Tag Archives: doors

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning

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Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning
Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning

Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning. San Francisco, California. July 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old pier along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, morning light.

When I take the train to San Francisco early on summer mornings, it is frequently the case that the sun is out as I walk along the Embarcadero waterfront, and the light greats a bright glowing atmosphere as the haze and light fog above the bay are backlit. It can be almost too bright to look at. Often the buildings of the east bay and the cranes of the Port of Oakland are faintly visible on the horizon, as they are in this photograph. There is actually a range of east bay mountains above these structures, but they are not quite visible through the glowing atmosphere in this photograph.

The Embarcadero, the road that runs along the waterfront of the bay on the east side of The City, is lined with many old piers. They range from those that have been restored and turned into tourist areas (think of Pier 39 with its souvenir shops), others that house businesses and even a museum or two, some that are primarily parking areas, and a few others that have been left to rot in the sun. In some ways, those in the latter group are the most interesting to photograph, though there are fewer of them now that the value of this waterfront real estate has once again been recognized. Originally, this was a working port with passenger and freight ships. Now most of that business has gone across the bay to Oakland. However, today the bay front properties are probably more valuable for other purposes anyway.

I have photographed this particular pier before, but this time I liked the very bright sky, barely visible structures across the bay, and the morning light that is just hitting the left side of the buildings on the pier.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man Descending Peter Macchiarini Steps

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Man Descending Peter Macchiarini Steps
Man Descending Peter Macchiarini Steps

Man Descending Peter Macchiarini Steps. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man descends the Peter Macchiarini steps past worn and dilapidated buildings in downtown San Francisco.

I photographed this rather bleak scene on a side street in San Francisco last summer. I first walked up this street to photograph the “Peter Macchiarini Steps” that ascend steeply here in place of a normal sidewalk. Then I saw the opposing shapes of the large square ductwork and the smaller round pipes against the weathered and dilapidated exterior of the buildings. Finally, I found that the occasional person descending the steps might add a point of interest, so I waited…

When I look at a photograph like this one I see layers of different things – but maybe that’s just me! :-) At one level it is just a slightly gritty little street scene, presented in a pretty unvarnished manner. (I did some work to straighten angles and so forth in post – I generally don’t get to use tilt/shift lenses when I shoot street!) Then I see several interesting-to-me geometries in the scene. I mentioned above the opposing bends of the pipes and ducts and their relative positions on the wall. I also see a collection of rectangular shapes throughout the frame: the lighter area of wall behind the figure, the doors in the lower center, the small window above the doors, the three upper windows, and the sections of wall between them. Then there are a bunch of horizontal components: the large lighter band across the upper center, the very small patterns of the siding, the sequence of upper story windows against siding, the lower edge of the siding. And within these separate layers of order there are things that don’t quite fit. The man of course, wearing black and in motion with one foot suspended in mid-step, but also the trash can in front of him – also black, the bits of conduit running in odd directions, the small section of pipe in front of the door, and the concrete sidewalk steps.

Of course, you are free to see a picture of some guy walking down the steps…

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

Osgood Place

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Osgood Place
Osgood Place

Osgood Place. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A steep street in downtown San Francisco with a sign for “Osgood Place.”

I came across this photograph from last summer while going over old raw files again this week. To be honest, I barely remember shooting this scene, and the only hints about the precise location are the “Osgood Place” sign (referring to one of the buildings) and the base of the Transamerica Pyramid beyond the end of the street.

When I saw it this week, something caught my attention about it. I like the vantage point that roughly as high as the third story of buildings near the bottom of the street – this does some slightly odd things to perspective lines. I also like the various types of red to brick-red coloration and the row of steel posts along the narrow sidewalk. The subtle green beer bottle against the first post at the right is a touch I like, too. ;-) It is surprising that I managed to take a photograph of this area of San Francisco that includes no people.

(Update: Thanks to some folks who saw this photograph elsewhere, I have learned that the street is also called Osgood Place.)

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | 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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Golden Eagle Hotel

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Golden Eagle Hotel
Golden Eagle Hotel

Golden Eagle Hotel. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Man sitting on steps in front of tattoo parlor below the Golden Eagle Hotel, San Francisco.

Last summer, on one of my “walking shoots” in San Francisco, I wandered into a less-than-lovely area of The City – though it has its points of visual interest, for sure. I named this photograph after the Golden Eagle Hotel at least partly because I assume that the dilapidated green apartment building above the colorful (in many senses) shops at street level comprise the “hotel.” Another reason is that I wasn’t sure I wanted to title a photograph “Tattoo” or “Naughty Laundry!” (I don’t know what the “Naughty Laundry” place is, and I probably am better of keeping it that way! :-)

In a sense, every photograph I make is “about” something, though often they are simply about the qualities of the subject or subjects themselves. You could certainly look at this image that way. I was certainly intrigued by the juxtaposition of the very colorful and closely packed shops and the very drab apartments above. The building itself, which may have seen better days, is interesting to me architecturally. What is with the little round windows, with their thick frames, between the conventional rectangular windows? And despite having some interesting San Francisco qualities, the building is terribly run down. A close look reveals peeling paint, wires running here and there, painted over spots of what might have been graffiti, and so forth.

Then there is that guy sitting on the step of “Goldfield’s Original Broadway Tattoo Studio.” There are no other people in the scene, and my recollection is that there really weren’t many people around. He sits, face downward and headphones on, apparently completely engrossed in whatever technology he holds in his hand, and apparently also completely disassociated from his environment. You can find a lot of people like this today.

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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.