Category Archives: Photographs: Structures and Objects

Four Pink Doors, Mission District

Four Pink Doors, Mission District
Four Pink Doors, Mission District

Four Pink Doors, Mission District. San Francisco, California. February 20, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four pink apartment doors with steps and white columns in the Mission District, San Francisco, California.

Walking in an area like the Mission District, I begin to see many things that would otherwise completely escape my notice. Although I’m sure I’ve seen them before, I recently became away of the prevalence of these building entrances with rows of four nearly identical doorways – this must have been some sort of common building design in San Francisco at some point. Here, as is also fairly common, the colors chosen for the paint were a bit unusual.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 35mm f/2.0
ISO 400, f/11, 1/100 second

keywords: the, mission, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, city, columns, railing, fence, siding, steps, stairs, pink, blue, white, doors, sidewalk, street, weeds, district, old, worn, wooden, glass, windows, stock

Sunlit Wall with Textured Glass

Sunlit Wall with Textured Glass
Sunlit Wall with Textured Glass

Sunlit Wall with Textured Glass. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a sunlit wall with textured glass windows along a street in San Francisco, California.

Yet another of the “it is sort of street photography and sort of urban landscape” photographs, this one made on a walking loop that took me through a good part of downtown San Francisco, and finally through the Tenderloin to the Civic Center. I made several photographs of the obscure glass windows of this street-level window along the sidewalk. In this one I wanted to work with the converging lines of the window frame and the vertical lines of the bits of wall between the windows.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/200 second

(Note: This was accidentally posted a day earlier along with another photograph. Reposting it today puts the block back on schedule.)

keywords: black and white, monochrome, perspective, converge, lines, frame, window, pane, textured, obscured, sticker, worn, distressed, bright, sunlit, sunlight, light, shadow, shape, structure, architecture, concrete, wall, ground, sidewalk, street, urban, city, downtown, san francisco, california, usa, north america, abstract, form, stock

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows
Concrete Building and Reflective Windows

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tall concrete building covered with reflective windows, San Francisco, California.

This photograph is an urban landscape made in the darkened canyons of streets not far from Union Square in downtown San Francisco, California. The crazy perspective angles and lines caught my attention as I walked along this street, as did the contrasting blue of reflected sky and other strange colors, shapes, and textures reflected in the many windows in this scene.

There is a bit of an optical illusion effect in this image. I don’t know if others see it the same way, but to me the lower left section of the photograph almost seems to drop down as if the margin is narrower on that side. But it isn’t, and I think the effect is produced by the crazy angles confusing my sense of perspective.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/60 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, downtown, union square, street, urban, city, architecture, structure, window, reflection, glass, light, concrete, cement, building, columns, perspective, lines, converge, stock

Windows and Reflections, Union Square

Windows and Reflections, Union Square
Windows and Reflections, Union Square

Windows and Reflections, Union Square. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections and other subjects in a wall of windows at the Macys’ store, Union Square, San Francisco.

While busy trying to see closer “street” subjects – usually quite a few here – in San Francisco’s Union Square on a Saturday afternoon I looked up and saw these absolutely wild reflections in the wall of windows of this downtown Macy’s store. If you just glance at the image you see the front of a store covered with lots of windows. However, if you start looking more closely – especially at a large print – you begin to see an astonishing and almost hallucinogenic level of strange details. A few “normal” people appear faintly in some windows – in one a person sits at a table and is perhaps reading or eating. In the middle row of windows you can see hot pink pants, some strange fluorescent green item… and the reflected point of the Transamerica Tower. Along the sides bizarrely warped forms of reflected building windows appear.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/250 second

keywords: san francisco, union square, macy’s, department, store, california, usa, north america, shop, windows, curved, reflection, people, building, architecture, structure, pattern, abstract, merchandise, restaurant, sign, people, distort, warp, downtown, urban, city, street, transamerica, tower, wall, stock