Tag Archives: north

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Soda Candy Luncheonette

January 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Street scene in winter light on the Upper East Side, Manhattan

Today’s photo takes us back to the urban world again, and away from the world of winter migratory birds that I have shared more recently. The photograph is from our weeklong visit to New York City between Christmas and (almost) New Year’s Day. It was a cold week! As we usually do, we went out and wandered Manhattan quite a bit — hard to do street photography without going into the street! Daytime highs made it (barely, and not always) into the low 20 degree range, but we fought back by layering up and by stopping frequently for refreshments in warm places. Not that the latter is a bad thing!

I made this photograph on one of those cold days. We had queued up to get into the Guggenheim, but the line wasn’t moving at all. Standing there in the bitter cold and strong wind, the thought of finding a place with warm soup suddenly occurred to us, and we left the line and found food. Feeling warmer now, we headed back out onto Lexington and walked south. When I first spotted this place, somewhat interesting in its own right though not quite unique as a structure, the words on the sign caught my attention: “Soda Candy Luncheonette.” Then I noticed the nice light coming up Lexington and the interesting arrangements of pedestrians as they walked past.

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

The Photograph, New York

January 3, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A woman poses for a photograph as friends look on, Manhattan

For today’s photographer we are back to Manhattan, with a photograph from our recent end-of-December week in New York. I always go into street photographer mode (with essence of travel photographer sprinkled in, as well) when we visit there — which we get to do relatively frequently since two sons live in Brooklyn. The street wandering on this trip was a bit more of a challenge than usual, as we were there during a rather extreme bout of very cold weather that taxed this coastal Californian’s ability to stay warm. Our routine often became one of walking and photographing until we were too cold to continue, stopping in a warm place for coffee or food, and then heading out again.

I think I made this photograph in Soho, as we walked north from near the southern tip of Manhattan. I’m pretty certain that the lighting on these group first caught my attention. (This was the trip on which I finally realized that the light in Manhattan is as interesting as that almost anywhere else, including a lot of places that are otherwise not at all like New York City.) The arrangement of the members of the group also caught my attention — the one woman (the subject of the photograph they are making) standing apart and with her back to me and being hit by the light just a bit, the fellow with the camera trained on her, a woman seated next to him looking on closely, and the woman apart on the left and in darker clothes, who is smoking and doesn’t seem all that involved. The light shines obliquely across the scene from the left, catching both the people and the scene in front of the building.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Marsh

January 2, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Skeletal trees and dormant grasses in a winter marsh

We celebrated New Year’s Day as we have for the past few years — meeting before dawn a group of friends and photographers out in the wintry California Central Valley to greet the literal dawn of the new year. We arrived before sunrise, spent the first few hours making photographs, then gathered for a morning champagne toast and shared snacks and stories. After lunch we went back into the field to photograph birds and the landscape until it was so dark that we could barely see one another by the light of the rising full moon. Great times!

While most of my photography on such trips and in such places at this time of year involves birds, occasionally I photograph other things in this valley. During the late morning hours we all felt that need for a walking break. (Most bird photography involves a lot of standing and sitting around.) We wandered out on a trail through a marsh, I got started a bit later than the group. I took only a small, handheld camera with a single lens, not thinking there would be much to photograph. But it was quiet, a gentle breeze moved the grasses, and soft light shone through the hazy atmosphere, so I stopped to make a few photographs of this peaceful and almost silent landscape of trees, grasses, and water.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Museum Windows, Central Park

December 31, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Visitors sit in a Metropolitan Museum window overlooking Central Park, Manhattan

At the end of 2017 we spent a week in New York City, mostly visiting our “kids,” but also visiting the city itself. It was a very cold week! Daytime temperatures stayed below freezing — sometimes way below — for five days straight, and nighttime temperatures were in the low teens. On a warm day in New York, it is great to be outside. On winter days like these it is also great to be outdoors in Manhattan… just not for very long! On this day we eventually joined the throngs headed to warm museums, picking the Met, where there is a big David Hockney exhibit that I wanted to see.

I photograph in New York often enough to begin to understand the place a little bit — though nowhere near to the level of those who live there. But I still have plenty to discover, and on this trip I discovered — realized, more accurately — in a conscious way how good the light can be there. This is especially so, I think, in winter. The sun is low in the sky and its light often comes in a low angles, reflecting and silhouetting, and frequently appearing right in my frame of view. I made this photograph quickly while walking through a hallway at the museum where groups of people were taking a break on the ledge of these windows, against the bright backdrop of a soft-focus view of Central Park trees and a bit of the Manhattan skyline.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: north

Soda Candy Luncheonette

The Photograph, New York

Winter Marsh

Museum Windows, Central Park

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.