When Fog Grounds the Blue Angels: A Fleet Week Throwback to 2005

Some days the best seat in the house is a boat. Today I found myself in the middle of San Francisco Bay, aboard the Hornblower for CoreNet's Day on the Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge on one side, Alcatraz on the other, and my camera ready to go. There was just one problem. The clouds never left. A thick, low gray ceiling hung over the Bay all afternoon, and while we kept looking up and listening for that unmistakable roar, the Blue Angels show never really happened. San Francisco weather had other plans.


If you were around for Fleet Week last year, you'll remember the skies felt a little quiet. The Blue Angels weren't able to fly because of the government shutdown, so having them back over the Bay this year feels like a homecoming.


And what a year to return. The 2026 air show celebrates the Blue Angels' 80th anniversary along with our nation's 250th birthday. The show runs Friday through Sunday, October 9 to 11, from noon to 4pm, with the jets performing over the water between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. From where we were floating, we had front-row seats. If only the sky had cooperated.

Then the Clouds Rolled In

The Blue Angels need a cloud ceiling of at least 1,200 feet to perform safely, and visibility today just wasn't there. Clouds sat stubbornly low over the city and the Bay well into the afternoon, and early hopes that the fog would burn off by showtime turned out to be a bit optimistic, as Yahoo Weather reported.


The team's 3pm performance was pushed back while everyone waited for the weather to improve, according to KRON4. When the jets finally went up, they started with a low formation pass, then broke off to check the conditions and ended up halting the show partway through, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Some of the civilian acts were canceled too.


Was it disappointing? Of course. But these pilots fly with incredible precision, often just feet apart, and safety comes first for them and for everyone watching. I'll happily wait for a clear day.

A Day on the Bay with Our Industry Community

What makes today even better is who I'm sharing it with. CoreNet's Day on the Bay brings together friends, clients, and partners from across the commercial real estate and workplace community, and there's something about being out on the water that makes everyone relax a little.


Even without the jets, the day was a gift. Conversations that usually happen in conference rooms happened at the rail instead, while we all kept one eye on the sky. People traded stories, caught up, and laughed together about the fog. I met and made new friends - on the boat and at the after party when we all walked over to the La Mar Bar. These are the moments that build real relationships.

Couple smiling on a boat deck with San Francisco Bay and cloudy skies in the background, woman holding wine glass.
Three friends smiling for a selfie with wine glasses, San Francisco skyline and bay visible in the background.
Couple smiling on a ferry with NYC skyline and Brooklyn Bridge in the background on a cloudy day.

Last Year's Day on the Bay: Oh, Canada!

I was out on the bay in 2025 too, and that year had a twist of its own. With the federal government shutdown in full swing, the U.S. Navy and the Blue Angels couldn't take part in Fleet Week. For a while, it wasn't clear what the air show would even look like.Then our neighbors to the north stepped in. The Royal Canadian Air Force sent the Snowbirds, their famous aerobatic team, and Canadian and Colombian navy ships joined the festivities in place of the U.S. fleet. I'll admit I wasn't sure what to expect, but those red and white jets won me over. Watching them loop and roll over the Bay in tight formation was a different kind of beautiful, and the crowd on our boat cheered just as loudly as they would have for the Blue Angels.

It was a good reminder that Fleet Week has always been about more than one team. It's about community, celebration, and the shared joy of looking up together. And it made me appreciate even more how lucky we are when everything comes together.



So here's the funny part. Last year, we had the sky but not the Blue Angels. This year, we had the Blue Angels but not the sky. Maybe next year we'll finally get both.

Six red and white aerobatic jets fly in tight diamond formation against a clear blue sky, trailing white smoke.
Formation of aircraft performing aerobatic maneuvers with white smoke trails against a clear blue sky.
Formation of jets performing aerobatic display over San Francisco Bay, trailing white smoke, with sailboat and city skyline below.
Aircraft performing loop maneuver with smoke trail over San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island visible below.
Seven military jets fly in tight formation against a clear blue sky, leaving white smoke trails at an airshow.
Formation of jets performing aerobatic maneuvers over a harbor with sailboats and hills under a blue sky.
Sailboat gliding through San Francisco Bay with the city skyline and clear blue skies in the background.
Two aircraft performing aerobatic maneuvers leaving white smoke trails against a clear blue sky at an airshow.
United Airlines airplane soaring through a clear blue sky, viewed from below on a sunny day.
San Francisco skyline viewed from the bay with calm blue water, city buildings, and a domed structure under clear skies.

A Throwback to Epic Skies in 2005

Standing on deck under all that gray, my mind kept drifting back to 2005, when I photographed the Blue Angels from Crissy Field. I was only two years into my photography journey, still getting to know my camera and grabbing every chance to practice.


I spent the afternoon tracking the jets as they streaked past the Golden Gate, smoke trails cutting across the sky. Back then, half the fun was not knowing what I had until I got home. Some shots missed. A few didn’t. And those few kept me hooked on photography for the next twenty years.


Looking back at two of those images now, I couldn’t resist giving them a little love, and a little imagination. I kept the jets and the bridge from my original frames, then used AI to reimagine everything around them. The sun breaking through puffy clouds, the beams of light across the Golden Gate, the glowing edges of every cloud, and that warm golden sunset were all added in editing. It’s the kind of sky you hope for and rarely get, so I decided to create it.


It’s fun to see how far both the photos and I have come since that day on the shoreline, and how far the tools have come too.


Since the sky didn’t give us much to work with this year, I’m sharing these two reimagined favorites from 2005 instead. Consider them a daydream of what Fleet Week could look like if San Francisco’s weather decided to cooperate.


Go ahead and cue the Top Gun theme as you scroll through these.

Original 2005 photo of the Blue Angels over the Golden Gate. Sunset sky and lighting added with AI.
A single Blue Angel over the bridge, from my 2005 shoot. Sky and golden light reimagined with AI.

Tips for Photographing the Blue Angels from a Boat

Shooting fast jets from a moving boat is a fun challenge. Here's what I've learned after more than 20 years behind the lens:

  • Bring your reach. My go-to for a day like this is a 70-200mm f/2.8. It gives you enough reach for tight formation shots while staying light enough to track quickly.
  • Go fast on the shutter. Start around 1/2000 of a second or faster to freeze the jets. If you want a little propeller blur on slower aircraft, that's a different setting, but for the Blue Angels, faster is better.
  • Use continuous autofocus and burst mode. Let your camera track the jets and shoot in bursts. The perfect frame often lives in the middle of a sequence.
  • Brace yourself, literally. The boat is always moving. Lean on the rail, keep your knees soft, and let your body absorb the rocking instead of your camera.
  • Watch your horizon. On the water, it's easy to end up with a tilted Bay. A quick check before you shoot saves a lot of editing later.
  • Include the landmarks. A jet against blue sky is great. A jet over the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, or the city skyline tells the story of where you were.
  • Look ahead, not behind. Jets are faster than their sound, so by the time you hear one, it may already be past you. Keep scanning the sky and watch where the crowd is pointing.

Don't Forget to Put the Camera Down

My last tip is the most important one: every once in a while, lower the camera and just enjoy where you are. Today I had no choice, and you know what? It was still a wonderful day. Good company, the Bay all around us, and plenty of laughs about Karl the Fog stealing the show. Some days are meant to be lived, not just captured.


That's really what photography has always been about for me, and it's the heart of everything we do at Snapbox Collective. Whether it's jets over the Bay or friends crowding into a photo booth, we love capturing the joy of people coming together.


Planning an event of your own, on land or on the water? Visit snapboxcollective.com to explore our photo booths and event photography. Here's to clearer skies this weekend.