The purpose of my trip to the Embarcadero last Sunday morning was to shoot a pano of the skyline from Pier 14. I wanted to replace another framed pano in my office that I’m tired of looking at.

I expected the weather to be overcast with some fog, and that’s what I got. Those conditions made it easier to shoot the pano with the monochrome camera and control the contrast.

This is the stitched eight-shot pano from Pier 14. There was a large and ugly construction crane on the left that I took out.

I also tried isolating the central section of the skyline with a three-shot pano to see if that would have more impact, but it doesn’t. Also, I can’t crop it to the aspect ratio I need to fit my existing pano mat and frame (42 in. x 14 in.).

I always like to go to Pier 7 to shoot down its length and get that perfect one-point perspective.

This is MIRA, a 39-story condo and townhouse building under development on Folsom St. in San Francisco. Makes a very good photo subject.

Overcast, gray, weekend mornings in SF are always favorable conditions for cityscapes without too many people, and low-contrast scenes that work especially well in mono.