Tag Archives: panes

Window Detail, Glasgow

Window Detail, Glasgow
“Window Detail, Glasgow” — Detail of an old window at the University of Glasgow.

As I wrote previously, we ended up on the campus of Glasgow University more or less by accident. A long walk toward West End took us within sight of its famous tower, and that was enough to convince to detour for a closer look. The tower and building from which it rises are built in striking Neo-Gothic style, and once we got there we could not resist wandering into its inner courtyards.

My attention was first drawn to the large and impressive features of the place — its tower, the tall buildings, the large internal courtyards, and the columns and arches beneath a wing that separates them. But as we walked around I became more aware of fascinating small details. This close up photograph includes some of the stone construction. At the very bottom is a bit of old, lichen-encrusted stone.with more polished stone forming the frame of the window.


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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Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens

Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens
Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens

Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens. San Francisco, California. July 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blue and green waste receptacles next to a glass wall at Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco.

I’m tempted to not say much about this photograph, beyond the basics of where and when and what. The “where” is along the wall of the performing arts center at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center. The when is on a morning with high fog that produced some nice, diffused light. The “what” is, well, a couple of trash cans in front of a large window, behind which there are a couple of other trash cans in the same color scheme, a drinking fountain, and some yellow walls. Profound, no? :-)

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Reflections in Curved Window

Reflections in Curved Window
Reflections in Curved Window

Reflections in Curved Window. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A curved window on the Portside Building reflects a street scene near the San Francisco waterfront.

And now for something quite different from recently posted photographs…

I made this photograph while walking in San Francisco last summer. I’m intrigued by reflections and by scenes holding multiple layers or even multiple layered sub-scenes, so when I found this curved window I had to try to shoot it. For me the first thing I see is the cross-shaped pattern of the metallic bars separating the panes of glass. Looking more closely at what first seems to be just shiny and silver, I see quite a few colors and patterns, especially in the horizontal bars. On the other side of the window is a bit of the interior of the building – a white wall with its own curved shape, the end of a curved cushioned seat, and a dark area opening further into the interior on the right, within which a few shining lights are visible. Then there is the world in the reflections in the glass. (I mostly managed to exclude myself from the reflections, though you might be able to find a bit of me if you look very carefully! ) A person is framed in the lower right quarter of the frame against a background of a warped and curving street and sidewalk. The upper right section features some clearing fog over the Bay and a bit of an overhang in front of the building. The reflections at lower left are faint, though a cross walk can be seen. At upper left is a typical city scene with a traffic signal, wires, and the front of an urban building.

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Yellow Building With Dark Windows, Star Trails

Yellow Building With Dark Windows, Star Trails
Yellow Building With Dark Windows, Star Trails

Yellow Building With Dark Windows, Star Trails. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. February 26, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photography of an old yellow building with dark windows against a backdrop of dark sky with star trails, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California.

This is probably a fairly conventional image of Mare Island buildings in some ways and it includes the ever popular star trails! One aspect of doing night photography – especially when exposures are measured in minutes rather than seconds, much less fractions of seconds, and double-especially when you must wait for a second dark-frame exposure to complete – is that you have a lot of time to stand around and observe and think about what you see. A whole lot of time. Before I made this photograph, I had made one of a nearby wall with some interesting windows and a door and illuminated by some light that passed through some intervening stuff, producing interesting shadows. The alley where I was shooting was quite dark, necessitating fairly long exposures, so as I made that previous photograph I had perhaps 10-15 minutes of “standing around time,” during which I was able to observe my surroundings pretty closely.

Lately one subject that I’ve been experimenting with is the upper stories of buildings, shot from below and with sky beyond. Near where I was shooting and next to a nearby alley was this large (apparently) concrete building with dark windows, and its pointed prow against a backdrop of relatively dark sky. I noticed that this section of sky held more bright stars that some other areas and that if I lined things up just right I could position some to either side of the point at the corner of the building.

More Night 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.