Derek Zhao captured a striking image of San Francisco's Salesforce Tower emerging from a thick fog layer while jogging on Treasure Island. The photograph, taken on an iPhone 16 Pro Max, has been highlighted as his best phone picture.
An unexpected scene during a morning run
Zhao, a machine-learning engineer at Disney California, jogs the perimeter of Treasure Island every morning. The island, his home, is an eight-minute ferry ride from San Francisco. He often regrets not having his professional cameras with him during these runs, but notes that phones have "pretty decent cameras, too."
He relocated from Texas last year for his current role, finding the 400-acre human-made island ideal—"close enough to the office and all the culture the city has to offer, but far enough that I'm waking up to the sound of seagulls instead of car horns."
How the fog created a monolith
Zhao took the image earlier this year, stopping mid-jog to photograph the top of the Salesforce Tower. He was captivated by how the fog, caused by a marine layer, obscured the rest of the skyline, leaving only the tower visible like a monolith. "It's ironic that something that obscures, like fog, can make a scene more clear," he said.
He has recently realised that his favourite photos come not from travels with professional gear, but from "improbable scenes near home that somehow only reveal themselves when I'm not expecting them." He finds peace in the fact that, despite living close to the centre of tech, AI, urban density, and hustle culture, the universe can still offer such moments of quiet awe.
