Tag Archives: metal

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Stairway, Upper West Side

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Stairway, Upper West Side
A stairway with curving metal railing and gate, Upper West Side, Manhattan.

Stairway, Upper West Side. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stairway with curving metal railing and gate, Upper West Side, Manhattan.

The story of our “holiday pandemic” visit to New York continues. In our previous episode we heard that after pondering the go-don’t-go question during a week when we carefully watched rising case reports, our decision was to go ahead and do a long-scheduled holiday visit to Manhattan to visit family, including some we had not seen in person in two years. We’re triple-vaccinated, we loaded up with N95 masks, we avoided most of the usual non-family New York attractions, so we were about as safe as we could be — not perfectly safe, since no one is, but generally fine.

Given the unusual circumstances of visiting Manhattan (and The Bronx) during a pandemic, our routines necessarily changed. Every morning began with a quick, masked trip to a downstairs bakery, where we retrieved coffee and pastry that we ate in our hotel room while waiting for the 15-minute rapid tests to complete. When we were not with family, our options for entertainment were somewhat limited, but we eventually worked out a rough walking loop that we followed a few times. It took us through some West Side neighborhoods between Broadway and Central Park, including the street where I photographed this fascinating metal stairway and gate.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Silo and Shadows

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Silo and Shadows
Morning shadows fall across the curving surface of an agricultural silo, Central Valley, California.

Silo and Shadows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning shadows fall across the curving surface of an agricultural silo, Central Valley, California.

This photograph comes from the area where I first learned about bird photography. I’ve told the story before, but here’s the outline. I had almost no interest in photographing birds — it was completely outside my experience. One morning I was at my local espresso stand when I struck up a conversation with a friend who was also in the line. She happened to mention a birding location that she liked just south of Sacramento, California. For some reason, I was intrigued, and since I had some time to drive a few days later I headed out there, not knowing what I would find. It was a winter morning and as the sun rose I found thousands of birds everywhere — on the ground and in the sky. I had not idea what kind of birds they were (I think I assumed that all birds were geese…) but I was hooked. This was the start of a passion for photographing them.

You may wonder how that connects with this photograph. As I explored that area I came to some flooded rice fields, and nearby found a structure including several silos. I photographed it, and periodically I’ve returned to photograph it again. I photographed this view on a sunny morning, when the reflections of angled pipes, ladders, supports, and wire produced a complex pattern across the curving, corrugated metal skin of this silo.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Orange, Green, and Black

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Orange, Green, and Black
A safety pylon casts a shadow on green metal panels next to black plastic.

Orange, Green, and Black. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A safety pylon casts a shadow on green metal panels next to black plastic.

This photograph came out of my participation in a project to photograph orange things (around Halloween, not surprisingly) with a group of fellow photographers. The group gets together every so often — virtually at the current time — to share recent photographic work. I suspect that the reasons include both social value and photographic value, but these little exercises can be useful, especially if you are trying to get “un-stuck,” are looking to explore something different, or are just seeking out a way to practice the work of seeing.

Because it was around Halloween I wanted to avoid going for the low-hanging fruit and just photographing pumpkins and autumn leaves. So for a couple of weeks as I walked around my community I kept my eyes open for anything orange. I also started to try to think a bit more broadly about what it meant to photograph orange — and one idea was that orange could easily just be one component color in a subject. Since I was looking for that color, it isn’t a surprise that the pylon first caught my attention. But I quickly started thinking about the relationship between green and orange, the shadow, and the dark pattern at the left side.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Urban/Street

Suburban Questions

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Suburban Questions
A scene from a suburban neighborhood.

Suburban Questions. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A scene from a suburban neighborhood.

While walking recently I came across a scene — in a quiet urban neighborhood — that reminded of writers who speculate about what photographs might tell us and about the questions they may pose. How do photographs work and what do they convey?

Sometimes the questions seem to outweigh anything else.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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