All posts by G Dan Mitchell

G Dan Mitchell, photographer and visual opportunist focusing on the Pacific coast, the Sierra Nevada, redwood forests, California oak/grasslands, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography and more. Posting daily photographs since 2005, along with articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

In Storage

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In Storage
Casts of antiquities stored in Manhattan.

In Storage. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Casts of antiquities stored in Manhattan.

While visiting Manhattan in last December we ended up in an older, somewhat nondescript building not far from Grand Central Station where, among other things, an organization focused on classical architecture has offices. On a day when the place was mostly closed we were able to visit the building and, of course, we made a few photographs.

This room was fascinating. It is full of casts of various bits and pieces of statues and (I think) elements taken from various architecture. It is my understanding that the institutions from which these specimens come now may have originals in their place, so exhibiting the casts is no longer so attractive. But walking through a room full of them in storage on a cold winter day is an unusual experience. Here the warm interior light on the objects contrasts with the very blue outdoor light of a winter Manhattan day.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Iconic Magazines

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Iconic Magazines
Mulberry Iconic Magazines at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, Manhattan

Iconic Magazines. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mulberry Iconic Magazines at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, Manhattan.

When I travel I often try to figure out what factors give a place its “quality,” that sometimes vague sense of the place that sets it apart from other locations. Sometimes, of course, certain aspects are pretty obvious — only one city has an Empire State Building, there’s only one Eiffel Tower, no other bridge is quite like the Golden Gate Bridge, not every city is filled with canals, and so on. One factor that I notice in quite a few large cities, but in a particular way in Manhattan, is the difference between the objective grittiness and even ugliness of many exteriors versus the often warm and inviting quality of personal interiors — people’s homes, many eating places, certain stores, and more.

Those worlds aren’t complete disconnected though, and especially in winter I feel that spots where light spills out from those interiors into the public space can connect them. This one happens to be on a street corner that might not otherwise seem particularly special, but it contrasts greatly with the rather grim exertion of the upper floors and with the street in front. (For the record, I do realize that my description above is not quite air-tight…)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Sunset

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Winter Sunset
Sunset in California’s Central Valley, on a winter evening with a weather front approaching.

Winter Sunset. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset in California’s Central Valley, on a winter evening with a weather front approaching.

I often ponder the California landscapes that are not so widely known, at least not among visitors to the state who are (justifiably) attracted to better know subjects: San Francisco, LA, well-known spots in the Sierra, the Big Sur coast, perhaps desert locations such as Death Valley. I guess that we Californians can be grateful that we get to keep a few of these less obvious spots for ourselves!

The Great Central Valley, stretching from just below Mount Shasta in the north to the mountains ringing the northern edge of the LA Basin in the south, and bounded on the east by the Sierra and the west by interior ranges is such a place. It is huge — hundreds of miles long and many tens of miles across — but even though it is one of the most rapidly growing regions of the state, many people mostly know it from driving through, not from pausing. This photograph comes from a winter evening when an incoming Pacific weather front was just starting to cloud up the western sky.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Restaurant For Rent

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Restaurant For Rent
A group of passers-by along the sidewalk in front of a Manhattan building underoing renovation.

Restaurant For Rent. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of passers-by along the sidewalk in front of a Manhattan building underoing renovation.

There’s a conversation I’ve had a few times with painters in which we’ve addressed one of the most important differences between photography and painting. In most cases (ignoring exceptions that come with certain approaches to painting for the moment) the painter “knows” every element of the piece since he or she placed them all. It would be very surprising (though not quite impossible) for the artist to later discover some element that had previously been unobserved or that wasn’t where it was placed. A photograph is usually (though, again, there are a few exceptions) quite different in that the photographer can rarely know every single element of the subject. Instead, the photographer finds a scene/subject whose broad outlines and primary focus are “right,” makes a photograph (and, yes, there are a few other steps I’ve left out) and cannot know every single component of the image, leaving the possibility of later discovery.

I think this is true in just about all photography, but it is especially the case with street photography, where the scene is often very complex and the elements and their interactions are evolving quickly and constantly. Often the photography must work very quickly and intuitively, frequently with little time for reflection before making an exposure. And then, what we end up with is a tiny fractional slice of what was “happening,” a slice that takes on a sense of painting-like permanence, even though it derived from something that was wholly in flux.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.