Category Archives: Photographs: Structures and Objects

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Window

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Blue Window
A blue window and a reflective wall, Manhattan

Blue Window. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue window and a reflective wall, Manhattan

The circumstances of making this photograph are a bit… unusual. We had the opportunity to enter a building in Manhattan that probably not too many people visit. (I’ll keep the identity anonymous for now. Don’t worry, nothing conspiratorial or anything…) It is an old structure not too far from Grand Central Station. Of course, I had my camera with me, and I took the opportunity to photograph some of the classic architectural features inside. At one point I, uh, had to visit a “very small room” in the building for a moment. This very small room was illuminated by the quite blue light coming from outside. So, naturally, I had to make a photograph. Yes, I was the only person in “the very small room.”

There are lots of ways to look at a photograph like this one, and it could be “about” any of several things. It is about blue, transmitted through glass, reflected on walls, and fading from light to dark. It is about texture — of “obscured glass,” of painted wall, and of reflective tile. I enjoy defocusing from the literal scene and letting the the actual windows and their reflection combine into a larger shape, and create an imagined virtual object on the wall.

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: Structures and Objects

Brick Wall And Tree, Night

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Brick Wall And Tree, Night. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. DescriptionNight photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall. Believe it or not, this emerged from a foray to make Christmas photographs. We made arrangements to visit a local place that has an old mansion, extensive grounds, and remarkable gardens, all decorated for the holiday season. We timed our visit for right around sunset so that we would have a variety of conditions for photographing Christmas lights and the background building and gardens. In fact, I did make some more traditional seasonal photographs — people illuminated by Christmas lights and similar. But then I saw this wall with the twisted and gnarled tree growing along its surface, illuminated by a few bare bulbs overhead — and I went into the more traditional night photographer mode. Photographing at night often profoundly transforms the mood of a subject, and that is certainly true in this case. In the daytime you might think of this as a lovely old, weathered wall with a tree. But to my eyes, at night it takes on a darker and possibly even ominous character. 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.
Night photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall.

Brick Wall And Tree, Night. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall.

Believe it or not, this emerged from a foray to make Christmas photographs. We made arrangements to visit a local place that has an old mansion, extensive grounds, and remarkable gardens, all decorated for the holiday season. We timed our visit for right around sunset so that we would have a variety of conditions for photographing Christmas lights and the background building and gardens. In fact, I did make some more traditional seasonal photographs — people illuminated by Christmas lights and similar.

But then I saw this wall with the twisted and gnarled tree growing along its surface, illuminated by a few bare bulbs overhead — and I went into the more traditional night photographer mode. Photographing at night often profoundly transforms the mood of a subject, and that is certainly true in this case. In the daytime you might think of this as a lovely old, weathered wall with a tree. But to my eyes, at night it takes on a darker and possibly even ominous character.

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.

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: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Urban Geometry

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Urban Geometry
A woman walks past a building with a display under construction.

Urban Geometry. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman walks past a building with a display under construction.

One element of the urban/street world that fascinates me is the juxtaposition of “perfect” structures — geometric patterns, shiny metal, highly designed forms — with the imperfect and always-deteriorating nature of this world — peeling paint, dirty sidewalks, constant construction and reconstruction, accumulated dirt, and so forth. Long ago the fact that urban structures fell short of the theoretical perfection offered in architectural drawings bothered me, but now I find it fascinating.

This is an example of one of those little scenes that always seem to catch my eye. The facade fo this building is, from one perspective, quite boring, even though its patterned wall and metal lights depart from typical (and often rather plain) urban surfaces. But notice some interesting things about it. For example, because the sidewalk and street are inclined, the designer was faced with a question: align the metal form beneath the windows with the sidewalk or align them with one another? And if you align with the sidewalk — as is done here — what do you do about the size of the windows and about their alignment? (The sizes were kept the same, leaving the lower bank out of alignment… but they are “corrected” in the second level!) Beyond that, the contrast with the op-art nature of the under-construction window dressing is fascinating. I waited for a passer-by to enter the scene before making the exposure.

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Central Valley Silo, Detail

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Central Valley Silo, Detail
Close-up view of a California Central Valley silo

Central Valley Silo, Detail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Close-up view of a California Central Valley silo.

My acquaintance with this location goes back to an important day a number of years ago — the first time I went out to seriously photograph California migratory birds. Earlier that week I had a chance encounter with a colleague in the coffee cart line at my college, and she happened to mention a California Central Valley location where sandhill cranes congregate. It really hadn’t crossed my mind to photograph birds — I was most definitely not the birder type — but based on nothing more than her mention of this place I headed out a few days later… and was entranced by what I found. (My ignorance of birds was impressive at that point. For example, only later did I realize that I had photographed a beautiful flock of tundra swans overhead. I probably thought that they were just more geese!)

On that visit I did something that has become a standard part of my bird photography forays — I photographed other subjects! Heading down a narrow country road through agricultural country I came upon flooded rice (I think!) fields next to a group of silos, and I made a few photographs of the two subjects juxtaposed. This close-up photograph features the same silos I photographed on that first visit to “bird country.”

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.

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