Tag Archives: skyscraper

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

Urban Canyon, Maiden Lane

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Urban Canyon, Maiden Lane
Urban Canyon, Maiden Lane

Urban Canyon, Maiden Lane. New York, New York. August 19, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light strikes buildings above the curving urban canyon of Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan.

We were in this area of lower Manhattan for several reasons on the morning of the last full day of our New York City visit. We made a stop at the nearby World Trade Center site – it is difficult to explain all of the reactions that I had to this. The last time I visited (close to New Years Day 2000) we stood on top of one of the buildings to see the nighttime view – and now there is a void in that place.

We were also there to visit our oldest son who was working that day in an office on Maiden Lane – and, later on, to join the throngs walking out onto the Brooklyn Bridge. (This was our first day of clear, blue sky weather.) I made this photograph as we approached that street a bit early, giving us some time to look around a bit. Oddly, when I visit the very narrow and twisty “canyons” of this part of Manhattan, with the very tall buildings towering immediately above and following the curves of the old streets, I always think of different sorts of canyons, for example the sort that I frequently visit in the Sierra. It occurred to me that the same light falls on both types of canyons. You can bet that I would have my camera out if light like that shining on the front of these curved buildings appeared in “my” Sierra!

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: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

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San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

The atmosphere above the Bay varies in astonishing ways throughout the year, and it never seems to be quite the same twice. While the summer often brings the familiar banks of ocean fog, winter brings the effects of fog from the other direction in the form of tule fog forming over the inland valleys. It can be completely clear – and, for the season, warm on the coast – yet a few miles inland the lower valleys may be filled with cold, wet, ground fog.

During these conditions, the moist air can move towards San Francisco and the Bay by way of the delta. That is more or less what was happening on this morning when the very most and hazy air from inland had created this soft atmosphere and light above The City, even as higher winter clouds in clear air moved far overhead, catching the morning sun light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

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

Converging Lines and Clouds

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Converging Lines and Clouds

Converging Lines and Clouds. San Francisco, California. September 16, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of converging lines of downtown San Francisco buildings with cloudy sky.

On this “urban landscape” I went with a wide focal length and decided to just let those perspective lines go right ahead and converge! The photograph was made on a morning walk up the lower part of Market Street as the fog began to clear back from the bay.

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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keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, tourist, scenic, city, urban, downtown, perspective, converging, lines, angles, structure, texture, shadow, reflection, cloud, sky, fog, line, form, shape, tower, building, skyscraper, window, wall, surface, abstract, stock, monochrome, black and white

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

Reflection Patterns, San Francisco

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Reflection Patterns, San Francisco

Reflection Patterns, San Francisco. San Francisco, California. September 16, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Many layers of reflections on windows of downtown towers in San Francisco, California.

I’m crazy about the “reflections of reflections reflections…” that you can find in urbanized downtown areas when the light is just right. While the shapes and forms of the buildings are, I think, somewhat interesting, what intrigued me about this scene were the almost psychedelic shapes and colors of the warped, bent, and oddly juxtaposed reflections covering almost all of the shiny surfaces of the buildings. (Of course, all of that is a bit hard to see in this small online jpg version.)

This is definitely one of the photographs in my “urban landscape” category. I have to think about the light and the shapes and distance in much the same way I might if I were photographing in a natural canyon or deep valley. However, unlike “real” landscape photography, shots are these are almost always done hand held and shot fairly quickly while wandering around on foot.

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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keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, tourist, scenic, city, urban, downtown, architecture, building, tower, skyscraper, structure, form, shadow, column, sky, cloud, angle, wires, windows, walls, stock