Category Archives: Photographs: People

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Pandemia, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Masked Women

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Masked Women
Two masked women in conversation during the December 2021 Omicron surge, Manhattan

Masked Women. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two masked women in conversation during the December 2021 Omicron surge, Manhattan

Back in mid-December the pandemic surged again with the arrival of the omicron variant in the United States. Just when we (at least those of use who are triple-vaccinated) thought things were beginning to ease up, case numbers skyrocketed. We had made plans for a holiday visit to New York City, and as we watched the evolving news stories we wondered whether or not to go. In the end, while the “right” answer remained unclear, we decided to take extra precautions and continue with our plans… and embarked on a weeklong visit just before Christmas.

We love New York. We like the crowds and the energy, dropping into restaurants, visiting museums, walking through the parks, and all the rest of the Manhattan experience. It helps that two of our “kids” and their spouses live there. (They were our main reason for the trip.) Beginning with the carefully masked airline travel, much of this trip was unlike any New York visit we’ve made in the past. By the time we arrived, the city was in the grip of the omicron surge. The streets (at least by Manhattan standards) were nearly empty. The few restaurant meals we indulged in were at cold outdoor tables. Almost everyone was masked. These two women are perhaps emblematic of the experience — outdoors on a cold winter day, sitting masked in the open air on a bench for a few moments of conversation.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Woman in Crosswalk

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Woman in Crosswalk
A woman with a walker sets out to cross Broadway in Manhattan.

Woman in Crosswalk. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman with a walker sets out to cross Broadway in Manhattan.

After not going to New York City for two years during the pandemic, we had made plans to visit once again during the holidays. It seemed safe enough when we made the plans a few months ago, but as the departure date approached the Omicron virus took off and created a worrying spike in infections. We contemplated cancelling the trip, but in the end we decided to go and take exceptional precautions. This was not the sort of New York visit we would normally do. We like to travel around on the subway, cram into crowded restaurants, visit museums, go to concerts… none of which we did on this trip. We masked up consistently, tested daily, and limited ourselves to visits with our “kids” and their spouses.

All of this was not conducive to New York street photography, but I did manage to get out a couple of times with a camera. The city was strange, with everyone wearing masks, most dining done outdoors, and nearly deserted streets. I photographed this woman as she was about to head across Broadway on the Upper West Side.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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

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

Waiting For Transit

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Waiting For Transit
People await their ride at a San Francisco light rail station.

Waiting For Transit. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People await their ride at a San Francisco light rail station.

Perhaps you already knew that I made this photograph a few years ago — it is in San Francisco, it is at a transit stop… and no one is wearing a mask! You wouldn’t find that combination today. (That’s one reason that the San Francisco Bay Area has among the lowest infection rates in the country, but I digress…) I made the photograph on one of my photography days in San Francisco, which tend to follow a familiar pattern: Up well before dawn, catch a train to the City, arrive around sunrise, spend the morning wandering on foot and photography, then take the train back home my mid-afternoon. San Francisco is a very walkable city, and you can cover a lot of ground there on foot.

Recently I had the pleasure of giving a talk on street photography to a somewhat surprising group, the photography section of the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club. That’s not your typical topic for this group, and I was aware that there might be some skeptics. My premise is that doing street photography (and other kinds of not-nature photography) can make you a better photographer, and that the benefits can accrue to your nature photography, too. I can’t recreate the entire talk here, but this photograph embodies a few key ideas. First, it takes advantage of a very local photographic opportunity, so I can photograph even when I can’t travel to lovely, far away, natural places. Second, it treats the street as a kind of urban landscape, occupied by “human wildlife.” In fact, I often construct photographs like this one by first finding the “landscape” and then waiting for passers-by to populate it. Third (and final for now) photographing these local subjects is good “practice” that keeps my ability to see photographically tuned up.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: People, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Photographers, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Photographer Patricia Mitchell

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Photographer Patricia Mitchell
“Photographer Patricia Mitchell” — Photographer Patricia Mitchell at work in early morning autumn light in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Someone has a birthday this week, so it seems appropriate to feature a photograph of, um, someone here. Photography is often a solitary activity — one person, a subject, a camera, how to see — and most of the time the two of us photograph alone. But every so often we get a chance to head out together on a trip that involves photography. We had such an occasion earlier this fall — and it has been too long! — when we did a weeklong trip that took us to the Eastern Sierra Nevada and then to Utah and a few nearby locations.

We started in the Sierra, where we headed into the eastern part of the range in search of fall color. Perhaps “search” is the wrong word here, as it is easy to locate! Instead of going to the “usual places” we wandered up some less-travelled roads, including the one that took us to this spot right beneath the eastern escarpment, a place with very few other people where the high desert and the beginnings of true mountain terrain intersect. We arrived on a brilliantly lit morning, with fall color everywhere, and a bit of early snow still on the peaks.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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