Foster City was my first home in California. It is where I unpacked my bags, learned my way around the Bay Area, and started Cloud 9, America’s family-friendly spa. Many of my California beginnings happened here, along these quiet shores, and the city still holds a special place in my heart and in my photographs.
A City Built on the Water
Foster City was built on the water, its design inspired by Venice, Italy. Through careful master planning, bay water was channeled into a network of lagoons that wind between neighborhoods, parks and homes. The result is a city where water is never far away, and where reflections, bridges and open sky are part of everyday life.
For a photographer, that makes Foster City full of possibilities. Around nearly every corner of the lagoon, there is another quiet spot waiting to be discovered.
Chasing the Morning Light
The best way to plan a shoot here is to start with Google Maps. Study the shape of the lagoons and the shoreline, then decide whether you want to face east for sunrise or west for sunset. A few minutes of planning will lead you to the right spot when the light arrives.
My favorite time is sunrise. In the early morning, the water is often almost perfectly still, turning the lagoon into a mirror for the sky. On one of those mornings, I was lucky enough to capture the dreamy scene in the first photo: soft clouds drifting across a pastel sky, reflected in the calm water below. Moments like that remind me why this city, my first California home, will always feel like the place where everything began.
