Category Archives: Photographs: Night

Restaurant, Evening

Restaurant, Evening
Evening diners in a San Francisco restaurant

Restaurant, Evening. San Francisco, California. April 30, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening diners in a San Francisco restaurant

Earlier this month I spent an evening photographing at night in San Francisco, this time with my fellow Studio Nocturne SF photographers. That got me thinking about other night photography that I’ve done this year in The City, so I went back to the raw files from this spring visit when I joined another group of friends for dinner and then to photograph along the waterfront, in the same general area where I photographed earlier this week.

I’m often intrigued by shops and restaurants at night, partly perhaps because they often provide a source of light, some of which can spill into the surroundings, but also for the slightly voyeuristic experience if looking through the windows and observing patrons. It was a warm evening when I walked past this place and many windows were open. If you look closer you might see what I see — each window providing a separate and somewhat independent image, almost like paintings hung along the wall in a gallery.


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 | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

A Reflection

A Reflection
Reflecting patterns

A Reflection. San Francisco, California. December 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflecting patterns

I think this photograph is more fun if I avoid saying too much about it. I will say that it actually is a photograph, and one with no more post processing work than I might apply in, say, a landscape photograph. I made the photograph while out on the street in San Francisco earlier this week, doing night photography with my friends and fellow photographers of Studio Nocturne SF.

And that’s all I’m going to write…


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 | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

A Gathering

A Gathering
Nighttime Segway riders gather around a glowing structure

A Gathering. San Francisco, California. December 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Nighttime Segway riders gather around a glowing structure

I thought about calling this “Gathering Of Segway Creatures Before The Giant Glowing Orb,” but that seemed to be going too far. A bit too far, anyway. Last night I joined my fellow night photographers from Studio Nocturne SF for a bit of camaraderie and photography in the San Francisco night. We started at the iconic Alamo Park (the location of the oft-photographed “painted ladies”), and I’m either embarrassed or proud to say that it was the first time I have gone there with a camera. I can also report that I did not photograph the “ladies,” instead wandering around with a tripod-less camera in the dark and photographing other things.

We then adjourned to the waterfront, where we spent some time photographing in another (justifiably) popular location. This light sculpture and some other features cast interesting and varying kinds of colored light on the scene, and I spent quite a bit of time searching out and photographing subjects that were transformed by the colorful light. But when these folks suddenly showed up I quickly switched my attention them, and I managed to squeeze of one handheld photograph before they disappeared into the night once again. As is so often the case, night photography brings some unusual events and experiences. Shortly after this, as I walked along a deserted walkway on a pier, three police officers suddenly appeared, rushing towards me. Fortunately, they weren’t interested in me and they passed right by. Within minutes there were a half-dozen police cruisers and two fire trucks in the neighborhood. San Francisco — never a dull moment…


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 | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Ristorante Luna

Ristorante Luna
A sidewalk tableau in front of Ristorante Luna, Little Italy

Ristorante Luna. New York City. July 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sidewalk tableau in front of Ristorante Luna, Little Italy

This is another photograph from one of my night walks in the area around Little Italy in Manhattan last July during a weeklong visit to the city. It is a touristy area, but that does mean that there is a great variety of people around and that there is plenty of ambient light spilling onto sidewalks and even into the street at night — all of which is good news for night street photography.

Photographs like this one are not unrelated to my landscape photography. In fact, they often begin as urban landscapes. I find a location that interested me — it could be a storefront, a restaurant, a street vendor, a bit of architecture, or a place with interesting light — and then I wait for people to assemble themselves inside this landscape in ways that seem interesting. This is a matter of patience, luck, and perhaps interactions between people passing through the space. Eventually a tableau with a certain kind of balance may emerge, and you might be able to imagine stories about the people and their interactions.


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 | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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