Tag Archives: morning

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

Juxtaposed Buildings With Shadows and Reflections

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Juxtaposed Buildings With Shadows and Reflections
Juxtaposed Buildings With Shadows and Reflections

Juxtaposed Buildings With Shadows and Reflections. San Francisco, California. July 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The overlapping structures of downtown buildings covered with reflections and shadows, San Francisco.

I made this photograph while walking up Market Street in San Francisco on this early July morning, dodging fast-walking pedestrians and bunches of tourists. I wasn’t certain of what I would shoot here on this day, and I was actually equipped more for shooting street level scenes than this sort of thing, in that I was traveling light with only a few basic prime lenses. But when I visit here, I’m almost always fascinated by the juxtapositions of different types of architecture, patterns of shadows and reflected light, the effect of perspective when looking up from the street, and the odd similarities to some of the rugged landscapes that I also like to photograph.

I’m not good about paying attention to the identity of the buildings, so while I could certainly locate them again quickly I’m afraid I can’t name them! I’ve photographed both before, and I was already very aware of the reflection patterns that appear in the windows of the darker building on the left, creating a criss-cross pattern against the lines of its own windows. There are more subtle effects of light on the lighter surface of the building on the right. Reflections from windows above and to the right cast diagonal lines of faint light down and across this part of the building, and below that there is a faint pattern of darker lines which are shadows from the light reflecting through the horizontal structure at the far right margin. (Being a fan of such things, I also like the fact that this open structure creates dark shadow patterns beyond and to its right and lighter shadow patterns across the whole face of the building. Yet other buildings are reflected, slightly distorted, in the large windows set in the bright wall.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Freeway Overpass, Townsend Street

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Freeway Overpass, Townsend Street
Freeway Overpass, Townsend Street

Freeway Overpass, Townsend Street. San Francisco, California. July 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Freeway overpass crosses the train tracks along Townsend Street near the Caltrain station, San Francisco.

In the middle of a long string of landscape photographs from the Sierra Nevada, today I present a photograph of… what appears to be a trashed and abandoned area beneath a freeway overpass. I’m guess that at least a few people reading this might be perplexed.

While I absolutely love going to and photographing wild and scenic areas – and as a resident of northern California I’m fortunate to live close to some pretty amazing such places – those are not the only photographic subjects that I find interesting. The explanation is complicated and would require me to discuss a whole range of things including from the nature of beauty (e.g. – “beautiful” and “pretty” are not the same thing), the relationship between the concepts of “natural” and “civilized, the belief that part of what a photograph might do is show a thing in a way that the viewer might not otherwise consider, and even the practical effect on all of my photography from photographing more than one thing. Heck, I also just like to visit San Francisco and other urban areas and wander around!

This time of year I make regular trips to San Francisco, usually taking the train into The City fairly early in the morning and then wandering on foot wherever my interest leads me. On this morning I was up before 5:00 a.m., out the door to catch a bus at about 5:25, on the train a bit before 6:00, and walking out of the San Francisco Caltrain station a couple minutes after 7:00 a.m. As the train approached the station I noticed a number of freeway overpasses – the same sort of structures that were used so effectively in San Francisco Opera’s recent production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, which affected me visually as well as in the other expected ways. So as soon as I got off the train I headed back along Townsend to this little space beneath the 6th Street exit ramp from highway 280 and photographed in the very same “golden hour” light that I would look for if I were in the Sierra.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Pywiack Dome, Tenaya Creek in Flood

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Pywiack Dome, Tenaya Creek in Flood
Pywiack Dome, Tenaya Creek in Flood

Pywiack Dome, Tenaya Creek in Flood. Yosemite National Park, California. June 19, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pywiack Dome towers above Tenaya Creek as it floods surrounding meadows with spring snow melt, Yosemite National Park.

This little spot between Pywiack Dome and Tenaya Lake has interested me for some time. Driving past, I’ve been intrigued by the dome itself (of course!) but also by the small meadow below it where Tenaya Creek winds through a mixture of forest and meadow, and from which the outlet of Cathedral Lake is visible if you know just where to look. In the past, I’ve wandered about in this meadow a bit, trying to photograph lush growth of corn lily plants early in the season.

On this visit, as I drove by on the first day, I was struck by the amount of water flowing here – what I’m used to seeing as a meadow with a stream winding through it was filled from edge to edge with rushing water from snowmelt-swollen Tenaya Creek. I made a mental note to try to come back here the following morning when I thought that light might be interesting. And that’s just what I did on the second day of this visit during the weekend when the pass opened.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning

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Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning
Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning

Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. June 19, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on the snow-capped summit of Mount Gibbs above a frozen pond, Yosemite National Park.

This small pond is perhaps familiar to visitors to Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, though more likely with a different appearance. Here, early on a cold morning on the day after Tioga Pass opened for the season, the pond is still mostly frozen and it is surrounded by deep snow banks. The summit of Mount Gibbs is just touched by the first morning light as it passes through clouds over the Sierra crest.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.