Tag Archives: bank

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Travel

Bay Bridge, Morning Fog

Image August 31, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, with morning fog bank above Treasure Island.

On the day I made this photograph I headed up to San Francisco to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where a special Andy Warhol exhibit is soon coming to a close. I’m close enough to San Francisco that I can take the train up for these visits, and that also affords me the time to do some walking around in this city, which of course involves photography. Because I had a specific schedule for the MOMA exhibit, I took a familiar walking path along the Bay waterfront to the Ferry Building before turning inland to get to the Museum.

The early morning light along the bay is often special — the atmosphere often glows in the backlight. Somewhat to my surprise, given the recent warm temperatures, there was a fog bank out in the bay, laying across Treasure Island. I paused at this familiar spot to photograph the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge near where it comes ashore, and the very bright sky and fog created a dramatic silhouette.

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: France, Photographs: Travel

Moored Boats, Seine River

Image January 9, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Boats moored along the banks of the Seine River, Paris

Our hotel in Paris this past summer was not far from the Cathedral of Notre Dame — perhaps a five minute walk away — and we crossed the Seine in this area quite a few times during our stay. Most often this was an incredibly busy area, with crowds created by the constriction of river-crossing bridges and the many areas of interest to visitors.

As we crossed we often had interesting views of the river and the nearby city. From the ideal locations one can look up or down the river, past a series of bridges lined up one after the other. In many places a walkway, here including a few parked car, runs along the banks of the river midway between the water and the main streets up above. Interesting and colorful boats were moored here, too.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Image November 30, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

The Austrian Postal Savings Bank in Vienna is an astonishing bit of modernist architecture. There is a lot of see in Austria, and for various reasons this didn’t make it onto many of the lists we consulted. However, close to the end of our 2018 visit we got a recommendation to visit this place, which turned out to not be all that far from where we were staying.

The building, both historically and architecturally, is a fascinating place. My understanding is that the Austrian Postal Savings Bank was a sort of revolutionary extension of banking services to working people in Austria, to encourage them to develop savings habits even though the amounts they were likely to deposit paled next to what the wealthy had to work with . This particular building is also a beautiful example of modernist architecture of the early 20th century. The photograph looks straight up from the floor of the main room in the building, a large open space surrounded by service windows/desks. This skylight is simple but very big, and it produces absolutely lovely interior light.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections

Image November 19, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A rocky peninsula, an alpine lake, reflections of the headwall in evening light

In high places like this, where cirque walls tower over alpine lakes and block the light early and late in the day, evening quiet can come early. I had been walking to this spot almost daily for several days to try to make a photograph of a particular group of trees that caught the last sunlight in the late afternoon. On this day my timing was (finally!) right, and after I made that photograph I turned my attention to the rest of the scene, which was now in shadow.

To my left a small rocky peninsula pushed out into the lake near its outlet stream and supported a few trees and small plants that could gain a foothold it its cracks. Across the lake piles of talus lay at the bottom of the solid rock face of the valley’s headwall, where one snow patch remained, reflected in the quiet surface of the lake. That surface also reflected the rest of the face, including parts so high that they are not in direct view. The entire scene was illuminated by the soft blue light coming from the open sky above and behind me.