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Friday Slide Show: A Return to the SkyStar
28 May 2021
Last October we featured the Skystar Wheel in a slide show before it had been completely installed. In fact, it was just a wheel, with no gondolas yet.
As we noted then, it's called an observation wheel rather than a ferris wheel because you don't sit on open-air benches to ride it. You go around in one of the 36 enclosed gondolas, each with both heating and air conditioning, that take you 150 feet into the air.
The 12-minute ride is $18 with a $12 discounted ticket for seniors and children under 13. There were very few takers when we were there..
The white gondolas against the blue sky were as gorgeous as a cruise ship at sea.
But the SkyStar was humming along all the same.
Considering the lockdown occurred before the festivities of Golden Gate Park's 150th anniversary had barely begun, we imagine it hasn't ever seen many riders. And we certainly weren't going to sacrifice ourselves to it.
That October series was shot under an overcast sky whihc did not flatter the white observation wheel. Considering the wheel hadn't been completed and the sky was gray, we promised to return.
And we did. On a sunny day with the gondolas ascending and descending. They move slowly so we didn't worry about our shutter speed, which was 1/400 second. We were shooting with the Olympus E-PL1 and the 14-42mm II R kit lens.
The white gondolas against the blue sky were as gorgeous as a cruise ship at sea.
We wish we could tell you we were tempted to take a few shots from the top of the ride but we have an aversion to ascending too high in this world.
