Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Snow, Ridgewood

January 15, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A snowy morning in the Ridgewood area of Queens, New York

For years, at least since our sons started moving there, we have visited New York City. People who know the place will likely note that we must be nuts for scheduling most visit for near the end of December or, wait for it, in August. (If you have been to New York City in August, you understand how unwise it is to go there once that time of year, and how crazy it is to voluntarily repeat the original blunder. ;-) Truth be told, while August still isn’t impressing us as a wonderful time to go, we actually do like going during the winter. The cold seems like a welcome change for these San Francisco Bay Area Californians, and there is quite a lot to see there at this time of year.

However, we usually miss out on snow, the one factor that would really make it feel like the winter we don’t experience at home. We have been snowed on there during our end-of-year visits, but typically no more than a trace, if that. I’m told that real snow is likely to arrive a few weeks later. This year we got our wish, as it were. We had a full week of terribly cold conditions, and on our last day there it finally did snow — not a lot, but enough. I made this photograph as we left an elevated subway (I know, oxymoron!) in the Ridgewood area, where we were able to look out over the urban environment and see snow-topped roofs fading into the distance.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese Take Flight

January 14, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Ross’s geese take flight into California winter sky

I have learned a lot from photographing birds — a lot about my own interests, a lot about the mechanics of photography, a lot about developing instincts, a lot about the birds, and a lot about what I/we can and cannot control in the making of photographs. The relative contributions of things including skill, persistence, equipment, vision, knowledge, and luck is a subject of much interest and something that I’m still working out. Clearly a photograph of a goose, filling the frame as it rises abruptly into the sky, does require some skill and some equipment. (I think vision is important, too, though it is hard to have a conscious vision in the fractions of a second during which such things occur.) Just as clearly, there are many things in such a photograph that the photographer cannot control, and plain old luck is very much an important elements. Over all of this is the need to be there a lot, since skill and vision and opportunity are all increased by practice.

I photograph this subject fairly often, traveling to areas where such subjects are found every winter. Sometimes nothing much happens — the light is poor, the birds are somewhere else, I’m looking in the wrong direction. But the more I’m in the field the more likely that I’ll encounter a situation that is special and the more likely I’ll be ready to do something useful with it. This was one of those lucky moments. In a place where the birds are all too often at a distance, I found them settled in nearby. I remained in my vehicle, with the camera on my lap, as I crept up very, very slowly. (At times I might have moved only a few inches in a minute.) Any time I sensed the birds going on alert I simply paused and waited. Eventually I was closer to them than I have ever gotten before in the wild, and they took less and less apparent notice of my presence. As always happens, eventually the flock took off, mere feet from my position, and I was able to make a few quick photographs of the event from a very close perspective.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Friendly Pizza

January 13, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bright red pizza shop on a cold winter day in Manhattan

This was one among a string of very cold days in New York City between Christmas and New Years Day. The light was “gray” (though, objectively speaking, “blue” might be a more accurate description) as a result of this weather and of being in the urban canyons of Manhattan. The streets of Manhattan are often very busy and there is a lot to see, but in many areas the actual appearance of the streets is pretty much all business. Aside from those exceptions — some parks and stores, for example — much of the street/sidewalk scene is more about practical than aesthetics. On a cold day this seemed especially true, except that on such a day the contrast with a shop like this one, with its bright red and yellow colors and bright lights, was perhaps stronger than usual.

I sometimes struggle a bit to explain what I “see” when making my street photographs — I know what I’m after but it isn’t easy to put into words. However, I think this photograph does include some of the elements. I see the street as a kind of urban landscape, where the size and color and relatives shapes of things matters. I’m also intrigued by shops, especially when something makes them stand out. (Here it is the color and the corner location.) Perhaps even more important, I’m always on the look out for fleeting human tableaux that form and are gone — here with the fellow striding purposefully toward the shop entrance, the slow-moving man with the wheeled suitcase, and the woman in the winter coat.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Dusk, Pond, and Tree

January 12, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese take off over pond and tree at dusk

This day in the wetlands was something of a surprise. When I arrived before dawn, the light was dreary, with a shield of clouds from a passing cold front hiding the sky and the sun, with the exception of a very narrow band along part of the eastern horizon. There was little photograph in this light, but before long the sun rose though that gap and provided perhaps ten minutes of beautiful light… and then that show was over and the flat light returned. All morning long it remained cloudy, though that band of open sky in the east gradually expanded and worked its way toward my position.

Just past midday I finally took a break and left to grab a bite to eat. An hour later I was back, and now the clouds above this area were breaking up and the light was starting to be interesting. By evening most of the sky was clear, though the air remained hazy — not unusual for this part of the world in winter. I looked around for the birds that I wanted to photograph, but wasn’t finding any large flocks. Finally I made it back to where I started… just as geese began to fly out from their resting place in nearby ponds. I put a long lens on the camera and continued photographing well past sunset, as the sky darkened and waves of birds continued to fly away. In the end, this day was a reminder that sometimes finding beautiful conditions requires facing some less exciting light… and being persistent and patient.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Snow, Ridgewood

Geese Take Flight

Friendly Pizza

Geese, Dusk, Pond, and Tree

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