Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Barber and His Shop

May 31, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A barber takes a break on the steps of his shop, London

We spent a few late afternoon and early evening hours wandering around this area of narrow streets and small shops, killing time before a scheduled evening event. It was a warm evening, and this fellow was sitting on the steps in the doorway of his shop, probably getting a bit of fresh air, when we walked past.

From time to time I’ve read about people with some strict “rules” about what street photography is and is not. They often involve the equipment used, a preference for black and white, a challenge to get in the faces of subjects, and the desire to produce a certain “raw” look. There is nothing wrong with any of that, but I have my own notions about street photography — what it can look like, how it can be done, and even the boundaries around the subjects that qualify as street. It can be and up close, black and white image of a person doing more or less nothing special. But it can also be an urban landscape in which the wildlife is human. It can be in color. People do not necessarily have to be included. It can be produced in a slow and methodical manner or spontaneously while in motion. To make this photograph – notice the very low camera position — I held the camera down at my side and “shot blind” as we walked past.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Summer, Sierra River

May 30, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Tuolumne river flows past forest and granite outcroppings on a summer afternoon.

This is a sort of “Sierra dreaming” photograph — a scene from last summer, of the sort that I’m looking forward to experiencing again this coming season. It is also a bit of a distraction from the fact that circumstances (nothing bad, just busy-ness and a deadline) have kept me away from the Sierra recently and will probably do so for another month of so. (Though I am sure that this particular spot, photographed in mid-July during a drought year, may look quite a bit different on that date this year!)

Many Sierra Nevada photographs focus on the monumental and spectacular — and for good reason. There are plenty of spectacular and monumental things in the range! But after many decades of wandering around these mountains I find that more and more it is more subtle features that define the experience for me and which draw me back again. This season I have started to see the reports of those venturing very early into the back-country, and each time I see another photograph of a bit of rocky trail, a path through forest, or a fast-flowing creek, it brings back my own memories of many such places — memories that go beyond the mere visual qualities to include sounds of water and rock, the fragrance of the trees, and the feeling of the breeze. Humor me with this somewhat unspectacular photograph of a place that isn’t special enough to be named — it, too, brings back almost all of those associations!

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

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Scene, Child, Window Reflection

May 29, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A child appears to yell at a reflective window in front of a London street scene

This is one of those “either you get it or you don’t get it” photographs. We were in London for a bit more than a week, as part of a five-week period on the road through places including New York, London, Paris, Germany, and Italy. I know that not every “landscape photographer” feels the same way, but I love photographing the streets and people when I’m in places like this. In some ways it is a sort of counter to what I more typically do — I can work handheld rather than with a tripod, I tend to carry minimal equipment, and photographing “the street” often compels me to work quickly and instinctively.

We were out walking somewhere in London — I’ve forgotten the exact context — and we ended up on this busy street full of pedestrians. There is a lot to think about and to see in this photograph, at least in my view. The sky blue color figures prominently in many places within the frame. The carefree girl walking toward her reflection is the center of the scene for me, but behind we also see a couple and an older woman walking away.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tourists, Evening, San Francisco Bay

May 28, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tourists pause in the evening at the end of a pier on San Francisco Bay

I was in San Francisco to meet up with a group of fellow (mostly) street photographers, first for dinner along the fringe of Chinatown and then out to make photographs afterwards. We finished dinner and headed out before sunset, beginning by photographing in the long shadows cast by early evening light in the downtown canyons. Since many in the group wanted to photograph the waterfront we headed that direction. I was geared up more for night street photography — typically done handheld rather than with the tripod I might choose to use for architectural or urban landscape photography — but I hung in with the group anyway.

At the waterfront, after wandering in and around some buildings, the group was of a collective mind to head out on one of the pedestrian piers that juts out into the Bay. Again, this was a bit different from what I had in mind, but there is no denying the attractions of being out over the surface of the Bay as the evening comes on and things quiet down. I photographed some fishermen, a few passing boats, bridges, and back towards the urban waterfront buildings.Eventually, as it became quite a bit darker, I took a moment to photograph a small group of what I assume must have been friends, sitting out near the end of the pier and conversing in the fading light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Barber and His Shop

Summer, Sierra River

Street Scene, Child, Window Reflection

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