Tag Archives: black and white

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Between The Curves

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Between The Curves
“Between The Curves” — Two large freeway overpasses cut through downtown San Francisco.

San Francisco is not far from where I live — less than an hour’s drive in good traffic (and three times that in really bad!) or a one-hour express train ride. When I have a day free I like to head up there on the train early in the morning and then explore, photographing as I go. San Francisco is a very walkable city, and I have a great choice of routes when I get off the train — I can head south to the an area with tons of new development, walk along the waterfront, go west toward an older (still somewhat) industrial area, or go north and head straight into the center of the downtown district.

I took the latter path on this day back in 2019, cross-crossing on east-west routes from time to time. Frequently when I come into The City by car I travel along the freeway route that mostly flies overhead, leaving only longer views. From underneath the City looks a lot different! I chose this view partly because I like the concept of the dark forms cutting off the view, but also because I was intrigued by the curving shape of the opening between the two overpasses.

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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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dune Waves

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Dune Waves
Waves of sand dunes retreat toward distance desert mountains, Death Valley National Park

Dune Waves. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Waves of sand dunes retreat toward distance desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

As photographers, we often take a great deal of photographic license in our creative interpretations of subjects. It is a myth, quite frankly, that some kind of objectively “pure” version of a photograph even exists. And if such a thing did exist, it seems like it would usually be a pretty boring thing for everyone except those using photographs as evidence of a thing. Most of us prefer photographs as a mode of expression, a sharing of the photographer’s way of seeing the world. I like to think that a good photograph or group of photographs tells us more about the person making the images than it tells us about the putative subject.

Sand dune landscapes lend themselves especially well to this way to this approach. While they do have a real geological appeal, when you look at them from an aesthetic perspective they are perhaps less about the fact of sand and more about light, line, weight, form, and color. They are never the same — the light changes, the conditions alter them, and each of us sees them differently. In this interpretation I decided to work in high-key and monochrome, hopefully creating a photograph that reflects the quiet stillness of the static wave forms of the dunes.

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: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brandon In Manhattan

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Brandon In Manhattan
Brandon Mitchell on the streets of Manhattan

Brandon In Manhattan. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brandon on the streets of Manhattan.

This is, technically speaking, a family photograph. This is the oldest of our three “kids,” in a photograph I made near the end of December, along some street somewhere between Midtown and Lower Manhattan as we took a very long afternoon and early evening walk in New York City.

He has been in Manhattan for, well I’d have to look it up so let’s just say “a long time.” Could it have been a decade now? Because our two sons and their wives (along with Patty’s brother and his family) live in New York City, we are fortunate to have an excellent excuse to visit the place at least once per year or so. While it is impossible for visitors like us to really know the place, we feel comfortable with great swaths of this city now, and it is among my favorite places to photograph.

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 | Facebook | 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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Peaks and Lake Shore

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Peaks and Lake ShorePeaks and Lake Shore
Sierra Nevada peaks tower about a rock-line alpine lake.

Peaks and Lake Shore. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada peaks tower about a rock-line alpine lake.

True confession time — my “photographic core” is and probably always has been black and white photography. Today the majority of my photographs are in color, and I love working whit color images. But I began with black and white, way back when I was just a kid using a cheapie camera on family vacations. Later my father took me into his home darkroom and I learned to make prints, black and white essentially by necessity in those days. My early photographic heroes were almost all black and white photographers.

All of that is by way of explaining the inclusion of this black and white photograph among all of the other color photographs from this trip, a one-week backcountry visit in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We looked at this scene daily — it was only steps from my tent — and over the week we got to know its details and its moods well. I made this photograph late in the day, as shadows lengthened across the low, rocky saddle, and the more distant peaks lost most of their sunlight.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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