Tag Archives: brooklyn

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Manhattan Bridge

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Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge

Manhattan Bridge. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan

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Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan
Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan

Two Women, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Lower Manhattan. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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 is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Brooklyn Rorschach Test

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Brooklyn Rorschach Test
Brooklyn Rorschach Test

Brooklyn Rorschach Test. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers and paint and removed paper create patterns on a concrete wall in Brooklyn

There isn’t really a lot to say about this photograph, but there might be a few things to ask. This was more or less a quick “grab shot,” taken while walking not far from the waterfront at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where it isn’t uncommon to find places where various signs and billboards have been posted and then removed.

So, what you are looking at here is the result of various layers of paint and the after-effects of material that was glued to the walls and then removed. I think it is interesting to ask what you see in these patterns when you look at them. The more I look the more I see, but I won’t try to convince you that what I see is the “right” thing to notice, and I think that lots of other interpretations are possible — or that you might even choose to simply see it as a place where stuff was removed from a black and green wall!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park

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Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tourists walk along the East River shoreline at the Brooklyn Bridge Park as a sailboat passes

I made this photograph in the DUMBO (“Down Under Manhattan Bridge Underpass”) area of Brooklyn’s waterfront, near where both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges arrive from across the water in Manhattan. After a lot of time spent wandering Manhattan with camera in hand, we decided to take a slightly lower key day and wander Brooklyn instead. We walked here and there, stopping for lunch in a great little sandwich shop, and then wandered some more, traveling through Park Slope until we ended up at the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Without any firm plan, but with a general thought of taking a water taxi uptown and into Manhattan, we walked along this park for a while, soon arriving at the water taxi dock. We bought our tickets and then had some time to sit around on this sunny afternoon and wait and watch passers-by. I kept looking a this small are of the promenade where the railing curved back in towards the ferry dock and from which a great panoramic view of Manhattan was available. There was an ebb and flow of other visitors, and among them there were occasionally some interesting juxtapositions of people, clothing, activities, and more. This brief instant, featuring people in various colorful shirts and a passing sailboat (!) seemed like a worthwhile one to capture.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.