Tag Archives: monochrome

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Master of All I Survey

Image Leave a comment
Master of All I Survey
A man sits on a bench next to a pile of garbage bags, Midtown Manhattan.

Master of All I Survey. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A man sits on a bench next to a pile of garbage bags, Midtown Manhattan.

It seems like there is always someone doing something interesting, unusual, compelling, typical, or in some other way worthy of attention in Manhattan. I’m not sure if that reflects on the character of the place or if it is simply a statistical matter — there are so many people there that you are bound to encounter, for better or worse, pretty much everything on the human spectrum. It is even possible to find isolated people, not part of any of the crowds that we associate with the place.

I saw this fellow while walking near the UN Plaza. It was morning — on a Sunday, if I recall correctly — and the area was relatively quiet. There wasn’t much of anything going on along this street, but there he sat, alone and not engaged in any particular discernible activity. In front of him was one of the characteristic morning piles of plastic trash bags, a common feature of this city.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Crosswalk People

Image Leave a comment
Crosswalk People
Pedestrians enter a crosswalk in Manhattan.

Crosswalk People. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Pedestrians enter a crosswalk in Manhattan.

The thought process behind a photograph like this one is hard to explain, perhaps partly because such photographs are often made instantaneously and with virtually no time for careful thought or planning. They happen almost purely instinctively when I see something in the scene that I react to, but without time to ponder what that “something” is. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that I made this photograph without even raising the camera to my eyes, or at least without time to really look. If I had waited… the moment would have been gone. I think I’m attracted initially to something in the patterns in the scene, though in retrospect I think the image is a bit more complicated to parse.

Most photography — even landscape photography, despite what some will claim — often involves split-second intuitive decisions about subjects and scenes that are completely ephemeral. It is a matter of “make the exposure now or don’t make it at all.” One thing I like about street photography is that it requires me to make these judgments quickly, and I think that hones my ability to see subjects and compositions — even when they are standing still!

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Beneath the Parkway

Image Leave a comment
Beneath the Parkway
Support structures under the Henry Hudson Parkway, Manhattan.

Beneath the Parkway. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Support structures under the Henry Hudson Parkway, Manhattan.

While things in New York City are not as grim as they were during the height of the pandemic, nor as bad as when we visited during the Omicron surge last winter, things are not yet completely back to normal. A lot better, yes. But when we visited in August the effects were still clear. People were back in the streets, but the crowds weren’t nearly as dense as before. And we still hesitated to go to some of the more crowded places that we enjoyed previously. So, on this afternoon we found ourselves killing time between a couple of planned events, so we took a walk over to and along a section of the Hudson River shoreline.

In this location sidewalks, paths, and stairs can take you down from the city itself of a riverside walkway and park, so we headed on down to join the others out for a walk, a run, or a bike ride. As the path descended it approached the base of this old structure that supports the parkway running along the waterfront. In a world of modern, sweeping and curving reinforced concrete structures, it is fun and interesting to come across older steel structures like this one.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

The Ridges Beyond

Image Leave a comment
The Ridges Beyond
“The Ridges Beyond” — A series of Eastern Sierra ridges leads to the east beyond a backcountry lake in morning light.

Because variations on this particular scene comprise a significant portion of the photographs I made during our August Sierra backcountry sojourn I have been trying to release them somewhat gradually. However, even though I shared a quite different version of the view from this camera position just a few days ago, here’s another. This one is, obviously, a near-panorama rendition that takes in the far edge of “our” little lake, its outlet, surrounding ridges, the more distant scene, and some beautiful morning clouds. The whole scene is softened by a bit of backlit morning haze.

Sometimes I’m immediately certain of what a photograph will look like as I make the exposure. But other times I’m less sure and I reserve judgment, perhaps making multiple exposures that will work for any of several possible directions I might take with the subject. That was the case with this scene — multiple “takes” were required not only for that reason but also to ensure that I’d be able to work with some rather extreme light contrasts between the shadowed foreground and the very bright clouds and sky.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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