The Bay Lights is an art installation on the Bay Bridge that gives out really cool computer generated light patterns that turn the cables on the Bay Bridge into a giant shimmering screen. It's best explained with a video:

Beautiful isn't it? It definitely adds another gem to the already beautiful Embarcadero night scene.

The Bay Lights was only supposed to last for 2 years (it is now a permanent fixture). So before they took it down, I decided to head out to take some shots of it. I picked the last night of the installation, since there was also an event marking it.

I passed by the ferry building on the way to Pier 14 from the Embarcadero BART station. It was beautifully lit up to mark the 100 year anniversary of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, held in 1915.

I headed out to Pier 7 from the Embarcadero BART station. You can get great views of the Bay Bridge as well as the city from the end of Pier 7. The moon happened to be rising from the horizon when I got there. It was slowly rising above the Bay Bridge, which made for a very interesting framing. Unfortunately the shots did not turn out well.

The rising moon looked much more impressive in real life of course. Here the moon's details are blown out unfortunately. The Bay Lights are the lights on the cable of the Bay Bridge. Here, you can see that some portions of the cable are not illuminated. That's because it's transitioning as part of a moving pattern, like a freeze frame of a jumbotron.

The popular view of the San Francisco city skyline from the end of Pier 7. It's as though the lamp posts are guiding your view to the Transamerica Pyramid. To me, it's one of the most romantic spots along the Embarcadero.

From Pier 7, Coit Tower stood out brightly as well. I was particularly awestruck by the reflections here. It reminded me of impressionistic paintings.

The Bay Bridge from Pier 7

I didn't really get the shots of the Bay Lights I wanted from Pier 7, so I walked down the Embarcadero to Pier 14 to get more up close to the Bay Bridge. Along the way, I passed by the small event marking the last night of the Bay Lights. The small glowing light gifts that were given out was really cool. The artist himself was supposedly there. From around Pier 14, the vantage point of the Bay Bridge was much better.

Cool light gifts for the event.

View of the Ferry Building and the Financial District from Pier 14.

Ferry Building with the centennial lighting.

From around Pier 14, I managed to get much better shots of the Bay Bridge. Truth be told, the true beauty of the Bay Lights cannot be captured with a photo. I tried to capture the Bay Lights in video mode, but I couldn't get the light movements right and it was too dark. I guess I don't have the right lens nor the right frame rate. I hung around there for a while, just staring at the light patterns as they glide across the span from Yerba Buena Island to downtown San Francsico.

The Bay Bridge looks much prettier with the Bay Lights.

My best shot of the night. The full moon was shining brightly above the beautifully illuminated Bay Bridge.

A pretty light art installation right outside entrance to Pier 14.

Thankfully, the Bay Lights was officially made to a permanent fixture, in time for Superbowl 50. The Bay Lights is something to enjoy and appreciate for locals and tourists alike.   

Bay Lights wiki entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bay_Lights
Bay Lights official site: http://thebaylights.org/