‘Monk’ filming in San Francisco

Monk on the run
Originally uploaded by Frank Steele.

So I was in San Francisco on business last week. My hotel was just north of Union Square, and on Thursday, I noticed a film crew in Union Square. There was no sign of who was filming; I saw a number of attractive young actors and actresses, and assumed it might be a commercial shoot. Turns out, it was an episode of USA Network's "Monk", with Tony Shalhoub. I think by the time I got there, the stars had already cleared out.

I'm a fan of "Monk", which features Shalhoub, of "Wings", Galaxy Quest, and a few dozen other film and TV roles, as a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

On Friday, when I finished with work, I had about 9 hours to kill, so I headed up Columbus toward San Francisco's tourist center along the Embarcadero, camera bag at the ready. Partway through North Beach, I came upon another film crew aiming up the steepest part of Kearney Street (the Macchiarini Steps). Suddenly, a motorcycle came flying down the steps behind Shalhoub and his costar, Traylor Howard.

There I was with my trusty d70 and a 28-200, and a clear view of the action. Here's the Flickr photoset I shot.