Tag Archives: shade

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk, Brick Building, Hotel Sign

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Sidewalk, Brick Building, Hotel Sign
Sidewalk, Brick Building, Hotel Sign

Sidewalk, Brick Building, Hotel Sign. San Francisco, California. July 14,2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a street scene in San Francisco containing slanting sidewalk, brick and other buildings, and a hotel sign.

The geometric forms of this scene caught my attention as I walked up a street where many art students seem to hang out. The image is obviously full of all sorts of tall rectangles of varying sizes and colors, ranging from the small windows to the white column of the far building in the center to the bulky and dark form of the brick building on the right side of the frame. A couple of little elements also intrigued me: the juxtaposition of the parking meter and surrounding shadows and fire valves on the wall, and the parallel and slightly diagonal lines of the curb and the streetcar wires overhead.

G Dan Mitchell 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.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man on Bench with Cell Phone

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Man on Bench with Cell Phone
Man on Bench with Cell Phone

Man on Bench with Cell Phone. San Francisco, California. July 14, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a man sitting on a bench and talking on his cell phone in front of the shaded wall of an urban building in San Francisco.

I was wandering through this part of San Francisco, mostly but not only looking for architecture like that of this building, especially with the combination of dark shadows and the fire escape contrasting with the white trim and the bright areas lit by the slanting sunlight. When I saw this fellow happily engaged in his cell phone call, completely oblivious to everything going on in the place where he sits I had to make a photograph.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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.

(Basic EXIF data is available by “mousing over” large images in blog posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)


Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Manroot Blossoms

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Manroot Blossoms
Manroot Blossoms

Manroot Blossoms. Muir Woods National Park, California. May 8, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Manroot flowers blossom in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, Caifornia.

I hope I have the right ID on this flower. I’m noted before that I’m no expert on these things – I often can’t identify by name flowers that I am very familiar with. As near as I can tell, this is a “manroot” flower, also known as Marah fabecus. I photographed it in the forest of Muir Woods along Redwood Creek, where the plant grows in a vinelike manner among other plants.

The flowers are striking in the shaded forest, and especially since they seem to grow against a background of darker plants. I used an extension tube to make this photograph, shooting very close to the small flowers.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 73mm with extension tubes
ISO 400, f/4, 1/15 second

keywords: manroot, cucumber, Marah fabeceus, plant, flower, wildflower, spring, season, flora, foliage, blossom, bloom, muir, woods, national, monument, golden, gate, recreation, area, marin, county, california, usa, north america, nature, scenic, travel, white, green, bud, branch, bokeh, redwood, grove, forest, shade, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Grove Panorama

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Redwood Grove Panorama
Redwood Grove Panorama

Redwood Grove Panorama. Muir Woods National Monument, California. May 8, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Panoramic photograph of light transitioning to deep shade in a redwood grove near Hillside Trail at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I just had the morning free on this day so I was up early to head to Muir Woods National Monument in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of San Francisco. I got there so early that I snagged the first parking space closest to the park center. (Those who know the park and the crowds it draws, understand the significance of that achievement!)

I walked up the usual trail into the main grove with several photo ideas in mind. One of them was to do a bit more work on my idea of creating very wide and high quality panoramas that include the redwood groves, and I was thinking about trying at least one from an elevated location where I could shoot straight on at the sections of the tree trunks some yard above the ground. With this in mind I eventually headed up the “Hillside Trail” just beyond the old Bohemian Grove location, where I found several places that would give me the perspective I was looking for.

This photograph was made not far from the start of the trail, and I was perhaps 20-30 feet higher than the bottom of Redwood Creek Canyon. One thing I like about this scene is the transition from a bit of open, sunlit forest at the very far left, through the grove of redwood trees and the massive vertical forms of their trunks, and on to the softer and darker area of deciduous trees on the right side.

The photograph is a stitch of six 21mp photographs shot in vertical format. The resulting image has a tremendous amount of detail (which is obviously not visible in small web jpg) and should be printable with good results at very large sizes – at least ten feet wide.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 118mm
ISO 200, f/16, .5 second
stitched from six portrait-orientation 21mp images

keywords: redwood, sequoia, sempervirens, coast, grove, tree, trunk, creek, forest, maple, leaf, branch, silhouette, light, shade, shadow, deep, panorama, stitched, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, morning, nature, flora, foliage, plants, landscape, marin, county, california, usa, north america, stock