Tag Archives: city

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sports

Mark Cavendish, Stage One, 2010 Tour of California

May 19, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pre-race photograph of Mark Cavendish at Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California

Mark Cavendish is arguably today’s pre-eminent professional cycling sprinter. This photograph was made in Nevada City, California as he emerged from the Columbia HTC team vehicle to sign autographs before getting on his bike and heading to the starting line for stage one of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California. He ultimately one the sprint in Sacramento over 100 miles and several hours later.

I posted yesterday about my photography in the team area prior to these races and the great opportunities this provides for getting close shots of riders, along with cycling equipment, spectators, and the general excitement before the start of a major professional race. My tactic here is usually to put a long lens on the camera, explore, and be ready to react quickly – often a rider may appear for a few moments outside a team vehicle or quickly ride by on the way to the starting line and you have to pick off a shot quickly or not get it at all. In this case I spotted a nearby stairway that would give an unobstructed view of anyone coming out of this team vehicle and gave me a clear shot at the path that riders were taking to the finish line. I decided to spend a few minutes here to see what would happen, and I got lucky when Cavendish emerged and spent a few minutes with fans.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/400 second

keywords: amgen, tour, of, california, stage, one, 2010, bicycle, road, race, pro, professional, usa, north america, sports, nevada, city, pre, race, mark, cavandish, winner, first place, sprinter, high road, columbia, htc, team, sunglasses, portrait, close-up, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sports

Lance Armstrong, Stage One, 2010 Amgen Tour of California

May 17, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Lance Armstrong riding to the starting line for stage one of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California professional bicycle road race.

The 2010 Amgen Tour of California started this weekend with a road stage traveling from Nevada City to Sacramento, California. I made the ridiculously long drive up and back to shoot the stage, starting in Nevada City perhaps three hours before the start of the race, later making an abortive attempt to intercept the peloton just south of the town of Auburn, and then making it to the finish in Sacramento, where I found a spot about 200 meters from the finish line.

Since I’m not photographing the race officially – now that would be a kick!* – I take my own idiosyncratic approach to photographing the event. I try to shoot the start of the race, an intermediate point (if possible), and then the finish. But shooting actual racing from the sidelines isn’t an easy thing. With this in mind I also photograph a lot of other “stuff” that surrounds the event of the race. Today I first shot some of the crowds in the middle of old Nevada City, then walked the portion of the course that looped through the downtown area before it heads out onto the open road. But my main plan was to spend the hour or so right before the race in the team area, where it is often possible to grab some good close shots of many of the riders. One of the strange and wonderful things about pro cycling, at least in the United States, is that you can more or less walk right up to some of the biggest names in the sport, and right before the race they usually ride through the crowd to get to the starting line.

I picked a few likely team vehicles and hung out, eventually getting a good series of photographs of sprinter Mark Cavendish, the eventual winner of the stage. (I’ll post some of these photos later.) Then I picked out a spot at the lower end of the team area, knowing the eventually just about all of the riders would have to pass by within feet of me… including Lance Armstrong.

I have a number of photographs from previous Tours and other cycling events posted in my gallery.

* Believe it or not, this landscape photographer (and ex-cyclist) sometimes fantasizes about photographing a stage from the back of a motorcycle. Yeah, hard to believe. :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000 second

keywords: amgen, tour, of, california, stage, one, 2010, bicycle, road, race, pro, professional, usa, north america, sports, nevada, city, lance, armstrong, radioshack, team, starting, riding, line, smile

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

UFOs and Their Mission

March 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Black and white photograph of a Mission District storefront with UFO flyer in the window, San Francisco, California.

The intricate and curved wrought iron work on the front of this building in San Francisco’s Mission District first caught my attention. As I came closer I thought that the underlying textures and patterns of blinds and stuff in the store and the street reflections might be interesting. Then I notice the small pamphlet taped to the window: “UFOs and their Mission.” The mystery deepens… :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/80 second

keywords: the, mission, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, city, store, window, storefront, wrought, metal, iron, curves, ufos, their, mission, sign, flyer, flier, reflection, newspaper, sill, blinds, sky, columbia, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Painted Brick Walls

March 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Green and pink painted brick walls in San Francisco, California.

Several things catch my eye about this little scene: the contrast between the sharply defined monochromatic green bricks on the left and the wildly pink and badly painted bricks on the right, the old light fixture with its small shadow, the almost completely black line in the middle of the image where the two buildings don’t quite meet, the sliver of blue sky near the top of this shadowed area, and the very stark and harsh light.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/400 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, travel, urban, downtown, city, street, brick, wall, pattern, structure, architecture, light, lamp, pink, green paint, geometric, shadow, tenderloin, stock

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