Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

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

Post and Grant, Night

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san francisco, california, usa, urban, street, photography, night, post, grant, streets, corner, intersection, black and white, monochrome, people, sidewalk
Friday night at the corner of Post and Grant, San Francisco

Post and Grant, Night. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Friday night at the corner of Post and Grant, San Francisco

This is (yet another) photograph from my fruitful nighttime wanderings in an area of urban San Francisco in late July, when I joined a small group of fellow photographers to do some night street photography. They started with dinner, but I arrived a bit late and finally met up with them between my starting point (near Union Square) and their location in North Beach. We first photographed in the less-touristy areas of Chinatown, then wandered into tourist central, the well-known Grant Avenue area, where we knew we would find people and interesting lighting.

Eventually we wandered on down beyond Chinatown and ended up in the Union Square vicinity, where the group began to split up — it was getting late, some had been photographing for many hours, and their cars were a distance away. I continued on down Grant a bit further, where I made this photograph at the intersection with Post Street. You might detect one or two odd compositional choices in this photograph — why is that car poking into the right side of the frame?

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Two Trees, Granite Face

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Two Trees, Granite Face
Two trees, one very old and one very young, grow high on a granite face in Yosemite National Park

Two Trees, Granite Face. Yosemite National Park, California. July 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two trees, one very old and one very young, grow high on a granite face in Yosemite National Park

This tree grows high on the apparently barren face of a tall granite dome in Yosemite National Park’s high country. Of all of the improbably places to spot a tree, and one that seems reasonably healthy and strong at that, this has to be one of the most unlikely. Given its location, it must be putting its roots down in little more than a large crack in the rock and it has to be fully exposed to strong winter winds and snow.

I have photographed it more than once in the past, and it continues to intrigue me. For thinking that I know the tree well, I was surprised to find that I had not previously noticed the smaller tree growing just beyond and to the right of the main tree — perhaps the offspring of the larger tree? For a short time in the morning, low angle light streaming across the tops of more granite formations to the east glances across the surface of the dome and beautifully lights the two trees.

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

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

Doorway, Stairs

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Doorway, Stairs
A doorway opens to a lighted passageway and ascending stairs.

Doorway, Stairs. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A doorway opens to a lighted passageway and ascending stairs.

A small group of photographers was exploring portions of nighttime San Francisco on a recent evening, making their way from North Beach through Chinatown and towards the Union Square area. As we photographed and walked the light transitioned from evening (with some sun visible in places) to dusk (as lights came on) and then to darkness — at least as dark as it gets in this City on a Friday night. Our path took us to some areas that are not as frequently visited by tourists, but it also took us straight down a section of Grant Avenue.

Grant Avenue is what comes to mind for many people when they think of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Grant is the touristy “main drag” of the area, lined with a range of shops and business and restaurants, many of which appeal to tourists. At night much of this area shuts down, though restaurants remain open — but even as things close the light remains interesting. So we walked down Grant, stopping to photograph various things along the way. At one point we passed this somewhat mysterious doorway. Most such entrances are closed up tight, usually with a locked gate in front, but this one was open and light from the stairway inside flooded out onto the sidewalk. The walls around the door are painted in many colors, and ambient lighting adds another layer of color. My first thought was to make this a color photograph, but as I looked at it in post that seemed just a bit too obvious so I went with this monochrome rendition instead.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Glaciated Ridge and Trees, Morning

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Glaciated Ridge and Trees, Morning
Trees growing on rocky, glaciated granite terrain in morning light

Glaciated Ridge and Trees, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. July 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees growing on rocky, glaciated granite terrain in morning light

Among folks who know me a bit, it is not a surprise to hear that this is my favorite kind of Sierra light — early morning light coming across hazy ridges and granite and striking sparse trees from behind, creating a glow among their branches. I can’t explain why it draws me, but it does, and I think it always has. Perhaps I saw something, now forgotten, during one of my first visits to the Sierra, or possibly I saw a photograph (possibly in one of my father’s books) many years ago and it made an impression.

This scene is obviously not a Yosemite icon (though one is nearby), but the nature of the view is iconic Yosemite for me. A handful of things seem characteristic of the Yosemite high country, and one of them is the sight of granite domes, usually with broken rock, and widely separated trees somehow eking out a livelihood on what appears to be bare rock. Undoubtedly, more square miles of the park are covered by forest, but we can find forest almost anywhere — these trees thriving on bare granite are more rare and more a special characteristic of this place.

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 | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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