See San Francisco, Through the Lens of SFGirlbyBay

by Victoria Smith

From internationally popular design blogger SF Girl By Bay comes the ultimate love letter to San Francisco. This gorgeously photographed lifestyle guide gives readers an insider's tour of the City by the Bay through Victoria Smith's unique lens. Organized by neighborhood, each chapter features enchanting photos of hidden corners, local color, landmarks, and hot spots, revealing why so many people, Victoria included, fall head over heels for this amazing city. Brimming with original, dreamy photography and packaged as a gorgeous jacketed hardcover, this lovely book makes a perfect gift for photography fans, San Francisco dwellers, visitors to the city, or those who have left their hearts in San Francisco.

Genres: Travel, Photography, Nonfiction, Art, Coffee Table Books

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2015

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

See the different neighborhoods from the sidewalk - great book to get before you come to SF! Vibrantly photographed, this book is the next best thing to being there! Always like to walk around SF; so many things to see and do - but be sure to bring lots of money! Great gift book for someone who is going to visit SF!

[Mariℓina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful and picturesque book. A feast for the eyes, in every sense and a wonderful coffee table book, suitable for everyone who loves San Francisco and contemporary photography.



Divided into eighteen categories that perfectly succeed in capturing the magical essence of the city with its unique corners and brilliantly distinctive places, the final product is purely exquisite.



I loved the vibrant colors.
I liked the perspective.
I appreciated the concept.
Simply great!

[reading is my hustle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have followed the sfgirlbybay blog on and off for years. I consider Victoria Smith to be an expert on San Francisco. Her book (this book) is an insider's look at the city. It is not a travel book though it would compliment say Frommer's Easy Guide to the Bay Area. The photos are all muted and pastel in color. Different neighborhoods are highlighted: Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, Potrero Hill & Dogpatch, Chinatown, and so on. She does not highlight landmarks but rather gives you a sense of the neighborhoods and different parts of the city: the rolling fog, the victorians, the cable cars, the enclaves up high, and the hidden alleyways.




A lovely read.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cool book about the different neighborhoods of San Francisco.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really picturesque look at San Francisco. I have never been there but this a great look at the city.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just beautiful. I loved the introductions to many of the various neighborhoods of San Francisco, as well as the little glimpses into city life that each photo provides. San Francisco is one of my favorite places -- I've visited 5 times now, and each time the city has had something different to show me. It was fun to make note of places I've been and even better to mark things I hope to see on my next visit. If you love San Francisco, then this is a great book to have.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely gorgeous book, filled with colorful photos of my favorite city - not the standard landmarks that have been photographed millions of times, but a neighborhood by neighborhood breakdown that captures what it is about this city that made me fall in love.

[Sally]

I want to live in the pictures.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE these photos!! And she represents the small details I love about this city so well.

[Annelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos of San Fran <3 Would make a great companion to any SF visit, & a beautiful gift.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great photographs!

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun pictorial tour of the city. Interesting photos and descriptions of the different neighborhoods.

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5! GR give us half-star ratings I beg of you!)

This book is exactly what it purports to be: a stroll through San Francisco alongside SFGirlByBay (adorable username, by the way) and her camera. Victoria documents SF's many faces through a series of cute, pastel-tinted photographs, staying away from major landmarks in favor of whatever catches her eye. It's an adorable and immensely comfortable book to flip through, with wonderful splashes of color on every page.

I like that the book refuses to be a tour guide; Victoria shoots what she likes and she shows you her personal favorites. I often felt that each neighborhood could use just a couple more photos-- for almost every area in SF, there's just so much to talk about, and I occasionally got excited for different locations to wind up wishing I could've seen just one more photo of the places I love. That said, it's Victoria's book, and there's something fun about having just one woman describe San Francisco to you. She doesn't know all of it as well as a trained tour guide, and that's some of the fun-- you get it through her viewpoint. Her lens.

The art design of the book is fantastic. The layout is great, the colored pages are a fun touch, and it's easy to get sucked into the pages of beautifully organized photos. The cover on mine even has a cute little banner... not one detail missed. It's a great coffee table book and I'd certainly like to see more.

[L.J. Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unconventional tour guide through the neighbourhoods of San Fran. A wonderful way to experience the city, and great tips on places to visit and things to see.

[Patricia Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

The places she mentions like the Warming Hut are in the back of the book with addresses. Nice touch.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be one of the few who liked her personal story more than her pictures on this book.

[Phoenix1000]

Never been there so didn't know what to expect, the architectural photos were great.

[Courtney Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the photographs but I think it's really funny that Victoria completely skipped the Bayview/Hunter's Point neighborhood....Like, oh here look at all these beautiful gentrified neighborhoods that are relics of people who immigrated here and actually worked hard....so sad...but forget the Bayview because it's ugly and uninteresting. We'll wait until it's more gentrified and then we'll shoot some photos.

[Yiling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it puzzling that her photos do not depict any people. The photos, after you read just a few sections, can be categorised as follows: signage, Victorian houses, shop interiors, cafe chairs, and flowers. I think all the photos have a filter applied. So, it's an Instagrammy read but I'm not sure what the collection of photos say about the real SF. /shrug

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful look at some of the picturesque places to visit in the city where I work, but where I rarely truly see. I love that photo captions/locations and the author's favorite destinations in each neighborhood are listed in the back of the book.

[Nola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victoria's photographs are great. It makes me want to get on a plane bound for SF as soon as. When I eventually get there I will take this book as a reference.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Social-media posts of faded-filter color photos. Not for me.