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

Upper West Side

Image November 8, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Steps leading to residences on the Upper West Side, Manhattan

Recently I’ve been sharing a steady stream of landscape photographs, most of which came from trips to photograph fall color on the east and west coasts. We were in the East twice in recent months, and both times took us to somewhat more rural areas of New England — southern Vermont in August and New Hampshire (and a bit more Vermont) in October. But both times we include some time in New York City. That lengthy introduction is all by way of warning you that there’s some Manhattan urban and street photography coming up!

I start gently with this photograph, one that you might even think of as a sort of “urban landscape.” We often stay at a place on the Upper West Side, a bit west of the Natural History Museum, since it is outside of the busiest parts of Manhattan, provides good subway access, and is closer to some folks in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. We walk a lot while we’re there, and I photographed these steps in the neighborhood on one of those walks. The line-up of the steps intrigues me, but I also like the unusual palette of colors.

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.

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

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Evening, Near Franconia

Image November 7, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light comes to a broad valley near Franconia, New Hampshire.

This photograph resulted from more than a little serendipity. Earlier we had gone to photograph a nearby area that was on our list of places to see. That led to a detour up a few side roads, all of which took a bit more time than we anticipated. We finished there and moved on, but it was clear that evening was coming soon, and it made sense to find a nearby area to photograph rather than racing to a more distant location.

At about that time we spotted another side road with a sign suggesting a trailhead and a view — so we took it and ended up at a parking lot at the end of the short road. The colors in the area were spectacular, but the light wasn’t yet quite what we had in mind, so we wandered down the trail a bit. Soon I spotted the little bed of white flowers in the dry meadow, and as I thought about how to photograph it I wondered if I could include it and a view of the broad valley beyond. It turned out that there was one camera position that would work, and this is the result, a photograph made just as the light was beginning to suggest evening.

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

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

Flag Vendor, Manhattan

Image November 6, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph comes from a midday walk in the vast and vibrant cultural smorgasbord that is New York City. There was a time when I imagined that this place would not interest this landscape photography guy from California. But I was very, very wrong. I love New York City, in part because of the contrast with other places I know. But it is simply a place with no end of things to see, places to eat, stuff to do, spots to hang out, cultures to experience.. On this October morning we left our Upper West Side hotel, crossed Central Park to the Upper East Side, then wandered south until we encountered a Columbus Day Parade, where I photographed this sidewalk vendor.

I’m often surprised and discouraged to encounter Americans who are fearful to the point or irrationality that they might encounter someone not quite like themselves, and that this might endanger them. So often, it seems, the most fearful people have the least experience around the “others” they fear. I’ve also visited some of the locations with high percentages of Americans who fear immigrants and people of color… and for the most part they are places where the likelihood of actually encountering those folks is low to nearly nonexistent. Why is it that the most fearful people are in those places, while in places where multicultural America is at its most diverse and vibrant this is largely not the case?

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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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Morning, White Mountains

Image November 5, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful autumn forest in morning light, White Mountains, New Hampshire.

I made this photograph on what I came to regard as the actual day of peak color in this part of the White Mountains. Here and nearby, the colors were noticeably more intense and widespread than the previous day, and one day later when some weather came through trees were dropping leaves and more bare branches were appearing. This photograph exemplifies an approach that I often like — using a longer focal length lens to isolate a small section of the overall landscape. Here I wanted to focus on the juxtaposition of the foreground trees and hill with the more distant pattern of the ascending gully.

Another aspect of this photograph is, I came to learn, typical of a lot of White Mountains autumn photography. It is often a challenge to get unobstructed access to longer and wider views of the landscape, partially because the forest are so dense and close-in, and partially because roads here tend to be designed without shoulders and with few places to pull over. Consequently, any place that does have a wider view seems precious. Here there was a small turn-out along the road, and if I put my camera in just the right spot I could manage to photograph between and over the nearer brush and trees… and obtain one of those long views.

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

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Upper West Side

Autumn Evening, Near Franconia

Flag Vendor, Manhattan

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)Cancel reply

Autumn Morning, White Mountains

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.