Tag Archives: shops

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storefronts, Reflections

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Storefronts, Reflections
Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Storefronts, Reflections. San Francisco, California. May 20. 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sidewalk shops and window reflections, San Francisco

Near the end of May I did one of my San Francisco walking street photography trips, heading up to The City on the train and then following a large loop through downtown San Francisco. San Francisco is a great walking city, and I’m able to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of diverse urban landscape on these walks — from the waterfront to business districts to industrial areas.

I saw a lot of interesting and possibly unexpected things in this little street side vignette. Oddly, there are no people in the photograph — more typically I line up an urban landscape like this one and then wait for subject to enter the frame. The colors, of the structures and of the shadow light, caught my attention — primarily we’re looking at the greenish awnings and the intense reds found in several places, with everything subject to the blue light of the shadows. And, of course, for this photographer it was frosting on the cake to be able to include the words on the awning 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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: England, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Night Pedestrians, London

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Night Pedestrians, London
Pedestrians walk through an area of shops at night, London

Night Pedestrians, London. London, England. August 2, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians walk through an area of shops at night, London

I made this photograph on a night when we attended a concert, a somewhat atypical one for us. The event was connected to a group that is, if we understood correctly, trying to counteract the negative prospects of Brexit and related social issues in Great Britain and perhaps beyond. It featured an extremely wide variety of performers, ranging from an opera singer accompanied by a small orchestra to jazz and more.

After the concert we left the venue and headed to a tube station. One of my main goals for this visit was to do some night street photography, so I pulled out my camera and looked for potential subjects as we passed through a commercial district with lots of small shops. Not surprisingly, there were tons of people out and about, and when I saw these two buildings I figured it would only be a matter of a short time before someone interesting walked into the frame. I ended up with the central copy walking almost in lockstep, plus a pair of more furtive figures in the shadows near the edges of the frame.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tourists Walking

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Tourists Walking
Tourists on a late-night walk passed closed Chinatown shops in San Francisco

Tourists Walking. San Francisco, California. September 5, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tourists on a late-night walk pass closed Chinatown shops in San Francisco

This is (yet another!) night street photography image made on one of my summer night walks in The City, in this case between roughly Union Square and almost to North Beach. A group of us meets up to photograph these subjects every so often. We begin before sunset and then continue walking, watching, and photographing right on into the night.

I recently read a nice description of part of what is appealing about photographing the street at night. In the daytime everything is more or less evenly lit, but at night small groups move into and out of the light, becoming “spotlighted” against the backdrop of the night. In places where we might see undifferentiated subjects in the daytime, subjects that pass though localized pools for light acquire more importance, and other elements of the scene recede. Here a small group of slightly uncomfortable-looking tourists shuffles past the closed up storefronts of Chinatown. Something about the group does not look entirely comfortable with their surroundings.

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

Paris, San Francisco

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Paris, San Francisco
Closed Stockton Street shops, San Francisco

Paris, San Francisco. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Closed Stockton Street shops, San Francisco

Today I’ll interrupt the nature/landscape photographs in order to share another photograph of a San Francisco street scene, photographed in late July when I was there for a night street photography shoot with friends. Members of the small group began assembling early enough to start with dinner — though I arrived late and had to meet up with them post-dinner on the street. We figured that if they walked south and I walked north that we might find one another along Stockton Street in the City’s Chinatown district.

This is a favorite area of mine for photography. I love the complex and often quite worn and utilitarian architecture. Shops are jam-packed close together, and at the right times of day the streets are packed with locals. Color and texture combinations can be wild, with colorful signs, painted and repainted walls, and more. On this early evening, there were no crowds. This spot is a ways up the hill from the touristy Grant, and shops were closed or closing for the day. Shops were closed or in the process of closing, so I had more unobstructed views of the buildings.

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.