Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

“L” Station Entrance, Chicago

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"L" Station Entrance, Chicago
“‘L’ Station Entrance, Chicago” — Entrance to a Chicago “L” transit system station.

We spent a few days in Chicago just before last Thanksgiving. You may wonder why a couple of Californians would choose to leave their 70 degree climate and travel the frigid Chicago at that time of year. It is a long story — but we enjoyed our visit and had a great time. No, it did not snow. Yes, it was cloudy and gray most of the time, but when the sun did peak through the clouds the light was beautiful.

We spent most of our visit within the confines of the downtown “loop” area, walking to all of the places we wanted to visit — Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Magnificent Mile, the Symphony and the Opera. By walking we got up close and personal with this urban city, including some distinctly non-tourist attractions like this entrance to the subway system.

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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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Equipment, Technique

IBIS Does Not Replace Your Tripod

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Recently I have heard some photographers suggest that IBIS-equipped cameras have made tripods obsolete. IBIS is a fine thing, but that overstates the case.

Photographer Patricia Mitchell
“Photographer Patricia Mitchell” — Photographer Patricia Mitchell at work in early morning autumn light in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Contemporary cameras incorporate remarkable advances in camera and lens image stabilization. Some newer cameras with IBIS (In-camera Image stabilization) claim to extend the useful range of shutter speeds for handheld photography by as much as seven stops.

IBIS can be very useful for photographers who shoot handheld. I do urban night street photography using a handheld, IBIS-equipped camera that supports high ISOs — and I can capture subjects that would have been just about impossible to photograph a few decades ago.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Mountains, Sky, and Water

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Mountains, Sky, and Water
“Mountains, Sky, and Water” — Desert mountains and hazy light above Lake Manly, Death Valley.

Many of my Lake Manly photographs look out into Badwater Basin, across the lake, and towards the Panamint Range rising in the west. For this photograph I found a camera position a bit north of the “usual spot” and pointed the camera south to including the sequence of desert mountain slopes beyond the lake. This view includes the interrupted reflections of those slopes along with salt flats along the edge of the lake.

This photograph is related to another I shared recently that also featured layers of desert mountains extending into the far distance. Both feature “atmospheric recession,” in which haze lightens more distant features and obscures their details. In addition to elements such as converging perspective lines, this effect also can suggest depth and distance.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Kosovo, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Peja Signs

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Peja Signs
“Peja Signs” — An eclectic selection of advertisements, business signs, and stencils on wall in Peja, Kosovo.

There’s perhaps more going on in this photograph than meets the eye. Some elements didn’t fully register when I made the exposure, and in all likelihood there are more that I don’t yet understand. The photograph is from the Kosovo town of Peja, and “Birra Peja” is reportedly made from the water of the White Drin River, an important element of the Kosovo landscape with its source in the mountains just outside town.

The first thing that I noticed was the stenciled blue text on the white wall, along with the (hard to see) red stencil of a person whom I presume to be a Kosovo political figure of some sort. (The English text says “WHO ARE WE?!”) But the red signs, near and far, were also obviously part of the attraction of the scene, as were the particular products: the beer, a drink called “GO+,” and the smaller “Prima Pizza” sign. I’ll leave readers and viewers to ponder what else might be there.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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