Tag Archives: bare

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Central Park, Winter

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Central Park, Winter
Bare trees and an empty plaza on a cold winter day in Central Park

Central Park, Winter. G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare trees and an empty plaza on a cold winter day in Central Park

It was an utterly frigid day in New York City when I made this photograph. This Californian is not really used to such weather, but we gave it a good try, heading out each day on long walks that sometimes lasted many hour despite temperatures around and sometimes lower than 20 degrees. (Some of you are used to that, but a “cold” midday temperature here in near-the-coast Northern California would be in the upper-forties.) Our morning began with an aborted attempt to visit the Guggenheim Museum — we made it there, got in line, stood there gradually getting colder and colder, finally figured out that the line wasn’t actually moving, gave up, and found a warm and cozy place to go eat and drink.

Afterwards we headed out on foot once again, eventually ending up back at Central Park. I’ve been there at different times of the year. In summer there are often many thousands of people in the park — walking, cycling, skating, sitting around, eating, lounging on lawns, and more. There are expansive green lawns and big, leafy trees. In winter those lawns die and the trees lose their leaves. There are people in the park, but only a tiny fraction of the number seen in summer, and most seem to be on their way somewhere else — probably somewhere else warm. But I like the park this time of year. The gray solitude of the place appeals, and the leafless trees permit more of the surrounding urban world to be seen. This little plaza, nearly empty, was along the east side of the park as we gradually worked our way to the lower end of the park.

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: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Stairwell, Winter Shadows

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Stairwell, Winter Shadows
Shadows of bare winter trees on windows in a Metropolitan Museum stairwell.

Stairwell, Winter Shadows. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows of bare winter trees on windows in a Metropolitan Museum stairwell.

This is perhaps a bit of a mind game of a photograph. I’ll explain why in a moment. I made it while visiting the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art on a cold winter day last December. We were there mainly to see the David Hockney exhibit and then, once we realized what it was, the remarkable Michelangelo exhibit nearby. It is also true that we were there on that particular day partly because that was when we happened to be in New York, partly because we wanted to see the exhibits, and partly because it was a freezing cold day! For visitors to New York City in winter, the museums are good options when it is just plain too cold for a lot of outdoor stuff. (Nonetheless, we still did do a lot of walking in this frigid weather.)

This little corner of the museum is at the end of a series of galleries where an open stairway connects several floors together. There are windows, but they are covered with a sort of fabric scrim that allows diffused light to enter, blocks views of the outdoor landscape, but does project the shadows of nearby trees. The bare, winter branches silhouetted on this window and others nearby caught my attention. But the more I looked the more I saw the almost bizarre and perspective-defying combination of lines from the angled wall, the floor and handrail, and more. In the end, this photograph is perhaps of several things, but also about the strange conjunction of their forms.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Tree, Winter Light

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Tree, Winter Light
A bare winter tree and clearing tule fog.

Tree, Winter Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bare winter tree and clearing tule fog.

On Sunday there was ground fog all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and I had a few free hours, so I headed out to see what I could find. I went to a place that is very familiar to me, a local haunt where I have hiked and photographed for decades. I had not been there in perhaps a year, so it was good to reestablish my relationship with the location and note a few changes. The little trip also reminded me that it isn’t necessary to travel long distances to find photographic subjects — quite often a closer look at nearby places will reveal worthy subjects.

The idea here was to arrive before the fog cleared, photograph in the thick fog for a while, and then be ready to photograph the brief transition period as it thinned, a time when brilliant and stunning but ephemeral light may appear. During my short drive to this location the fog remained thick, but just before reaching my destination it began to clear, likely because ground fog doesn’t stick around as long in the hills. As I parked and loaded up a light load (my lightweight trail photography setup) there were still some pockets of fog clinging to the hillsides, but in most places there was instead a sort of haze that glowed when I photographed in the direction of the sun. I’m very fond of this kind of light, so I quickly looked for subjects that I could use to advantage, and I soon found this tree standing on a grassy hillside and silhouetted against the glowing atmosphere beyond.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees

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Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees
Bare aspen tree trunks and branches against a backdrop of a Sierra Nevada rock face

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 9, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare aspen tree trunks and branches against a backdrop of a Sierra Nevada rock face

There are all kinds of ways to photograph aspens, and they can be photographed during virtually any season: winter trees with snow, spring trees with new leaves, summer trees surrounded by wildflowers and grasses, autumn colors, and this wonderful time when the bare trees stand out against the rest of the surrounding terrain. At this latter stage they can be photogenic on their own or they can be set off against backdrops of other trees, rocks, or the fallen leaves littering the ground.

These specific trees have gotten my attention in the past. They grow against a fractured granite backdrop, and they are in a location where I might go to photograph other fall subjects. So when I go to photograph those subjects, I often end up walking past this spot and pausing. While nearby trees still had a lot of colorful leaves, these smaller trees had already dropped almost all of theirs.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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