A cloudy stormy night made for a perfect backdrop to the Bay Lights display that is running on the San Francisco Bay Bridge for the next two years. The skies were still pretty bright when the lights came on and turned out perfect as we had a storm clouds still making for a perfect backdrop. The glowing lights from the Port of Oakland illuminated the sky below the bridge and turned the low clouds yellow, orange and pink. The Bay Lights Project further illuminated the skyline with dancing lights and patterns strewn across the beautiful Bay Bridge’s full length. Too bad these 25,000 LEDs are temporary though we should get some stunning imagery for the next two years while the show runs. If you can make it down to the Embarcadero on a stormy winter night, you should be treated to a special show of lights.

Bay Lights is the name of the project that arranged for 25,000 bright white LED lights to be mounted on the Golden Gate Bridge’s sister bridge, the not so well known (San Francisco / Oakland Bay Bridge) usually just called the Bay Bridge by locals. The Bay Bridge is celebrating a huge year. 2013 is its 75th anniversary since opening and then this Labor Day, the new section on the other side of Yerba Buena island (left) will be opened to the public under a fabulous fireworks show. 250,000 people are expected to walk across the bridge from Oakland to Yerba Buena. The new bridge replaces the cantilever section that failed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that wracked the Bay Area in destruction. Seems somehow fitting that it is all wrapped up on the bridges 75th anniversary. Of note is that the Golden Gate Bridge just finished its 75th anniversary celebration with a fireworks and light show fitting of the beautiful structure. It’s been a photographers delight!