Category Archives: Photographs: San Francisco

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

In The Urban Canyon

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In The Urban Canyon
A wall of tall buildings in downtown San Francisco.

In The Urban Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall of tall buildings in downtown San Francisco.

Keeping with the “canyon” theme of so many recent posts — but with an entirely different sort of canyon — this is a photograph from downtown San Francisco that I made on one of my regular walks through the City. You could find this scene if you walked down the central Market Street that connects the center of the City with the Ferry Terminal.

I have previously written about how I can connect the ways I photograph the wild landscape to how I see the urban landscape. One of the most direct relationships might be between the deep and narrow canyons of Southern Utah and these deep and narrow canyons in urban downtown areas. In both cases, there is not that much direct light in the lowest levels aside from the middle of the day or when the sun aligns with the length of the canyon. Consequently, understanding reflected light is very important in these places.( In addition to the usual diffused light in the depths of wilderness canyons, the urban versions often feature direct reflections from windows, which can sometimes light a subject from more than one angle.)

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

Spring in the Urban Forest

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Spring in the Urban Forest
A tree with new spring growth in downtown San Francisco.

Spring in the Urban Forest. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree with new spring growth in downtown San Francisco.

Here is another momentary detour away from the natural world and to the urban landscape, this time in San Francisco. I made the photograph on a spring day when I found branches with new leaves along this highly urban street, a place where it is possible to frame a photograph so that every single element is constructed by humans. But even here, spring cannot be held back.

These metal, concrete, and glass canyons are a landscape just as much as any red rock or granite canyon. It is possible to apply the same ways of seeing (at least to some extent) to both sorts of subjects. One of the features on this scene that always seems remarkable to me is the reflections. The largest area of what you “see” in the photograph does not consist of the actual objects in the frame, but rather of the ephemeral reflections of other objects on their surfaces.

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

Urban Forest Spring

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Urban Forest Spring
Spring leaves on a tree in front of San Francisco’s One Front Street building.

Urban Forest Spring. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring leaves on a tree in front of San Francisco’s One Front Street building.

Today’s photograph temporarily climbs out of the sandstone valleys and slot canyons of Utah to enter a different kind of canyon in the urban landscape. This striking building is found in downtown San Francisco, and I’ve photographed it quite a few times during my street photography walks in The City. Unfortunately, those are on hold right now due to the lock-down, so I mined this one from my old raw file collection.

While I don’t approach photographing the natural landscape and the city in exactly the same way, there are more connections than might seem to be the case at first. I look for shape and line in both cases, and I consider how things are juxtaposed in both landscapes. And here, as in essentially photography, light is a key factor. One thing that is a bit more present in urban photography — and which is a source of interest to me — is the way that reflections play into the compositions.

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.

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

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

Made of Sky

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Made of Sky
Reflections in the windows of the One Front Street Building, San Francisco.

Made of Sky. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections in the windows of the One Front Street Building, San Francisco.

Perhaps a decade ago I noticed that urban walkers, especially those from out of town, were adopting a new posture on big city streets. Many tended to walk along with heads forward and angled down, staring intently at smartphones, either reading messages or perhaps trying to navigate using the phone’s map application. In a previous era the popular image of the out-of-town visitor to the “big city” was that of someone walking along a sidewalk, oblivious to other walkers, and staring upwards toward the tops of the tall buildings. I have a phone. I use it. But I still gaze upwards.

I have photographed this building quite a few times during my San Francisco Walks. It is an interesting building in general, but if you get up close the “open books” (climbers term…) of glass produce remarkable patterns of overlapping reflected patterns, all colored blue by the sky. To make this photograph I got about as close to the building as I could while still including some lower floors and the top of the building.

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.