Tag Archives: aqua

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

Doorway 776

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Doorway 776
A colorful doorway in San Francisco’s Chinatown district.

Doorway 776. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A colorful doorway in San Francisco’s Chinatown district.

For the most part, the fronts of buildings in dense urban areas like San Francisco are not generally beautiful. As I photograph in such places I feel like the insides of such buildings may be interesting and feel like home, but that the outsides are often left in a more utilitarian state, with little attention to beautification or personalization. I see this in San Francisco, but I also see it in other major American urban areas and even in other countries that I’ve visited.

All of that makes the occasional exceptions even more notable. I’ve gotten to know a few of them found here and there in San Francisco areas that might be regarded as a bit “gritty.” This wildly colorful front entrance is on a Chinatown side street, not far from the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest streets.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Subalpine Lake, Late Afternoon Light

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Subalpine Lake, Late Afternoon Light
Late afternoon light on a rocky peninsula on a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

Subalpine Lake, Late Afternoon Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon light on a rocky peninsula on a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

This is a photograph that required a bit of persistence! During our September stay in the Eastern Sierra Nevada backcountry, I first walked up to this lake several days before I made this photograph. When I arrived for the first time I made a guess as to where I might find a photograph, but the guess was wrong! As the light faded I tried a different spot, and I found a good one, but I missed the best light. I made a mental note to come back, and even noted the specific spot to be in. A day or two later I headed back in that direction late in the day, with plenty of time to get there before the good light arrived… but then I got distracted by some other attraction, spent too much time on it, and arrived at this lake — you guessed it! — about three minutes too late! However, I did have a bit more time to consider the location and timing of the shot I had it mind.

I went back one more time, and this third time was almost not a charm. I got there plenty early and found my spot well before the good light… and discovered a woman set on fishing from the lovely rocks on the peninsula in the center of the photograph! Since I was early I decided to wait quietly and not try to convince her to get out of my shot, but I did explain what I was there for. I waited. She continued to fish. I began the internal debate about just how aggressive I should be about trying to get the shot. I think she figured out that I really wanted this photograph, since about five minutes before I made it she moved on to another spot on the other side of the rock. (She continued to fish, and I had to time my exposures between her casts, when sent line right into the water beyond the rocks.) In the end my persistence paid off, and I got a photograph that I like — to me it seems to capture that lovely late-day, late-summer light in the high country, and it even includes some really lovely color in the water. I finished the photography here… and had time left over for a short hike to the top of a nearby pass before the light faded.

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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” 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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Windows, Davies Symphony Hall

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Windows, Davies Symphony Hall - Upper story windows on the curved facade of Davies Symphony Hall reflect the forms of nearby buildings, San Francisco.
Upper story windows on the curved facade of Davies Symphony Hall reflect the forms of nearby buildings, San Francisco.

Windows, Davies Symphony Hall. San Francisco, California. June 29, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Upper story windows on the curved facade of Davies Symphony Hall reflect the forms of nearby buildings, San Francisco.

This is another of the “opera house” photographs made within or from the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco during last summer’s San Francisco Opera performance of Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle. Even though (or perhaps “especially because?”) I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I virtually always have a camera with me when I go to The City – sometimes even for musical performances. Because it was June and the sun was setting late, and because the very long performance that night was to start at 7:00 p.m., there was still plenty of light before the performance to make photographs inside the Opera House and from its windows.

Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony, is directly across the street from the opera house, and each building’s upper floors provide a good view of the other building. For this photograph I snapped on a longer lens – yes, I’m pathetic enough to show up at an opera performance with more than one lens in my bag! – and was able to compose a tighter image of the curving upper floor windows of Davies Hall.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Psychedelic San Francisco Doorways

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Psychedelic San Francisco Doorways

Psychedelic San Francisco Doorways. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pair of very brightly painted yet terribly dilapidated doorways near the border of Chinatown and North Beach, San Francisco, California.

A question: If you are wandering about in The City (or the city ;-)  and carrying a camera, how can you not photograph something like this?

These wildly painted yet badly dilapidated doors are on a relatively nondescript street more or less along the boundary between Chinatown and North Beach.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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