Tag Archives: black and white

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Gatehouse, Reservoir, and Manhattan Skyline

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Gatehouse, Reservoir, and Manhattan Skyline
“Gatehouse, Reservoir, and Manhattan Skyline” — Manhattan skyline, gatehouse building along the shore of the Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Central Park.

It was the final morning of our November visit to New York City, and we had a few hours to kill before checking out of the hotel and heading to the airport to catch our flight back to the West Coast. What to do? Given that Central Park was only a few blocks to the east, the answer seemed clear — take a (semi-random) walk! We headed to the park, where the fall colors were still on display, and gradually worked our way north(-ish) toward the reservoir. The photograph features one of the gatehouse buildings along the upper shoreline.

The bit of skyline visible on the right features a few of the super narrow buildings that are appearing in Manhattan. They are somewhat controversial, and there’s plenty to dislike about them. On the other hand, if you imagine this photograph without them and their reflections… you have to admit that in this case they are visually interesting.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Storm Clouds, Trees in Silhouette

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Storm Clouds, Trees in Silhouette
East slope Sierra Nevada trees silhouetted against clouds and rain of a passing autumn storm.

Storm Clouds, Trees in Silhouette. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

East slope Sierra Nevada trees silhouetted against clouds and rain of a passing autumn storm.

This is the wonderful sort of weather that wasn’t in the forecast and which catches you by surprise. It had been a sunny day with just a few clouds floating around when this cell appeared to the east of the Sierra crest. I hadn’t really been paying attention to it until I stopped here and looked toward basin and range country to see streamers of virga (rain that doesn’t reach the ground) falling from the building clouds.

It was late in the day when I made this photograph. The sun was at my back as I looked east, and long shadows from Sierra crest peaks were already falling across my position and these nearby trees. I was in this spot mostly to photograph aspen trees, but this panorama of desert mountain terrain beyond the east slope of the Sierra was arresting.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hudson Yards Towers

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Hudson Yards Towers
A cluster of tall urban towers at the Hudson Yards complex, Manhattan.

Hudson Yards Towers. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A cluster of tall urban towers at the Hudson Yards complex, Manhattan.

There is a phenomenal range of photographic subjects in New York City: the natural scenes in Central Park, street life, and architecture old and new. For reasons relating to the season, our location in Manhattan, and more I ended up making quite a few “natural landscape” images in Central Park. But we did spend time elsewhere, too, including on a long walk that took us through the Hudson Yards development. My feelings about the place are complicated, for reasons I won’t go into here, but it does present some interesting architectural forms, including these buildings with reflecting glass surfaces.

I went with black and white in this rendition since I was more interested in the shapes and lines than in presenting of the supposed reality of the place. (The underlying image is full of blue tones and has much less contrast.) I’ve long been fascinated by how malleable monochrome images are in post — we can push and pull them in all sorts of ways that would be far too extreme in most cases with color.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

11th Avenue

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11th Avenue
Late-autumn street scene along 11th Avenue, Manhattan.

11th Avenue. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Late-autumn street scene along 11th Avenue, Manhattan.

Many areas of older American cities take on a timeless quality when photographed in black and white. Unless you look closely — see, for example, the vehicles in this scene or some of the markings on the asphalt — it is hard to tell whether the photograph was made in the last week, last decade, or last century. A scene like this one hasn’t really changed that much in a very long time.

I made the photograph while walking along the elevated High Line Park. I have visited this “place” many times, going back to shortly after it opened. (This park is built along an old elevated railway, so it is very long and very narrow.) These days it runs from the new Whitney Museum all the way up to and partially around the Hudson Yards. The elevated rail bed provides fascinating views of the city that are hard to find anywhere else. Here I photographed from a section of the park that crosses 11th Avenue.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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