Tag Archives: cube

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chairs and Dappled Sunlight

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Chairs and Dappled Sunlight
A small brick-paved urban square in dappled sunlight

Chairs and Dappled Sunlight. San Francisco, California. May 20, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small brick-paved urban square in dappled sunlight

I have my reasons for photographing in urban environments, even though that might seem like an odd passion for someone who photographs nature and landscapes. The same attractions of form and light and texture and juxtaposition are found in both places, though the urban environment encourages me to photograph in a different way. Here I don’t use a tripod, and I often make photographs very quickly and instinctively, since the subjects are so transitory and it is a matter of photograph it now or never. Even a seemingly static and quiet scene like this one only lasts a moment before people again walk through the scene. If nothing else, it is an intense exercise in seeing.

The area of where I made this photograph is, despite the appearance, a very busy and noise place along San Francisco’s Market Street, a place where there are throngs of people and where traffic noise can be oppressive. Yet at times the crowds part and the scene can be almost empty. And there is often quite beautiful light — it comes from all angles as it reflects back and forth among the glassy surfaces of tall buildings, and at street level in some places the light can fill the scene from almost all possible directions.

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: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures

Window, Wall with Shadow and Stain

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Window, Wall with Shadow and Stain
Window, Wall with Shadow and Stain

Window, Wall with Shadow and Stain. New York, New York. August 18, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Diffused light from a cloudy sky casts a soft shadow across a wall with a faint stain.

This is perhaps a subtle photograph. Originally it was in color, but the colors were so subdued – almost invisible, actually – that I decided to go with this black and white rendition. This wall is in a New York museum and is located next to a window. It was overcast, so the light coming through the window was particularly soft and diffused. It wasn’t until I looked at this photograph in post that I realized that there is a “flaw” in the scene – the slightly darker stained area on the upper wall.

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.

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

Detail, Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Detail, Contemporary Jewish Museum

Detail, Contemporary Jewish Museum. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California.

I’ve been watching this structure since the time it was under construction, and I have frequently walked past it, thought about making photographs… and not quite been able to figure out what to do with the subject. The building is an intriguing and slightly confusing combination of old-style (not shown here) and rather modern architecture, and it is embedded in a visually busy location surrounded by tall buildings and an old Catholic church. I actually have some earlier photographs of this same portion of the building (though shot from a different angle) that I haven’t posted, as I’m still pondering how to handle them.

On this visit, during a long “photography walk” across a good portion of The City, I passed by here and was intrigued with the juxtaposition of stark angles and different colors and textures.

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

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