Tag Archives: downtown

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Building In Muted Light

Leave a comment
Building In Muted Light
Cloud-muted light on an urban building near SFMOMA

Building In Muted Light. San Francisco, California. February 3, 3017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud-muted light on an urban building near SFMOMA

This building is becoming something of a theme for me, and I often end up treating it in black and white. I made the photograph from one of the outdoor terraces high on the side of the new section of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), from which there are interesting and varied views of the surrounding downtown San Francisco neighborhood. This building is perhaps the closest to the museum, and its form and the texture of its surface are interesting.

I originally thought that it would be a color photograph. The soft light played in interesting ways on the subtle colors of the stone and the pastel color of the windows. But the more I worked on it the more something persuaded me to let go of that nod to realism and instead go with a rather highly processed monochrome interpretation. There is a school of architecture photography that makes heavy use of techniques that darken areas of the image and then compensate by selective lightening. This is often complemented by some techniques involving blur — a sort of masking effect. I used these and more, including some heavy dodging and burning to get this photograph to what you see here — perhaps for no more reason than that I wanted to explore some of these techniques.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

FLAG M

Leave a comment
FLAG M
Painted brick wall of an old building, San Francisco

FLAG M. San Francisco, California. February 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Painted brick wall of an old building, San Francisco

I seem to be in a bit of a black and white frame of mind today! A few weeks ago I had a chance to head up to San Francisco for a day, mainly to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), but also to potentially do a bit of photography. As it turned out, virtually all of that day’s photograph was done in and around the museum, though the site does provide many interesting photographic opportunities, ranging from its architecture to the people inside and including the surrounding downtown neighborhood.

I have photographed this building before. In fact, it is hard to not photograph it. It stands right “behind” the museum and is visible from almost every vantage point on the east side of the building. It is an older brick building but it gives every appearance of having been upgraded and well maintained. While the inside appears to be pretty modern, from what I can see through the windows, the outside retains an aged patina and still includes the remains of some very old exterior painted sign.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storefronts, Reflections

Leave a comment
Storefronts, Reflections
Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Storefronts, Reflections. San Francisco, California. May 20. 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Near the end of May I did one of my San Francisco walking street photography trips, heading up to The City on the train and then following a large loop through downtown San Francisco. San Francisco is a great walking city, and I’m able to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of diverse urban landscape on these walks — from the waterfront to business districts to industrial areas.

I saw a lot of interesting and possibly unexpected things in this little street side vignette. Oddly, there are no people in the photograph — more typically I line up an urban landscape like this one and then wait for subject to enter the frame. The colors, of the structures and of the shadow light, caught my attention — primarily we’re looking at the greenish awnings and the intense reds found in several places, with everything subject to the blue light of the shadows. And, of course, for this photographer it was frosting on the cake to be able to include the words on the awning in this photograph.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Scene, Manhattan

Leave a comment
Street Scene, Manhattan
Looking up a narrow street in the West Village

Street Scene, Manhattan. New York City. December 28, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking up a narrow street in the West Village

I like old photographs of cities, and especially of big cities like New York. For obvious reasons they tend to be in black and white. Once I started photographing these same subjects and making some of the photographs black and white, I began to notice that things in such places often look far more like they had in the past and that the supposed modern nature of such scenes is not at all obvious when abstracted by the camera.

I made this photograph from an elevated position along the High Line Park path that runs along a portion of the western side of Manhattan. In order to spot much here that is unique to the current time, I have to look closely — the overall impression is almost timeless. Yes, the vehicles are modern (at least for now), there are some traffic barriers in the distance that are a fairly new presence, and a very close look reveals somewhat modern attire on a few of the pedestrians.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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