Tag Archives: Cloud

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco

The Golden Gate, Morning

December 19, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Black and white photograph of Marin Headlands, north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Bay Bridge.

Icon alert! Yes, that bridge.

I had business in San Francisco later in the day so I decided to start early and spend time north of the bridge and then return through the City in the evening. As I cross the bridge I almost always assess the possibilities for photography, as often as not decided to not stop since, as beautiful as the view of the Bay is it is not always worth photographing. On this morning though the conditions were a bit special and of a type that we usually only see in the winter months. There are mainly two types of fog in the Bay Area. First there is the “streaming into the Golden Gate type of fog” – which was not present this day – that comes in off the ocean. Then there is the winter tule fog which rises from wet ground on cold winter mornings – and the atmosphere on this morning was affected by that condition.

I made several photographs of the Bay, the bridge, and the City – but this one is perhaps a “triple icon” (for better or worse!) shot in that it includes the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Transamerica Pyramid centered in the north tower of the Bridge. I’ve known about the possibility of this shot for quite a while – but until now I managed to resist! Here I gave in and decided to figure out the location. It is almost embarrassingly easy to find and shoot once you figure it out, but you do need a fairly long lens. (In the full resolution original I can clearly see a couple standing on the overlook at bottom left and admiring the view.)

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.

keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, bridge, bay, oakland, waterfront, road, marin, headlands, battery, haze, cloud, morning, light, fog, north, tower, people, couple, water, east, bay, hills, oakland, transamerica, buliding, urgan, silhouette, cable, stock

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

Converging Lines and Clouds

December 18, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of converging lines of downtown San Francisco buildings with cloudy sky.

On this “urban landscape” I went with a wide focal length and decided to just let those perspective lines go right ahead and converge! The photograph was made on a morning walk up the lower part of Market Street as the fog began to clear back from the bay.

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.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, tourist, scenic, city, urban, downtown, perspective, converging, lines, angles, structure, texture, shadow, reflection, cloud, sky, fog, line, form, shape, tower, building, skyscraper, window, wall, surface, abstract, stock, monochrome, black and white

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

Reflection Patterns, San Francisco

December 17, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Many layers of reflections on windows of downtown towers in San Francisco, California.

I’m crazy about the “reflections of reflections reflections…” that you can find in urbanized downtown areas when the light is just right. While the shapes and forms of the buildings are, I think, somewhat interesting, what intrigued me about this scene were the almost psychedelic shapes and colors of the warped, bent, and oddly juxtaposed reflections covering almost all of the shiny surfaces of the buildings. (Of course, all of that is a bit hard to see in this small online jpg version.)

This is definitely one of the photographs in my “urban landscape” category. I have to think about the light and the shapes and distance in much the same way I might if I were photographing in a natural canyon or deep valley. However, unlike “real” landscape photography, shots are these are almost always done hand held and shot fairly quickly while wandering around on foot.

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.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, tourist, scenic, city, urban, downtown, architecture, building, tower, skyscraper, structure, form, shadow, column, sky, cloud, angle, wires, windows, walls, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

December 9, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A dry creekbed meanders through a boulder-filled golden late-season Sierra Nevada meadow at sunset near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is another view of the “backyard” of my solo-backpacking camp site near Evelyn Lake back in early September of this year. Dusk has fallen across the meadow and the twisting creekbed leading to the lake, but a bit of alpenglow lingers on the clouds beyond the tree-lined ridge.

This photograph is evidence of the early onset of “fall” in the high country. Although the equinox was still nearly two weeks away, the plants here had lost their summer appearance – the meadow was almost entirely brown or golden and the small creek, which would contribute to the flooding of this lakeside meadow earlier in the season had already stopped flowing.

(By starting my “fall” season in late summer in the high country I can manage to experience fall colors for at least three months every year!. I often see the first hints of the change in the highest country even earlier than the date of this photograph. Then by late September and early October the Sierra aspen color show is in full swing. By the end of the month I can find great colors at lower elevations on the west side of the range, such as in Yosemite Valley. After that the colors continue to develop through November in the coastal areas of central and northern California, and here in the SF Bay Area there are still a lot of fall colors to be seen.)

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.

keywords: dry, brown, golden, creek, bed, meander, curve, twist, boulder, rock, filled, late, season, summer, autumn, fall, meadow, sub, alpine, brush, bush, plant, flora, foliage, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, sunset, dusk, evelyn, lake, backpack, camp, hike, wilderness, nature, landscape, sky, forest, grove, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, cloud, pink, stock

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