blue, Bernal Hill was verdant green, and because it was warm out, everyone was outside to enjoy the day. We cruised over Cortland, waving imperially at our neighbors below:

We saw people walking along the northwest corner of Bernal Heights Boulevard:

Nearby, our new neighbors from the Helipad House were enjoying some sunbathing on their glamorous roof deck:

Our technocrat friends at the City Rec and Park department will probably appreciate the documentation we collected about Bernal’s ad hoc trail network, and its myriad redundancies:

Look closely, and you can almost see the analysts working feverishly inside the secret Bernalwood Command Center, located 300 feet below Sutrito Tower:

While we were airborne, we received orders over the radio to undertake an urgent new mission: An aerial survey of the La Lengua Autonomous Zone!

Researchers from the Bernalwood Intelligence Agency had identified the likely location of the La Lengua Rebel Command Compound (LaLeRebCoCo), hidden deep in the heart of La Lenguan territory, between Mission and San Jose Streets. In 3 minutes we were over the target area. We circled to take a look, and captured the money shot. Behold:

Mission Accomplished! We loitered for a few final moments to take in some unusual perspectives on Bernal Hill:

And then, saturated with happy views and a lifetime of material for goofy Photoshop image-manipulation stunts, we returned to base.

UPDATE, 10:24 pm: In response to the Bernalwood Air Force overflight, the La Lengua rebels have put in place a high-tech burrito-based air defense system!

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Visiting Photographer Captures Mother of All Bernal Panoramas

February 24, 2012February 23, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Photographer Peter West Carey visited San Francisco from Seattle recently. He stayed with friends in Bernal Heights, and while he was here he took the opportunity to shoot an absolutely epic interactive panorama of the view from the north slope of Bernal Hill:

San Francisco Panorama Exploration
Location: Bernal Hill, San Francisco, California, USA, North America

Description: Hidden behind the city form the popular skyline shot across the Golden Gate, Bernal Heights is not a place most tourists choose to visit. There are no sea lions, promenades or sightseeing boats found on the hill. Just a gorgeous view of the city and bay captured at sunset.

Shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens with settings of ISO 100, 100mm, f/9, 1/60th of a second. 132 images were shot in three rows in portrait oreintation and stitched with Kolor’s AutoPano Giga. Total size is approximately 488 megapixels, my largest to date.

We believe Peter actually meant to say “488 throbbing megapixels,” because his photo is so high-resolution that you can zoom in on far-away details of the San Francisco cityscape to view details that are impossible to see from Bernal Hill normally. Remember The Six Million Dollar Man and his bionic eyeball? It’s kind of like that.

Hello, Oakland!

Salutations, Golden Gate Bridge!

Buenos días, weird 1960s highrise US Bank building on Mission at 22nd!

It may take a little while to load — 488 megapixels, after all — and it probably won’t work at all if you’re on a mobile device. But Peter West Carey’s interactive panorama is worth every byte.

PHOTOS: Via Peter West Carey

Some Recent Photographs by Bernalwood Shuttberbugs

February 13, 2012February 13, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Our talented posse of Bernalwood shutterbugs have been very busy of late, taking surprising and wonderful photographs of our surprising and wonderful neighborhood. A recent visit to the Bernalwood Flickr Group yielded a trove of superb images, so I’ve pulled together a greatest hits collection here for your convenience and entertainment.

Above, we see a foggy view looking up toward Bernal Hill, by Erin Malone.

Next, we have this great photo by Robogeoff that captures the essence of what life in Bernal Heights is all about:

Craig Sakowitz snapped this bucolic scene of a verdant Bernal Hill:

For fans of trippy clouds and brooding colors, it’s hard to beat this photo Brent Daniel took of the sky above Holly Park:

But, having said that, this photo by Artsewp is pretty intense too:

Tatum Magnus used our hill as the setting for this sporty photo of a gent named Winton:

Here’s a stunner captured by Jason Rodman back in October:

And finally, there’s this photo of an orange house that Victoria Smith captured on her iPhone just yesterday:

So there you have it. Remember: Our photo editors review the submissions to the Bernalwood FLickr Group with neurotic obsessiveness, and every photo in there is welcomed with love and appreciation. Share with us!

PHOTOS: Via the Bernalwood Flickr Group

Tis the Season for Plum Blossoms in Bernal Heights

February 7, 2012February 7, 2012 / Todd_Lappin

Neighbor Edward writes:

I offer this view of the hill and plum blossoms for your consideration to do with as you will.

Upon due consideration, the Bernalwood Curatorial Working Group has decided to publish your photo, sir, with gratitude and compliments. Lovely.

UPDATE: Robogeoff also added a nice snap of some blossoms to the Bernalwood Flickr group:

PHOTOS: Neighbor Edward and Robogeoff

Sunday Night’s Sunset, in Bernal Hill Surround-O-Vision

January 31, 2012January 31, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

I happened to be traveling from Cortlandia to the Precitaville Administrative Zone on Sunday evening just as the sun was settling down for the night. The sky was exploding with oranges and pinks, so I took a few iPhonecam pics (with a boost from the awesome TrueHDR app) as I headed around Bernal Hill.

I started with the view to the southwest, in the photo above. This was what I saw as I headed east down Bernal Heights Boulevard:

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Let Us Now Reprise Yesterday’s Whispy Sunset

January 27, 2012January 27, 2012 / Todd_Lappin

It was glorious, and robogeoff was good enough to capture it for us from atop Bernal Hill. Have a great weekend!

“Everyday Sights” from a Walk Around Bernal Heights

January 25, 2012January 23, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Bernal Neighbor Chuck B. runs a lovely blog called My Back 40 (Feet). He often writes about flora and horticulture, or his travels to distant and exotic lands. But recently he went for a simple walk around the neighborhood.

The result was a post called “Everyday Sights in Bernal Heights,” and it reveals that even though Chuck B. lives here, he still sees this place with fresh eyes.

Check out all of his pictures, right here.

PHOTOS: Chuck B.

Sunburst Behind Our Sutrito “Tower of Power”

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

There’s lots of rain in the forecast (at last), so savor this solarific photograph taken earlier in the week (with an iPhone!) by Bernalwood reader Ken Garrett.

We Are Bernal Heights. We Are The People of the Chert

January 13, 2012January 13, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

We are Bernal Heights.

We are the People of the Chert.

We are the People of the Chert, and we are growing larger! In the remote terrain high above San Francisco, @willak captured this SHOCKING photographic evidence of a new species of giants spawned by the red chert of our beloved mother hill.

But, much like redwood trees, even the most massive Bernal giant starts out small:

Already she knows that she is Person of the Chert. Here we see her making an offering of chert to her Bernal forbearers.

Keep an eye this creature… one day, she will be huge.

PHOTOS: From top, Telstar Logistics, @willak, @wendyverse

The “Impossible” Bernal Hill 360 Panorama

January 12, 2012January 12, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

There's about 270° more where this came from.

Joe Thomas created an impossible photograph: A 360-degree panorama of the view from atop Bernal Hill:

I’m a fan of our little Sutrito Tower, but the fact that it’s fenced off makes it impossible to take in the full 360° panorama of gorgeous views we have at the top of Bernal Hill. So I thought I’d try to create a synthetic panorama from pictures taken just outside of the fence, and stitch them together with software. My first effort, using the Autostitch app for iPhone, didn’t turn out too well — lots of double-vision blurriness at the seams. Still, that was better than Photosynth, which refused to even try stitching when it thought I’d moved too far between shots.

Via Twitter, I learned that Burrito Justice had the same idea a few years back, and had good results with Panorama. I tried it. Frustrating UI. I ended up just taking a bunch of pictures in the Camera app, working my way around the hill. Also via Twitter, I’d gotten a suggestion to try Microsoft’s Image Composite Editor — a panorama-making desktop app for Windows. I have to say, it did a pretty nice job stitching together the 30 pictures I took around the hill.

It’s an amazing photo. A laptop or PC is recommended, and a large monitor is even better. To see the whole thing, click right here:

(CAUTION: large file.)

PHOTOS: Joe Thomas

A View of Bernalwood From Outer Space (on Christmas Eve)

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

When he is not fomenting regional separatism and geopolitical intrigue, La Lengua rebel propagandist Burrito Justice is also a bit of a stargazer. Recently, he tracked down an infrared photo of the Bay Area that was taken from the International Space Station on Christmas Eve, 2011.

The image above shows the greater Bay Area, but Burrito Justice did that zoom-rotate-and-enhance-it thing to generate a tight shot of San Francisco. He says:

In SF, 280 and 101 barely register, but surface streets like Mission, Ocean, 19th, Geary and 3rd are clear, as are the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. McLaren Park and Twin Peaks are easy to see — I think I can make out Bernal too.

Indeed you can! Here’s a little pointer, for reference:

PHOTOS: Burrito Justice

Scenes From Last Weekend’s Alemany Farmer’s Market

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 5 Comments

Adrian Mendoza, Bernalwood’s paparazzi on the prowl, went for one of his occasional walkabouts around the neighborhood last weekend. He ended up at the Alemany Farmer’s Market, and were are proud to present a selection of the photos he took.

Above, we see a very weird drooping plant that seems poised to become yet another onramp to the 280/101 Spaghetti Bowl. (Love that photo.)

At the Farmer’s Market, Adrian apparently met… THE POMELO WHISPERER!

Here’s a sporting lad preparing to play a game of Lemongrass Baseball:

This gentleman sells olive oil:

And this young man demonstrated how the referees signal touchdowns during football games at Napa Valley high schools:

Seriously though… thanks, as always, Adrian, for sharing your photos and for making Bernal Heights look so glam.

PHOTOS: Adrian Mendoza

Bernal Heights Globetrotter Shows Photos from Worldly Travels

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012 / Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Bernal resident Ellen Divers left the familiar comfort of our neighborhood behind to travel the world and capture the photos that are now on display at Cafe Seventy8. She writes:

I’m showing my photos now at Cafe Seventy8, at 29th and Tiffany (near the post office). I’ve lived in Bernal Heights for 14 years; I’m a local 🙂 The pictures are from my travels in the US and Europe. The cafe is open 7a-7p daily. Great food and coffee too.

PHOTOS: From top: Ventimilgia, Italy; leaves in New Orleans; Moonzie Castle, Scotland. All photos by Ellen Divers