Category Archives: Photographs: People

Photographer, Sabrina Basin

Photographer, Sabrina Basin" — A photographer working the autumn colors from a ridge in Sabrina Basin, Sierra Nevada, as an early fall storm comes in.
“Photographer, Sabrina Basin” — A photographer working the autumn colors from a ridge in Sabrina Basin, Sierra Nevada, as an early fall storm comes in.

I wandered out onto this ridge above Sabrina Basin, a spot that I know for its unobstructed view of the valley and the peaks of the Sierra crest above Sabrina Lake, far up the canyon. I had my eyes on some rocky benches that run along the top of the ridge As I approached I saw that I wasn’t the only photographer with this idea. As I crossed the rocks toward the overlook, he was working my intended camera position, so I decided to sit back and let him finish. (The ridge wasn’t wide enough for both of us to work together there.)

As I waited, I thought there was something interesting about his position above the valley, his concentration on shooting, his all-blue outfit (shirt and jeans, on a cold and rainy day!), and that wide brimmed hat. So I decided to make a few photographs of him. We barely talked at all. I hoped to get his name, but that didn’t happen. The best I was able to do was give him a card, and offer him a copy of the photo if he contacted me. Never heard from him…


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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

People on Walkway, MoMA

People on Walkway, MoMA
People on Walkway, MoMA

People on Walkway, MoMA. Museum of Modern Art, New York City. August 18, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walking quickly along elevated walkway at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Shooting hand-held and at a very low shutter speed while visiting the museum, I made a series of exposures looking down into the space of the museum with the many criss-crossing walkways and other structural forms lit by a combination of light coming from nearby windows and artificial lighting, in which the people moving through the space are blurred by their rapid motion.

Although I suppose that a lot of my landscape/architecture photographs tend toward high resolution, detail, and sharpness I’m also fond of photographs that eschew that stuff! This image combines several things that interest me quite a bit. One, not surprisingly perhaps, is the view of the urban world as its own type of landscape – my interest in landscape is not limited to only those of the natural world. I’m also fascinated by forms and shapes, especially those formed in this kind of constructed environment. And, finally perhaps, I have this idea that I explore from time to time of contrasting the fixed and solid objects of the man-made world with the transient and dynamic motion of its inhabitants.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Ice Cream Man in His Truck, New York City

Ice Cream Man in His Truck, New York City
Ice Cream Man in His Truck, New York City

Ice Cream Man in His Truck, New York City. New York, New York. August 19, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A mobile ice-cream vendor parked in his truck at night near Madison Square Garden on 7th Avenue in New York City.

The street vendors are certainly a part of the glorious sensory assault that is Manhattan, at least for this California visitor. They are everywhere, and they range from the generic hotdog/pretzel vendors, through folks who look like they bought a few cases of water and decided to sell them, to some that seem almost gourmet. Two small stories… I didn’t make a photograph, but when we were in lower Manhattan in the financial district we saw a line-up of perhaps a dozen mobile food carts around one small square selling a wide range of foods. While the lines at most of them included a person or two… one stand had a line stretching all the way across the square. Second story – which I’ll tell on myself: One morning we wanted to grab a pretzel. In the process I quickly forgot one of the first rules of buying from these guys, namely settle the price before getting the food. A NYC pretzel ought to cost perhaps a couple bucks, but I managed to double the price by asking for the “goods” first, taking them from the vendor, and only then asking for the price. Let’s just say he gave me the “tourist special price,” and I didn’t feel like enough of a jerk to hand them back to him over the price. :-)

This truck was parked at a corner on 7th Avenue almost across the street from Madison Square Garden, and seemed to be doing a good business during the twilight hour on this evening.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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