Tag Archives: column

Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

At Nelson’s Column

Image Leave a comment
At Nelson's Column
People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

At Nelson’s Column. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

Everyone has to go to Trafalgar Square when visiting London, right? AT least if it is your first visit, which this was for us. I have previously shared a rather different version of this photograph — one rendered in monochrome and in a 4:3 aspect ratio. While looking through old photographs recently as part of my pandemic project, I came across it once again and saw it in a different way.

I now think that the colors in the image are appealing — I originally felt they were irrelevant. I find some interesting patterns and relationships among them. I also discovered that, for me anyway, there are a lot of interesting little things going on among the people in this photograph. While I don’t think it is a photograph that works primarily on the basis of its larger patterns (though there are some of those), I do think that it is the sort that becomes more interesting when I take the time to study it carefully. (I know. That’s kind of hard to do in a little social media jpg. A big print would work better for that.)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California

Abandoned Umbrella

Leave a comment

Abandoned Umbrella
Abandoned Umbrella

Abandoned Umbrella. Getty Center, Los Angeles, California. March 28, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An umbrella lies abandoned, Getty Center

Perhaps every year or so I get a chance to visit the Getty Center in Los Angeles. This striking facility is on the top of a ridge that runs along highway 405 as it passes Los Angeles. I first visited quite a few years ago when our oldest son was at UCLA, then later when our daughter was a UCI, and since then on other visits to the area. The collections and exhibits at the center are always worthwhile, and many of the photography exhibits are especially notable.

In addition to the content of the Center, the architecture itself is very interesting and provides a compelling photographic subject for me. If pressed I will admit that I probably go to the Getty as much to see and photograph the place (and people) as I do for the art! The square shapes cover the wall and columns, and are extended into the walkways and elsewhere. The structures seem quite modern in many ways, but the overall effect reminds me a lot of hilltop European castles. (I have a photograph or two from this visit coming up, in which I tried to capture that feeling.) In this photograph I was initially interested in the conjunction of curves and lines and shapes and textures, but I thought that the odd umbrella just sitting there was nice bit of visual dissonance. (In truth, these umbrellas are iconic at the Getty, since visitors can simply borrow them — so you tend to see them all over the place.)

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: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Strata and Columns

Leave a comment
Strata and Columns, Red Rock State Park
“Strata and Columns” — Red rock strata and vertical columns

For years I have passed by California’s Red Rock Canyon State Park on my way to or from other places, most often Death Valley National Park. My winter route between the San Francisco Bay Area and Death Valley almost inevitably takes me south over Tehachapi Pass and then north, where the highway cuts through this state park. Every time I have passed through I have marveled at the beautiful rock formations rising from the desert and thought about stopping… but kept driving, anxious either to get to DEVA or to get home after a long time on the road.

This time we made a plan to stop, booking a motel in a nearby town for the night to more or less force a stop. We made a fairly brief visit, but we did go this time. This visit, although brief, may have finally cracked the door open a bit to the idea of returning and photographing here again. Being unfamiliar with the park I cannot be sure, but I would guess that this formation may be one of its “icons.” It stands in an easily visited location and presents a striking appearance. It also seems to me to tell a bit of a story. One of the first things that got my attention is the way that its thick band of red rock tilts the opposite direction from the similar rock in the sculpted cliffs that stand behind it. It seems to me that this piece must have dropped off the face (probably with a big bang and lots of dust!), landed in the softer material at the base of the cliff, and momentarily leaned toward falling over to the right, but then managed to just keep its balance enough to be locked into this off-kilter tilted position.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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: Structures and Objects

The Cloisters

2 Comments

The Cloisters
The Cloisters

The Cloisters. New York City. December 30, 2013. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Large stone room at the Cloisters museum, Tryon Park, New York City

The Cloisters is a facility that is a (remote) part of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, located way uptown at Fort Tryon along the Hudson River not too far from the George Washington Bridge. It was constructed as a sort of showplace for various elements from early European architecture and art, and it feels far removed from much of the rest of the New York experience, at least to this Californian. We had visited, or tried to visit, on a previous trip to New York, going all the way up there only to find that we had picked the one day each week when it was closed! So getting back there and going inside was on our agenda during our late 2013 visit.

The weather and light affect my response to such places, and this was a gray winter day. We took the subway up from lower Manhattan, and when we got off at Fort Tryon it was very cold, very gray, and quite windy as we walked to the Cloisters. Once inside, the light coming in from courtyards and windows was soft and diffused, and I thought the light in this room was especially beautiful. Some light was coming in from outside through the small window at the right, but out of the frame to the left there is a large open courtyard that was also spilling light in from that direction.

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.