Tag Archives: bridge

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

North Chicago River

September 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The North Chicago River and downtown area buildings

Early in the morning we took what I believe was the first boat on the Chicago River Tour, the (deservedly) popular way to see and learn about the architecture of Chicago that lines the river and its branches. Despite the peaceful and bucolic scene along the banks of this section of the river, the waterway has a bit of a troubled past and still has a quite a way to go before its water quality is sufficiently restored. (One memorable line from the tour narrator pointed out that only in Chicago would it be regarded as environmental progress when a river’s status “rose” from “toxic” to “polluted. ;-)

In any case, there is a lot to see from the river since much of the downtown is very close to its banks, and many additional things that you wouldn’t notice from the sidewalk or road are visible from down on the water. There is a lot of redevelopment work going on, and areas that were apparently once industrial are now being converted to residential and related use. It is possible to walk many sections of the river, and kayakers are a frequent sight. This photograph looks back toward central Chicago from the north branch of the river and past sections where trees line portions of the bank.

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Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Streetlamp, Bridge, Buildings

September 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Elements of downtown Chicago architecture

And now, a new subject for me: Chicago. I had been there before, but on other business, such as attending conferences in the downtown area, but this August was my first opportunity to photograph there. Midway through our train trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to New York City, we paused in Chicago for a couple of days. I can’t say that I “know” Chicago yet, but I can say that I’m starting to understand and like the place. (Though our impressions may have been skewed more than a bit by being there while the streets were filled with “Lallapaloozers.”)

From this and earlier visits, I’ve come to partly think of Chicago as being like New York, but with more space and light. I think that this is one reason that I found myself so often photographing juxtapositions of Chicago’s tall buildings and the way light and reflections play across them — the larger space between them and the more open light make this possible. This photograph was made from a boat (the “architecture tour,” if you wondered) as it passed beneath of the many bridges across the Chicago River. The basic elements of the photograph – a bridge, a street lamp, and the surfaces of tall buildings — seem to characterize the place for me.

Photographs: New York City

Manhattan Bridge

September 10, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Brooklyn end of the Manhattan Bridge above the East River and the old Domino Sugar plant

I photographed this from the water taxi — not always an easy trick, and often resulting in a lot of skewed horizons! For those who wonder, it is possible to make sharp, handheld photographs from the deck of a bouncing water taxi… if your are careful, do lots of safety shots, have good light, and keep the ISO up. The real tricks are to put yourself in the right places on the boat, where you’ll have a good view of your subject and won’t be blocked by others, and then to be able to very quickly spot and respond to momentary juxtapositions of elements.

I knew I wanted to photograph the Manhattan Bridge as we went underneath it, so I had already found myself a place from which to get a good line of sight. The initial idea was to show the mass of this bridge as it stretches out over the water, but I quickly saw that the iconic (and abandoned) Domino Sugar plant was making an appearance beyond the bridge, so I watched for this conjunction of the two features.

Photographs: New York City

Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan

September 9, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two women overlook the East River and Lower Manhattan from the promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge Park

This little spot is very near the water taxi dock in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn and it is in the Brooklyn Bridge Park along the waterfront, so it seems like a popular place to stop, lean against the railings, and take in the view across the water toward Lower Manhattan. While waiting for our water taxi to show up, I spent a little time watching and photographing people here.

Something about this photograph seems classic to me and I think that is why I chose to go with a black and white rendition. The view of Manhattan is almost always interesting, but I also loved the light on this afternoon — it was very intense, centered just out of the frame to the left, and the atmosphere was somewhat soft, with a few small, puffy clouds floating around.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: bridge

North Chicago River

Streetlamp, Bridge, Buildings

Manhattan Bridge

Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.