Hit and Miss

These are a few updates of vintage San Francisco pictures that I took during the last two weeks of August, A “Hit” is a comparison where I’m satisfied that I got the best result I was able to achieve for an accurate line up. A “Miss” is a picture that, for some reason or another, didn’t turn out the way I hoped it would. (Thumbnail images)

Hit. Looking up Powell Street from O’Farrell in 1936: This one turned out about as accurate on the location as any of the comparison pictures that I’ve done in the past. (SFMTA/San Francisco Picture Blog)

Miss. Ellis Street, looking toward Powell in 1914: The Building at the far right in the vintage photo has been demolished and is now where Cyril Magnin Street is today. I took my picture just past Cyril Magnin Street, but I should have been a little further back. Also, it’s a little blurry. (SFMTA/San Francisco Picture Blog)

Hit: Turk, Mason and Market Streets in 1945. I got a pretty good line up on this one. The Admission Day Monument in the vintage photo, placed at this intersection in 1897, is now at Market and Montgomery Streets. (San Francisco Pictures Blog)

Miss: The Powell Street cable car turnaround at Market Street. I was trying to duplicate a wide-angle picture from photographer Gene Wright from the late 1950s with the panoramic option on my iPhone. I got the line up pretty good with the Number One Powell Building on the left and the Flood Building on the right, so this could also be a Hit, However, I didn’t get the fisheye lens effect in Gene Wright’s photo.

Hit: Union Square in the 1950s: I did the best I could with my iphone panorama option to duplicate another one of Gene Wright’s wide-angle pictures, and I’m happy with it.

Miss: Continuing in my attempt to duplicate some of Gene Wright’s wide-angle pictures with the panorama option on my iPhone, I headed over to California Street, just up from Grant Avenue, where this 1950s photo was taken. Either I did something wrong, or the people on that cable car should have only had to pay half price!