Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pipe, Sidewalk, Wall with Tree Shadow

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Pipe, Sidewalk, Wall with Tree Shadow

Pipe, Sidewalk, Wall with Tree Shadow. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening shadows from a nearby tree fall on shop wall behind leaf littered sidewalk and pipe barricade.

A theme on this day’s urban walk was the patterns cast by late afternoon tree shadows on a variety of walls. This example is very close to my home, and the scene is truly unremarkable – you might think of it almost as a “photograph of nothing.”

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.

keywords: afternoon, building, california, city, county, downtown, evening, san jose, santa clara, urban, wall, stucco, texture, tree, shadow, pattern, pipe, barricade, sidewalk, line, litter, architecture, evening, light, cast, shop, store, willow glen, street. stock, leaf

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Empty Parking Lot Beneath Freeway

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Empty Parking Lot Beneath Freeway

Empty Parking Lot Beneath Freeway. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon winter light illuminates a parking lot beneath highway 87 in downtown San Jose, California.

Urban landscape photograph of a downtown San Jose, California empty parking lot beneath the highway 87 freeway in late afternoon light. Late on a Sunday afternoon during the weekend after New Years Day there was almost no one downtown, and clearly there were no cars in this parking lot.

(There is also a black and white version of this photograph that I may post here eventually.)

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.

keywords: empty, late, afternoon, winter, evening, light, sun, illuminates, parking, lot, beneath, under, freeway, highway, overpass, flyover, 87, state, route, san jose, downtown, california, usa, fence, supports, light, sky, urban, street, structure, architecture, stock, concrete, cement

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Front Yard After Rain

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Front Yard After Rain

Front Yard After Rain. San Jose, California. January 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of an urban home and front yard after rain, San Jose, California.

Continuing with the “urban landscape” theme – and there are quite a few more of these in the pipeline – this is the front of an older home in a San Jose neighborhood, photographed in the early evening after rain had just cleared.

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.

keywords: san jose, california, usa, willow glen, neighborhood, urban, suburban, street, home, house, residence, yard, front, lawn, sidewalk, steps, entry, door, window, arch, light, address, plant, garden, roof, blinds, reflections, shadow, architecture, stock

Ideas, Morning Musings

What the Heck is Dan Shooting!?

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Some of you who like my landscape/nature work may wonder what the heck I’m doing with the “urban photography” that I’ve posted here during the past few weeks. Get ready for more – there are currently about 10 photographs of similar subjects in the pipeline. Perhaps some explanation is in order.

This isn’t really a new thing for me – I’ve posted urban and “industrial” photographs in the past. (See the night photography section in my Gallery for some obvious examples, and also take a look at some of the “City” photographs while you are there.) Quite a few of them are what I think of as urban landscape photography, and to some extent I approach making these photographs much the same way I approach nature and landscape shooting. I wander about looking for stuff that appeals to me, often looking for effects of light, pattern, or color – and then I photograph it.

Besides the obvious subject differences – yes, I do realize that dilapidated buildings are not the same as aspen forests – I shoot differently, at least for some of this photography. While I do sometimes cart a tripod into urban environments, more often I travel light – ironically perhaps, usually lighter than I do when I go out for a weeklong pack trip! I generally do not use a tripod, I virtually never carry all of my lenses, and sometimes I just go out with a prime or two.

I hope you enjoy this change of pace, and that in some way you can see connections to my photographs of the natural world. (There is actually a long philosophical discussion I could have about that very topic, but I’ll spare everyone…) In any case, I’m sure that the flow of landscapes and nature photographs will resume in a week or so.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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