Category Archives: Photographs: Night

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Closing Time

Image Leave a comment
Closing Time
A woman places boards over the windows of a business at night.

Closing Time. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman places boards over the windows of a business at night.

It has been a while since I’ve done one of these night photography shoots in San Francisco. A few years ago a group of us would get together once per year or so in the late afternoon, photograph in early evening light, typically go somewhere for dinner, and then head back out to photograph at night. We frequently ended up in Chinatown, perhaps because the lights and narrower streets are conducive to photography after dark.

This photograph comes from one of those excursions back in 2015. Since around that time — perhaps a few years earlier — it occurred to me that since I live close to San Francisco and regularly visit New York that I could do a little project around photographing in Chinatown districts of both cities. They are both fascinating places, both draw tourists (though in different ways), and both have a non-tourist life that is even more fascinating. (I see this photograph a bit differently in the wake of the pandemic.)

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Open Door and Stairway, Night

Image Leave a comment
Open Door and Stairway, Night
The entrance to someone’s home, San Francisco.

Open Door and Stairway, Night. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The entrance to someone’s home, San Francisco.

Originally I contemplated adding this to the “Postcards From Pandemic” series — the mood and subject seem about right. In the end I did not, since I’ve decided that those photographs will all be made during the lock-down and whatever follows. This photograph is almost five years old.

There is, for me, a lot to ponder in this photograph. Let’s start with the obvious — it is not a pretty picture. Despite the fact that the scene is so gritty, I was attracted by the colors, textures, and all that stuff, apart from the underlying reality of the scene. But, obviously, we have to ask some questions about a scene like this: Who lives here? What must it be like to enter your home through such a portal?

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

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

Meat Centre

Image Leave a comment
Meat Centre
Interior of the Meat Centre after closing time, Manhattan

Meat Centre. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Interior of the Meat Centre after closing time, Manhattan.

Businesses like this one, located along the edge (as I understand it) of Manhattan’s Chinatown district, fascinate me. There is often a sort of rough edge about them, but it implies that they are places where real work is done, and not that they are unkempt or that the owners and workers do not care. Quite to the contrary, as I look around this scene I see that essentially everything in it has a distinct place and a real-world purpose.

Technically this is a kind of “night photograph,” since I made the image while walking along a dark street and looking into this and similar businesses. Aside from restaurants and drinking establishments and the ubiquitous convenience stores, most of the businesses like this one were closed or closing. Here, the appearance suggests that the place has been cleaned up and organized at the end of the work 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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

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

Old Police Headquarters, Evening

Image 2 Comments
Old Police Headquarters, Evening
The dome of the Old Police Headquarters on a Manhattan winter evening.

Old Police Headquarters, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The dome of the Old Police Headquarters on a Manhattan winter evening.

This is another photograph from our long afternoon and evening walk from more or less Midtown down to Lower Manhattan along a route that kept us off many of the main streets and gave us a look at somewhat more intimate scenes along the way. All of the recent evening photographs that I have posted from Manhattan were made on this walk. (Eventually we ended up at Manhatta, on the 6oth floor of a building with stupendous views over the city and its surroundings.)

When I went to work on this photograph I realized that I had no idea what the dome-topped building is. By looking at photographs made just before and after this one, and by enlarging the image enough to (barely) make out the name on a street sign, I was eventually able to identify it on a digital map of Manhattan. Apparently it is, as the title states, the “Old Place Headquarters.” It is, at least from this angle, a pretty notable piece of old style architecture, especially with that impressive dome.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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