Tag Archives: san jose

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk and Fence, Autumn Light

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Sidewalk and Fence, Autumn Light
Autumn light shine through a fence to illuminate a sidewalk and fallen leaves.

Sidewalk and Fence, Autumn Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn light shines through a fence to illuminate a sidewalk and fallen leaves.

Some years ago I went on a local walk that changed the way I think about these things. Like most of us, when I think of what I want to photography, my thoughts ofter turn to placed that are distant, exotic, and different from what I experience in my daily life. For me this means lots of fascinating landscapes — deserts, mountains, ocean, and more — or it may mean travel to distant urban areas. But on the day when I went on that walk, I carried my camera. When I walk for exercise I usually don’t pay close attention to my surroundings. Instead I tend to let my thoughts drift (a good thing sometimes!) and the focus is internal. But with camera in hand (and I mean literally in my hand, not just in the bag), I start to see things that I have overlooked. On that particular walk, on a winter day, I suddenly realized, for example, that there were shadows everywhere and that they were worth photographing.

Speaking of shadows, this is the season when they become more prevalent and more interesting. Because the Northern Hemisphere sun never gets very high in the sky, shadows are cast by almost everything and on almost everything. As I came around a corner on another walk-with-the-camera this week I was stopped in my tracks by the shape of the shadow from this metal fence, falling across a sidewalk and a few autumn leaves.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Urban/Street

Window and Wall in Summer Light

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Window and Wall in Summer Light
High summer light falls across the walls of a building with white window frames.

Window and Wall in Summer Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High summer light falls across the walls of a building with white window frames.

There are still more of the pandemic photographs — the “postcards from pandemia” — that I have made from time to time since our world changed back in March of 2020. During that time I did a lot of urban walking in a several mile radius of my home, and I always carry a camera when I walk. On many walks the camera remained in my bag, but every so often some element of this area would catch my attention and the camera would come out, I’d make a few exposures, and then I’d continue walking.

I’m now not quite certain where this subject is, exactly. The style of construction is common in older neighborhoods around here. One thing that appeals to me about a photograph like this one is that it can be about many different things. On one hand it is a visual record of the urban architecture of a certain time and place. But it also, to me at least, also a little study in composition and forms, mainly rectangles. It also is a kind of minimalism, consisting of really only three colors — the dark windows, the blue wall, and the white window frame. There are two slightly mysterious elements that create visual dissonance for me. One is the diagonal shadow — really the only line in the scene that isn’t a perfect vertical or horizontal — that comes from some unknown and unseen source outside the frame. Another is that slightly dark and mysterious shaded area near the upper left.

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: Urban/Street

Suburban Questions

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Suburban Questions
A scene from a suburban neighborhood.

Suburban Questions. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A scene from a suburban neighborhood.

While walking recently I came across a scene — in a quiet urban neighborhood — that reminded of writers who speculate about what photographs might tell us and about the questions they may pose. How do photographs work and what do they convey?

Sometimes the questions seem to outweigh anything else.

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: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

RK AVENUE BALLRO

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RK AVENUE BALLRO
The front entrance to an urban dance studio, San Jose.

RK AVENUE BALLRO. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The front entrance to an urban dance studio, San Jose.

If you have been following along here you probably can guess that this is another photograph from my (almost) daily long walks in the greater neighborhood, an activity that has become a ritual during the time since March 2020… for reasons that you can also probably guess. These walks range from the short (“Gotta at least put in a half hour!”) to nearly ten miles, virtually always through the urban wilderness of neighborhoods, industrial areas, shopping centers, and similar.

I always carry a camera, though on most walks it stays in the bag. But every so often something catches my attention and out comes the camera. Quite often the subject is something that I’ve passed by many times but only really notice for the first time on one of the walks — a common experience, by the way. The elements that make this building what it is comprise quite a collection — the heavy framing of the entry way, the rather striking and perhaps unusual color choices, and more… some of which lies outside the frame in this photograph.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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