Category Archives: Photographs: San Francisco

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

At the Counter

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At the Counter
A group of people at a coffee shop counter at night

At the Counter. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of people at a coffee shop counter at night

This is the first of a group of two more photographs I’ll post from a recent bit of street photography in San Francisco, done on a Friday evening when I joined a small group of other photographers to photograph mostly after dark in urban areas. This on perhaps indulges my inner Edward Hopper a bit — I’m often fascinated by business windows at night and the idea of looking in from the outside to see whatever world is inside.

The photograph was a quick “grab” as I walked past this coffee shop and noticed the group of four people at the window-facing counter, each doing something different and each apparently unaware of the others. (And, of course: these are the places we all sit when we stop in coffee shops alone, right?)

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

Children in Striped Hoodies

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Children in Striped Hoodies
Two children in striped hoodies walk along a San Francisco street at night

Children in Striped Hoodies. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two children in striped hoodies walk along a San Francisco street at night

This is yet another photograph that I don’t actually recall making! Sometimes when shooting street I think I work so quickly and spontaneously that I simple capture an image and move on to the next one without imbedding the specific experience in my memory. This almost certainly was one of those very quickly made photographs, and I only made two exposures of these subjects before moving on to something else.

There is a lot in this photograph, some of which I was likely considering in the moment when I made the photograph and some of which may have been more or less a happy accident. I’m pretty certain that I was attracted to the fact that the two kids were both wearing hoodies with horizontal stripes — perhaps someone’s mother or father had just gone shopping for the two of them? A wonderful bonus was the child on the right (big sister?) putting her arm gently on the shoulder of the other child — her younger brother? Then there are the other bits of color — the blue form on the left (which houses an automated carnival-like figure) and the wildly painted lamp-post on the right. And, yes, there is something a bit disconcerting about seeing two young children alone on the nighttime streets of a big city — at least to this photographer who brought up three such young children.

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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Video Surveillance

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Video Surveillance
Warning sign on a doorway to an interior space, Chinatown, San Francisco

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

Warning sign on a doorway to an interior space, Chinatown, San Francisco

When doing street photography I tend to “switch modes” as I photograph — one moment I might focus on people as individuals or in groups, and then my attention may shift to the “urban landscape,” the shapes and angles of the buildings and roads and sidewalks and more. At night there is always one more element, the unusual effects of artificial light on the scene. The light can be wildly diverse: Greenish from fluorescent lamps, yellow from sodium vapor, warm and saturated from tungsten, almost like daylight though perhaps cooler from LEDs, and occasionally the colors of dusk or the moon.

LED lighting, while wonderfully efficient, is not so wonderful for night photography. Since it mirrors the color balance of daylight so closely it takes away all of those color shadings. Some times it almost makes a night photograph look like day! I made this photograph shortly after I met up with a group of other photographers to walk through this section of San Francisco. At first I was focused in small things — windows, doorways, colorful business signs. As we descended one side street we passed this somewhat nondescript building, but in the nighttime light the interior glowed with an oddly colored light.

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.