Tag Archives: fog

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

The Way (To San Jose)

September 5, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Francisco freeway entrance

OK. How to explain this photograph, especially to people who think of me as a “landscape” photographer? Let me start with the basic facts. I made the photograph on one of my regular walks in The City, which almost always start at the Caltrain station and the head off in various directions. On this morning I headed straight north towards Market Street. But “straight” doesn’t mean fast, and I mostly walked slowly and looked a lot — at things that I might not otherwise see. The light was beautiful, with the early morning sun beginning to break up the San Francisco fog and cast soft light on the urban landscape. At one point I passed this freeway on-ramp, with its obvious potential for puns based on an old popular song

Yes. I’m putting off trying to explain this photograph. I’ll just drop a few hints. First, think in terms of landscape, but “urban landscape.” There is no clear line between the landscapes of people and the landscapes of what we call the natural world, and this is just a bit closer to one end of the spectrum. Then, there is that beautiful light and the lovely Bay Area summer morning sky — the same sky that might appear in a natural landscape not more than a few miles away. And I think if you look closer you might possibly find a few little surprises in the photograph that demonstrate that perhaps there is more there than you might first think. Isn’t that a beautiful curve from lower right and up toward the sky? And how in the world is it that the street and the freeway are empty of cars on a weekday morning in downtown San Francisco. Beyond that, I’ll leave you to figure the rest of it on your own…

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

Service Station, Billboards

August 27, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Billboards tower over a service station in morning light, San Francisco

There are many kinds of landscapes to photograph, and I like most of them. This one happens to be an urban landscape, a subject that I like a lot. I made the photograph on one of my periodic walks through parts of San Francisco. This one, as most of them do, started at the Caltrain station very early in the morning and headed straight up toward Market Street. This gas station is right near a freeway interchange, and probably ideally situated for people arriving in or departing from downtown San Francisco.

I know that a scene like this may simply baffle some viewers, especially those who are more drawn to nature and natural landscape photographs with their depictions of unspoiled beauty. I understand. But even in the city there is beauty, and the light was especially wonderful on this morning — blue sky with scattered fog breaking up created a soft but still directional quality to the muted light. My eyes first went to the billboards, whose backsides here tower above the surrounding buildings — urban mountains or cliffs, perhaps? But alone they did not seem to make a photograph. But then I saw the light on that wall with the “PRINTING” sign, and the contrast between the blues of the sky and wall and the hot reds and yellows of the corporate colors on the gas station.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Fog, Water, Light

August 12, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A beam of light on water below fog, Pacific Ocean

Living very close to the Pacific coast of California for nearly my entire life, the ocean has always “been there” — just on the other side of coastal mountains, hardly more than a half hour away, bringing cooling evening breezes on hot summer days, and producing periodic morning fog where I live. On one hand I am more familiar with this landscape than most people, but in recent years I began to feel that I know much less about it than I should. These photographs made with the camera pointing straight out to see are something of a them of mine, not as frequent as photographs of mountains perhaps, but important nonetheless. They might include fog or winter swell or clearing storm clouds or simply the brilliant light on the water from the western sun. To me they are all a bit mysterious.

We had spent a couple of days along the Big Sur coast photographing (and eating!). The main part of the visit was over, but we had a full day to get home, and home was only about an hour and a half away. So we took our time and followed the coast almost all the way north to San Francisco before turning inland. During much of the drive we were in the sun, but north of Santa Cruz the fog began to appear, and eventually we arrived at that point where the offshore fog bank was substantial enough to form a virtual wall against the light. We stopped and I photographed as the eastern edge of the fog picked up a bit of light and the sun broke through a few clearings to illuminate the surface of the water.

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

Trees, Meadow, Morning Fog

August 10, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Low morning fog floats above Tuolumne Meadows and nearby trees

With this photograph I move back to landscapes, and temporarily away from urban subjects. In early July I spent a few wonderful days in the Yosemite Sierra, camping at Tuolumne meadows, photographing morning and evening, hiking to interesting places in the middle of the day, and running into various photographers and friends (and photographer-friends) almost every day. I’ve been going to this place for years — to camp there, as a launching pad for many backpacking trips into the Yosemite backcountry, and to do photography.

As was the case each morning, I was up early — well before sunrise and before most anyone else in the campground. In the morning I typically already have some sort of plan, usually hatched the evening before, since guessing about sunrise locations in the dark is often not a very profitable activity! On this morning I had a plan to photograph a particular area filled with granite domes and with the potential for interesting early morning light. Thinking of this, as I passed the low fog in Tuolumne Meadows I almost didn’t stop, since a similar morning detour earlier in the trip resulted in my arrival at the day’s planned location too late for the good light. But unable to resist the temptation of ground for, I decided to make a brief stop near these trees (familiar to me from many previous visits) and at least make a few quick exposures before moving on.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: fog

The Way (To San Jose)

Service Station, Billboards

Fog, Water, Light

Trees, Meadow, Morning Fog

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.