Tag Archives: shadow

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Buildings, Venice Beach

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Buildings, Venice Beach
Venice Beach buildings in midday sun

Buildings, Venice Beach. Venice Beach, California. April 1, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Venice Beach buildings in midday sun

Finally. A photograph that is not Death Valley. Don’t worry, there are still more Death Valley photographs, and this one did come from the same trip. On our return from Death Valley we swung through the LA Basin to visit our daughter and son-in-law, replacing natural pleasures with the distinctly urban experiences of Los Angeles. On April 1 we went to Venice Beach to visit the G2 Gallery, where photographer friends exhibit from time to time. (We enjoyed the gallery quite a bit — some lovely photographs by Clyde Butcher and Jack Dykinga were featured that week.)

Out of the gallery and on the street I had an opportunity to play with a new camera, my Fujifilm X-Pro2, which had arrived shortly before we left for Death Valley. The street being the perfect place for such a camera, I pulled it out and made a few photographs. Initially I expected that this would be a color photograph, but as I worked on it in post I began to feel that it had potential in black and white.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Columns, Whitney Museum

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Columns, Whitney Musuem
Repeating forms of cylindrical columns

Columns, Whitney Museum. Manhattan, New York City. December 27, 2015. © Copyright 20165G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Repeating forms of cylindrical columns

I admit it — photographing at the new Whitney Museum in Manhattan almost felt like play. The building is interesting in and off itself, but especially interesting on the high and open outdoor terraces that thrust out from the building toward the city. Although there are no people in this photograph — in fact, I had to take some care to ensure that was the case — the location was also a prime place to photograph people.

These columns occupy a corner, up against a wall, on one of the upper floor outdoor terraces. Their positions allow light to shine on them from multiple directions and on this very cloudy day the light was soft and luminous. Although this is the sort of thing that I might prefer to shoot from the tripod, I was working in street photographer mode and therefore had to shoot handheld, carefully lining up the verticals, trying to obscure a few places where the background shone through between the columns, and then waiting for people to pass by and not be in the shot.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Staircase, Window, and Shadows

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Staircase, Window, and Shadows
Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

Staircase, Window, and Shadows. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

I made this photograph in an area that was actually so dark that I could barely see the subject — a long exposure and a higher ISO made the photograph possible and allow the camera to see what I cannot. I could see well enough to know that there were some unusual and interesting shadow patterns, including the organic shaped shadows of nearby trees and the angular shadows duplicating the lines of the stairway railings.

With a dark subject like this the first challenge is to make a composition out of things I can barely see. The broad outlines are visible, but it was not easy to see details… and focusing can be a major issue. (I have a bag of tricks for this. One technique is to simply shine a brighter light into the scene and focus on the lit area. An alternative if the subject is further way is to place the light inside the frame, focus on it, and then remove it for the exposure.) This whole area was just a bit spooky. I got to it by ascending a dark stairway and then walking across what seemed like it may have been an abandoned parking terrace that was littered with construction (or destruction?) debris.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Wall and Shadow

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Wall and Shadow
The shadow of a passing person on a bright yellow wall, San Francisco

Wall and Shadow. San Francisco, California. August 14, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadow of a passing person on a bright yellow wall, San Francisco

I had been walking along a busy San Francisco street as I traveled from the Caltrain Station up toward Market Street, photographing people and structures and construction zones. Right near Moscone Center I took a detour up a stairway leading towards the “Zeum” and the area around it.

It was still early morning and the low angle light struck a very brightly painted yellow wall where a staircase led to the upper level. I was working on ways to photograph this color (trickier than it seems!) and the angles of the stairway and the shadows when a person fortuitously walked across behind me and added her shadow to the scene.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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