Tag Archives: north

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

Masked Man With Dog

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Masked Man With Dog
A man in a protective mask with his dog outside Zabar’s Market, Mahnattan.

Masked Man With Dog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man in a protective mask with his dog outside Zabar’s Market, Mahnattan.

New Yorkers may laugh at me for pointing this out (one already did!) but apparently “Zabars” is kind of a “thing” here. The market was located a few blocks north of where we were staying during roughly the last week of 2021, and our walks on the largely deserted streets in the area frequently took us past it. From the outside, at least to a non-New Yorker who doesn’t know what it is, the market doesn’t look like anything special — but since my visit I have heard, from more than one source, that it is “something special.”

We never went inside. Hey, there’s a pandemic. We avoided going inside much of anything besides our hotel and the places where our “kids” live plus a few outside dining spots. (For my California friends — eating al fresco in Manhattan during December is a, uh, “special” experience!) Several things about this photograph seemed to suggest the times we are in, including the masked fellow with his dog. If you had come across him in this spot two years ago, you might have and questions. Now? Just another guy on the sidewalk! The emergency orange pylons seemed appropriate here, too.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Snags, Late Winter Fog

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Snags, Late Winter Fog
A group of dead trees next to a riparian meadow on a foggy Central Valley winter day.

Snags, Late Winter Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of dead trees next to a riparian meadow on a foggy Central Valley winter day.

Like several other photographs I have recently shared, this one comes from the Central Valley of California and was also made in the winter. However, this one is from a few years ago and in a slightly different location than my usual haunts in the valley. I made the photograph late in the migratory bird photography season, actually just after the main flock of geese had departed and when the place seemed downright lonely without them! That feeling was amplified on this particular visit, as it was right after the initial March 2020 lockdown, when so much about the trajectory of the pandemic was still unknown. We didn’t yet understand how it was spread or even how serious it was. At that time we were still paranoid of any contact with others, and I recall seeking out the most isolated gasoline station I could find on my way home.

The specific location is of a sort that fascinates me. Much of this valley is no longer exactly natural, being given over to huge agricultural areas. While the sense of vast space remains, what lies beneath it is largely affected by humans. However, in a few places the landscape is not so conducive to agriculture, and the land feels wilder. This is such a place, a shallow depression following the path of a creek which may be dry in summer but can flow rather powerfully in wet winters. I paused on a levee next to the area and photographed across a few old snags and into sun-lit fog.

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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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.

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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Egret on the Hunt

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Egret on the Hunt
A great egret on the hunt, Pacific Flyway.

Egret on the Hunt. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret on the hunt, Pacific Flyway.

Egrets were somewhat mystical and magical birds for me when I was younger. I first became aware of them in college, when the science professor teaching one of my classes became very enthusiastic about snowy egrets. I don’t recall ever actually seeing one (not until many years later), but the stories stuck in my mind. It wasn’t long after this that I became aware of the presence of great egrets. I recall seeing them on my long bicycle commutes early in the morning. My route took my past a few creeks, and every so often I would see one of the striking white birds in the creek or, more rarely, flying near one.

They still get my attention, though I confess that other birds perhaps now fascinate me more. While I’ll almost always stop and comment when I see an egret, I’ve now seen and photographed so many that the novelty has worn off a bit. Encounters usually seem to fall into several common patterns. On occasion in winter I’ll see a group of them, perhaps in a field. Occasionally I’m fortunate enough to see one in flight. But more often they are alone, usually near water, and almost always on the hunt. They are careful and patient hunters, focusing intently on their prey as then sneak up and then, with a sudden stab of the beak, make the catch. This one was so intent on hunting that it barely noticed me as I drove by at a close distance — about as close as I have gotten to one of these birds.

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.