The Picture Desk

I am a photographer based in San Francisco, California. I love capturing  moments and portraits of people in the lifestyle scene. You can also find me at my website, www.craigleephoto.com.

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49 laser beams of light in the 7x7 show by Illuminate at San Francisco City Hall on Monday, June 22, 2026. The 7x7 light show runs nightly through July 4th. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Castro Theatre official reopening after a 4-year long rehabilitation of the iconic building at 429 Castro Street in San Francisco on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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The Budweiser Clydesdales at Fort Point with the Golden Gate Bridge during Super Bowl week in San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Venice Beach, meet Ocean Beach.

At Sunset Dunes Park, San Francisco now has its first and only beachside skateboarding space with the addition of new equipment at the corner of Great Highway and Sloat Boulevard.

While it might not quite rival the fame of its skate-park counterpart down the coast in Venice Beach, the new venue is a boon to San Francisco’s skateboarding community, which has been without a hallmark skate spot on the far west side for several years.

Story by Adam Shanks/San Francisco Examiner Photos on Thursday, July 10, 2025 by Craig Lee/San Francisco Examiner

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Mykola Symonenko, a bartender originally from Ukraine, really knows how to put on an impressive show as he makes cocktails at DACHA Kitchen & Bar, an Eastern European bar and restaurant at 1085 Sutter St. in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner) https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/the-city/dacha-serves-up-eastern-european-inspired-cocktails-to-sf/article_48202ae0-fd92-4870-aba4-635735523f3a.html

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Evening moonrise over the foggy San Francisco skyline with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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San Francisco skyline with twilight morning fog over the bay before sunrise pictured from Grizzly Peak in the Berkeley Hills on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Super blue moonrise over the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline pictured from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands on Sunday evening, Aug. 18, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Swan Oyster Depot, the best seafood restaurant and friendliest service sitting at the counter.

From left: Luke Mitchell, Dara Keane, Brian Sancimino (Steve’s son), Vincent Sancimino, Tom Sanimino, Steve Sancimino, Kevin Sancimino, Joey Miles and Dominic Green at Swan Oyster Depot at 1517 Polk Street in San Francisco on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

Few things have changed in Swan Oyster Depot’s 112-year history since reopening on Polk Street in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake.

The venerable fresh seafood restaurant has changed hands since then, and perhaps its clientele, but out-the-door lines remain a common sight on the nearby sidewalk.

Since the storefront reopened in 1912, San Francisco residents and out-of-town tourists alike have waited for their turn to amble up to Swan Oyster’s long marble counter and shuck oysters while sitting atop one of the 18 stools that were originally bought when the restaurant’s owners rebuilt at 1517 Polk St. following the 1906 earthquake.

Swan Oyster’s staff, who prepare and serve dishes an arms-length away from patrons, said that the restaurant is simultaneously a capsule of San Francisco’s history, as well as an establishment that is unlike any other new and returning diners will see.

“People who come here for the first time, they don’t even know what to think,” Kevin Sancimino, owner of Swan Oyster Depot, told The Examiner.

Story by James Salazar/Examiner staff writer

For staff, Swan Oyster Depot is a family affair

The crew behind the marble counter has forged 112 years worth of connections with diners.

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Young The Giant, Jungle, Mimi Webb, Grace Jones and Sabrina Carpenter with wedding ceremonies performed for the first time at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 9 & 10, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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The World Dog Surfing Championship small dog category at Pacifica State Beach on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Evening moonrise over the San Francisco skyline pictured from Battery Yates in Sausalito on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Fog rolling over the Golden Gate Bridge pictured from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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San Francisco’s world famous sourdough bread is for the birds!

A foodie bird with some sourdough bread flying above Pier 39 in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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I got to meet a living legend!!!

Rev. Matthew Fong (right), 102, a WWII United States Army Air Corp veteran with his son Jerome Fong, 65, at home in San Francisco on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Matthew was stationed in England and a Boeing B-17 bomber belly gunner flying 35 missions over Germany. After the war, he went to UC Berkeley and Yale Divinity School receiving a doctorate of ministry in 1956. He became senior minister at Chinese Congregational Church in Chinatown, San Francisco until his retirement in 1987. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

The City honors WWII vet, a 102-year-old SF native

Rev. Matthew Fong served 35 missions in Europe as a fighter aircraft pilot.

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Moonrise over the San Francisco skyline and Golden Gate Bridge view from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands including one with the Yang Ming container ship on its way back to Taiwan on Wednesday evening, May 22, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)

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Surf's up, San Francisco!

Surfers were out catching some waves on a warm day at Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Craig Lee/The San Francisco Examiner)