Tag Archives: river

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park

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Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Tourists, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tourists walk along the East River shoreline at the Brooklyn Bridge Park as a sailboat passes

I made this photograph in the DUMBO (“Down Under Manhattan Bridge Underpass”) area of Brooklyn’s waterfront, near where both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges arrive from across the water in Manhattan. After a lot of time spent wandering Manhattan with camera in hand, we decided to take a slightly lower key day and wander Brooklyn instead. We walked here and there, stopping for lunch in a great little sandwich shop, and then wandered some more, traveling through Park Slope until we ended up at the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Without any firm plan, but with a general thought of taking a water taxi uptown and into Manhattan, we walked along this park for a while, soon arriving at the water taxi dock. We bought our tickets and then had some time to sit around on this sunny afternoon and wait and watch passers-by. I kept looking a this small are of the promenade where the railing curved back in towards the ferry dock and from which a great panoramic view of Manhattan was available. There was an ebb and flow of other visitors, and among them there were occasionally some interesting juxtapositions of people, clothing, activities, and more. This brief instant, featuring people in various colorful shirts and a passing sailboat (!) seemed like a worthwhile one to capture.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: New York City

Steps, Hudson River, Winter

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Steps, Hudson River, Winter
Steps, Hudson River, Winter

Steps, Hudson River, Winter. New York City. December 30, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steps, dormant trees, and the Hudson River, Winter

We recently returned from a visit to New York City that lasted a bit longer than a week. New Yorkers shake their heads when I admit that we chose to visit New York in August — they know (and so do I) that this can be a time of miserable heat and humidity. But we got lucky and had mostly quite decent weather and even a few mornings that felt cool. On one of these days we took a train ride up the Hudson River to see this area that everyone tells me is so beautiful. And it is. Unlike California with its (beautiful, once you get to know it) golden-brown summer vegetation, here everything it green and the light is soft.

But that’s not when I made this photograph. I made this one at yet another time when New Yorkers might think only fools would choose to be there — the cold, mid-winter period between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Again, we were lucky. It was cold, but we managed to just miss some quite serious snow, and our ability to be out and about was unimpaired. On this day we decided to head a bit north on the subway and visit the Cloisters Museum, a surprising and impressive place that focuses on art and architecture from the Medieval period. Between the subway and the museum we walked up these steps, and it seemed to me that the bare branches, the gray and cloudy sky, the few remaining autumn leaves, and the stone steps captured the feeling of this winter day.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur, Winter

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Point Sur, Winter
“Point ur, Winter” — Winter surf along the Pacific Ocean coastline at Point Sur

This is a companion to a photograph of this scene that I posted earlier. The primary difference here is the vertical composition. I’m still thinking about which I prefer. Each has its attractions. The horizontal (or “landscape”) orientation shows more of the “point” itself where the lighthouse is located and more of the ocean off the beach. On the other hand, this version seems to me to bring more attention to the water and the curve of the waves leading toward the point and the horizon.

Point Sur is a wild place, often with strong winds and big surf coming straight on towards the beach, which faces north or northwest. The point is connected to the main land by a low, sandy peninsula, and it is easy to imagine it being overwhelmed by the sea, perhaps during a tsunami. I have read that the lighthouse was originally a very isolated place when it was first constructed in the late 1800s, with the lighthouse keepers and their families largely cut off for months at a time, to the point that they grew their own crops. Of course, today it is easy to forget that relatively recent history, since thousands of visitors now pass by daily along the Pacific Coast Highway.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur

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Point Sur
Point Sur

Point Sur. Pacific Coast Highway, California. January 31, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pacific Ocean surf at the Point Sur Lighthouse near the mouth of the Little Sur River.

Point Sur is a dramatic landmark along the Big Sur coastline of California south of the Monterey area, standing apart from the main land mass and attached to it by a low peninsula with sand dunes and a beach facing north toward the Pacific. Virtually every time I have passed by here the wind has been howling, often kicking up clouds of ocean spray, or else it has been fogged in. The lighthouse itself sits near the right end of the point, as seen in this photograph, with other buildings along the highest ridge. I have yet to visit the historic structure, but I often stop along this section of the coast and try to photograph the point.

I made this photograph on a winter day when those strong winds were blowing and the winter seas were battering the north facing beach. This time I looked for a higher vantage point that would show the line of surf approaching the beach and include the silhouette of the coastal hills and bluffs at the edge of the sea. This image languished in my archive for nearly half a year before I returned to this set of images and saw that it could work in a monochrome rendition, and that this might even be a more dramatic way to show this scene.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.