Tag Archives: fire

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

Man Talking on Cell Phone

June 30, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Man sitting on a bench in front of a San Francisco building and talking on his cell phone.

The first time I worked on this photograph, I made a decision to work it up as a black and white image. However, when I returned to it a month or so ago, I felt like it might be interesting as a color photograph as well.

There is nothing all that special about the location itself – it is on a small street in an area that might be thought of as along the edges of downtown San Francisco. It is not too far to typical large downtown buildings, but here it seems that many might residences and rental units, and many on this street are connected with the Academy of Arts College (or is it “university” now?) facilities that are spread all around the city. I’m intrigued by the interesting shapes and colors and textures of these San Francisco buildings, that often embody some strange combination of a great deal of order (carefully painted rectangular white window frames), utility (the fire escape being almost the most prominent thing on the front of the building), and little oddities (the benches on a slanting sidewalk and guy talking obliviously on his cell phone).

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

Burned Forest, Yosemite Valley, Autumn

May 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Evening light in a burned section of the forest on the floor of Yosemite Valley.

I’ve been sitting on this photograph for a while, so I figure I’ll post it now. I made it last fall – on Halloween, actually! – during a fall color trip to the Valley. Late on my final evening I finally stopped and walked out across the old terminal moraine that crosses the lower Valley not far upstream from Pohono Bridge. (When you drive into the Valley, the road splits, and before long you’ll see the south end of this feature to your left as you go up a short climb.) I started at the north end and as I walked south looking for a photograph it was a very quite, still, and cold evening.

I finally found a spot where I could go down the lower side of the hill just a bit and find a relatively clear shot through the trees that wasn’t blocked by foliage closer to my position. This area has been burned, and I assume that it is the result of one of the management burns that often occur late in the season. These fires attempt to strengthen the forest by reintroducing the natural process and cycles of fire. The result is interesting charring patterns along the lower portions of the trees, temporary burned undergrowth, and then as the recovery takes place a much more open and airy sort of forest as you see in this photograph.

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

White Waterfront Building, Sidewalk, and Lamp

May 13, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sidewalk with a lamp next to a white waterfront building in San Francisco, California.

This is another in the series of wandering-the-streets photographs from San Francisco last July. At one point I was wandering along the Embarcadero – the road and nearby areas that front the shoreline along the Bay between about Fishermans Wharf and ATT Park. I walked through here slowly, poking about in odd little alleys and walkways, and occasionally finding myself in spots that were not very crowded. Here I had walked into an area of new construction to find new and refurbished buildings over the water and surrounded by walkways. At just this point the fog clouds were beginning to thin out a bit – you can see a hint of blue sky reflected in the upper windows and shadows were starting to appear. Certain shape, color, and texture features drew me to this little scene.

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

Osgood Place

May 6, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

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.)

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