Tag Archives: business

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Los Banos Donuts

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Los Banos Donuts
Los Banos Donuts shop at night

Los Banos Donuts. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Los Banos Donuts shop at night

I can’t be certain, but there is a very good chance that this place was there back when I made my first trip to Yosemite decades ago as a child. I recall my Dad driving us over Pacheco Pass and down through a green hills into the Central Valley. (Yes, this was before the San Luis Dam was constructed, though I think it was already approved or planned. Yes, I’ve been in California that long!) I know we passed through Los Banos, stopping in the mid-town park. I don’t know if we stopped for donuts on that trip, but I have stopped here a few times since then.

Each time I’ve passed through this town for the past few years, typically before dawn or well after sunset, I’ve noticed the place and made a mental note to stop and photograph it in the dark, its big red DONUTS sign and glowing interior lights calling to us in the darkness. But since I was usually in a hurry to get somewhere — a destination to the east or else back home — I never stopped. Until this season. I finally pulled over and stopped briefly in a parking lot across the street and made a few exposures. I thought the pickup truck was an appropriate touch. (And, no, I did not stop for donuts. This time.)

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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storyville Coffee

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Storyville Coffee
Patrons sitting at the window of a Seattle coffee shop

Storyville Coffee. Seattle, Washington. September 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patrons sitting at the window of a Seattle coffee shop

As you may have noticed — at least if this isn’t the first time you have seen one of my posts — I like to photograph a rather wide range of subjects. Some know me as a “landscape” or “nature” photographer, but my subjects include many other things: night photography, street photography, urban landscapes, musicians, and more. One line of thinking holds that this is not a good thing — that it dilutes one’s photographic identity and fails to produce a recognizable style. Yet, it turns out that I’m not alone, and lots of other photographers are fascinated by multiple subjects. (Last weekend I ran into a couple of fine photographers and friends high in the Yosemite Sierra, people who have a reputation for photographing the natural world. When I met them they were just finishing up photography of peeling paint on an empty building…) Once they have been typecast, they tend to accept that — since being recognized for a type of photography is a good thing — but they occasionally admit to being frustrated when their other work isn’t understood.

So this is from my “other photography” — the work I do when I spend time in urban environments. It is hard for me to explain the fascination of “street photography” to those who don’t get it, but I’ll try. First, I think we can regard this world as a kind of “urban landscape” — and some of the same attractions of light and texture and color and form are found here. Second, it can be an incredibly dynamic “landscape.” When things are going well, I often feel that I’m in the midst of a continuous flow of people and compositions and their collisions and that there is almost too much to see. The trick is often (though not always) to stay tuned in and to be read to see and photograph quickly. Third, the human layer is something found much less in landscape photography, and it fascinates me. Here I just happened to spot one of the little vignettes that are everywhere in the city — an interest group of people in different poses and likely with different attitudes.

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

Five Brothers Fat Enterprise

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Five Brothers Fat Enterprise
A business at the edge of Chinatown, Manhattan

Five Brothers Fat Enterprise. New York City. July 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A business at the edge of Chinatown, Manhattan

In early July we spent a week in New York City, visiting relatives, wandering around the city, seeing a few museums, and eating a lot of good food. Oh, and making photographs. We stayed in a small hotel in the area more or less dividing Little Italy from Chinatown, and there was a lot to observe right in the neighborhood, night and day.

If I recall, on this morning we may have been out looking for a place to grab breakfast, or possibly we were staring out on a walk to a further destination. I was in street photographer mode, with my small camera out and at the ready, when we walked past this complex little scene, with the interesting graffiti covered “enterprise,” the man sitting inside, and the fellow in the cross walk waiting to cross the street.

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: Structures and Objects, Photographs: United Kingdom, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storey’s Ltd

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Storey's Ltd
The Storey’s Ltd shop, with prints and maps displayed, London

Storey’s Ltd. London, England. August 5, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Storey’s Ltd shop, with prints and maps displayed, London

If I recall the circumstances correctly, I quite possibly made this photograph on the evening we attended a ballet performance in London. In any case, this scene is in the neighborhood, and my recollection is that we may have been walking a bit before we went into the theater, first for dinner and then the performance.

I’m not absolutely certain of what attracted me to this little shop, one of many booksellers and similar establishments on Cecil Court off of Charring Cross Road. I’m fascinated by what they sell — old books and, especially, old maps — but we did not go inside. However, from in front of the tiny shop we could look in and see the walls covered with all sorts of fascinating documents.

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.