Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chrysler Building and Street Lamp

August 20, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Black and white photograph of the Chrysler Building and a lamp post in New York City.

Yes, we are in New York City. Needless to say, this is a “target rich environment” for street, urban, and architectural photography. This familiar building is the first post from this trip. It is a black and white photograph for a couple of reasons. First, this turns out to be one of those photograph where I like both the color and black and white interpretations. Second, and more practical, I am working from an uncalibrated monitor and can’t be certain what the colors will look like. With that in mind, it seemed like a good idea to post the BW images first!

The Chrysler Building is an easily recognized Manhattan landmark… especially if you saw “Ghostbusters.” We were out for a “first morning in New York walk” on our first full day here, and the area around this nearby building seemed like a decent objective.

(On a practical note: As with the color calibration issue, I’m not in my usual workflow environment while on the road, so don’t be surprised if some things don’t look exactly like they normally do.)

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 may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Breakwater, San Francisco Bay

August 19, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Anchored ship and ship yard cranes of the port of Oakland beyond a breakwater, San Francisco Bay.

I made this photograph on one of my summertime San Francisco visits on which I head up there on the train very early in the morning, and then I walk wherever my nose leads me, making photographs. On this visit I left the train station and ended up crossing a bridge to the inlet behind AT&T park, sometimes called “McCovey Cove.” From along the far side of this inlet I could see across the San Francisco Bay to the towering cranes at the port of Oakland. They were backed by a fog bank that completely obscured the city of Oakland and all but the very tops of the East Bay Hills.

This morning light coming across the Bay can be very special. As it often shines through the moisture laden air over the water and sometimes through clearing fog, it can take on a luminous glow and can even be almost too bright to look at. This was that sort of morning, so I let the sky exposure go as close to white as I could and still retain some sense of the thick air. The dark object at the left is a concrete breakwater outside the entrance to South Beach Harbor.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Nevada Near June Lake

August 16, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees ascend sage-covered hills toward the Sierra Nevada crest near June Lake, California.

Near highway 395 in Mono County, the main north-south route east of the Sierra crest, these open stands of large conifers ascend from the high desert sagebrush country towards the peaks of the Sierra crest, which rise much more abruptly on this side of the range than on the gentle west side. The tall ridge is above the June Lakes resort area between Mammoth Lakes and Lee Vining.

While my primary goal on this trip was to photograph in the Yosemite high country along Tioga Pass Road, smoke from a wildfire near Glacier Point in the park was drifting over the Tuolumne area and creating a lot of very non-photogenic haze. I had a hunch that by dropped over to the east side of the range I might be able to get away from the smoke or at least find areas where it wasn’t so thick. The smoke was still affecting the light near Lee Vining, but I didn’t have to drive too far south to get out of its path, though even here there is a bit of haze increasing the effect of atmospheric recession.

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

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

Offshore Fog Bank, Marin Headlands

July 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Offshore fog lies beyond Point Bonita and Rodeo Beach and the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

I was surprised to find a clear view like this during my mid-July visit to the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) across the Bay from San Francisco. I had almost decided to stay home or go elsewhere based on weather reports that had the coast completely socked in my dense fog for most of the day. Indeed, it was foggy as I passed through San Francisco and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog was high, and I could see some distance beneath it, but it was still a rather gray day.

Since the lower section of Conzelman Road, the normal quick and scenic route up into the headlands, was closed for construction, I took that alternate route that passes through a tunnel to come out near Rodeo Beach. I turned left up the hill to reach the upper section of the road. After photographing near Battery 129 for a while, the sun began to break through the fog, and I was surprised to find a fairly clear patch just outside the Golden Gate.

The photograph shows the last section of the headlands as the hills drop towards the historic fort and batteries near the Point Bonito light house, which is barely visible at the end of the peninsula on the left. The line of surf at the upper right is Rodeo Beach, a popular spot with Bay Area folks.

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

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.