Container Ship and Crane

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Port of Oakland, Oakland, CA

Time of Day: Sunset

Description: A container ship is carefully pushed into an opening at one of the many piers within the Port of Oakland.

 

Good Morning San Francisco

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: San Francisco, CA

Time of Day: Sunrise

Description: A narrow band of light illuminates the Bay Bridge as the tailing end of a storm blows through the Bay Area.

 

UC Berkeley Campanile

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Berkeley, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: Looking down on Sather Tower, which is also called the UC Berkeley Campanile. Taken late in the day to get a nice warm light on the tower. 

 

Junk Yard Cars

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Martinez, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: An enormous junk yard sits near the edge of the bay in Martinez. 

 

Rows and Rows of Cars

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Richmond, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: Cars are unloaded as they arrive from Asia on large ships designed to transport cars. Teams of drivers unload them and park them in this enormous parking lot, where they are eventually loaded onto trucks or trains. 

 

Neighborhood from Above

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Richmond, CA

Time of Day: Mid-afternoon

Description: A peninsula of houses in a Northern California community as seen from above.

 

Boats Docked from Above

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Sausalito, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon, winter

Description: Sausalito is popular with tourists for its beautiful views of San Francisco, as well as being right on the Bay. This photo was taken during a flight over one of the larger marinas lining the shores of this quaint city. 

 

Into the Abyss

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, CA

Time of Day: Mid-day

Description: A lone surfer paddles through the frothy surf. This is probably my favorite photo that I've taken with the drone. I really like the simplicity of it, as well as the sense of a vast turbulent ocean.

 

Waves Crashing

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Moss Beach, CA

Time of Day: Mid-afternoon

Description: Taken just ahead of an arriving storm front. The waves were huge… probably in the 15’ – 20’ range. I flew offshore about 200 yards in order to position the drone above these waves. 

Two Surfers Riding Wave – Steamer Lane

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, CA

Time of Day: Mid-day

Description: I stood on the cliffs above this famous surf break and had fun as I attempted to capture the surfers do their thing. 

 

Sailboats from above

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Berkeley, CA

Time of Day: Early evening

Description: Small sailboats sit idle at the end of the day. Ceasar Chavez Park is adjacent to this marina, and busy I-80 is just a few minutes away. 

 

Salt Canals

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Menlo Park, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: An aerial view of a local salt pond. Who would have thought something like this would exist here in the Bay Area? There were so many unique compositions, but I really liked this one. I will share more another time. To provide a sense of scale, the main canal is approximately 25'-30' in width.

 

Waterways

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Menlo Park, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: Looking straight down at an old salt pond in the Bay Area. To provide a sense of scale, the large canal is 20 - 30 feet in width.

 

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Menlo Park, CA

Time of Day: Mid-day

Description: Unique salt formations in an old Cargill salt pond in the southern part of the Bay Area.  

 

 

Want to see more of Daniel's photography? 


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Website
: danielpivnick.com

Blog: blog.danielpivnick.com

Instagram: instagram.com/danielpivnick

FlickrClick here

 

 

surfer cover shotDaniel Pivnick

In March 2015 we published a slideshow featuring the sensational sunrises and sunsets of San Francisco and the surrounding area. That's how we first recognized the talent of photographer Daniel Pivnick. Since then he's been taking his photography to new heights. Pun intended.

Flying a Phantom 3 drone, he's captured a bird's eye view of San Fran Bay Area and we can't get enough. We asked Pivnick a bit about how drone photography works and he told us: "My drone has the ability to fly in what is called first-person video or FPV. This enables me to position the drone by watching a live video feed to a monitor on my remote control. I can then tilt the camera and adjust the expo sure all through controls in my hand, even while the drone is very far away." Pretty next level stuff and we jumped at the chance to collaborate with him once again. We're pleased to share with readers 15 incredible shots of the ordinary from an extraordinary perspective. 

Ship Docking at Port of Oakland

san francisco aerial drone photography
Credit: Daniel Pivnick

Location: Port of Oakland, Oakland, CA

Time of Day: Late afternoon

Description: I saw this ship making its way into port. I quickly launched my drone and flew overhead to capture this monstrosity as it was pushed up to the dock by two tugboats.