Tag Archives: stairs

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Stairway, Olympic Sculpture Park

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Stairway, Seattle Sculpture Park

Stairway, Seattle Sculpture Park. Seattle, Washington. June 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stairway ascends to the second floor of the PACCAR Pavilion at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Washington.

I visit Seattle on a fairly regular basis since various relatives live or used to live in the area. I had heard about the Olympic Sculpture Park for years before I finally got to visit on a cold New Years Day a few years ago – and since that visit I’ve always looked forward to visiting and photographing the park. This time I was only there for a very short time – perhaps 30-45 minutes between a midday activity and departure to Seatac for my flight back home – so I only photographed a few subjects. This stairway intrigued me with its crazy angles, the combination of real objects and almost-imaginary reflected versions of them, and the soft light coming through the windows from the overcast Seattle sky.

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

keywords: stairs, stairway, steps, ascend, rail, hand, handrail, column, window, door, glass, pipe, panel, structure, architecture, light, ceiling, room, light, reflection, mirror, blue, seattle, PACCAR, Pavilion, sculpture, park, art, museum, sam, washington, usa, travel, second, floor, digaonal, vertical, horizontal, tread, stock

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

Brick Building Near AT&T Park

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Brick Building Near AT&T Park

Brick Building Near AT&T Park. San Francisco, California. May 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brick building viewed from the upper reachs of AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.

Continuing with my habit of shooting near sunset from AT&T Park when I go to SF Giants games, this photograph concentrates on some brick buildings and rooftops across the street from the stadium – I think of this as an urban landscape photograph.

A challenge of these photographs is that I must work hand held and at very low shutter speeds, and I can really only bring a single lens – the ballpark apparently doesn’t look kindly on people bringing professional-looking gear into the park, and I’m certain that a tripod would be out of the question. So I shoot with a full-frame body and a 24-105 image-stabilized lens, often going to ISO 400 or ISO 800. Some photographs are shot with exposures as long as 1/6 second.

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

keywords: att, at&t, park, stadium, ball, baseball, giants, sf, san francisco, california, usa, travel, brick, building, roof, window, stairs, fire escape, ventilation, vent, window, light, steps, old, urban, landscape, weathered, downtown, city, 2nd, street, king, perspective, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Steps, Ocean View Trail

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Steps, Ocean View Trail. Muir Woods National Monument. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Steps, Ocean View Trail. Muir Woods National Monument. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Steps, Ocean View Trail. Muir Woods National Monument, California. February 28, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steps ascend a steep hill through the redwoods near the start of the Ocean View Trail, Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is a scene that I have photographed before – in particular I recall photographing these steps early in the evening before one of the winter solstice events at Muir Woods, when the trails through the grove are lit by candles. On the last day of February this year I visited again, but this time very early in the morning before many other visitors had arrived. I was thinking “color” when I made this photograph (and I may still post the color version eventually) but I ended up liking this black and white version quite a bit. I like the diagonal division between the upper left half which mostly includes the vertical forms of the redwood trees and the lower right section which includes the steps leading in to the trees.

This was actually a somewhat tricky scene to photograph. While the dynamic range was quite huge, ranging from the deep shadows on the sides of the trees at the left to the almost sunlit foliage beyond the trees, overall the scene was quite dim. Because I needed great depth of field I shot at f/16. Because I wanted the cleanest image possible I shot at ISO 100. All of this meant that I ended up making a 2.5 second exposure! Still there were post-processing challenges, including bringing up a bit of detail in the darker areas of the scene while at the same time being careful to not increase the brightness in the bright spots. And after paying attention to the extremes some work had to be done on the middle tones to get some life back there.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.keywords: muir, woods, national, monument, park, marin, forest, nature, california, usa, steps, stairs, railing, fence, trail, ocean, view, redwood, grove, trees, ferns, clover, oregon oxalis, redwood sorrell, green, canopy, light, filtered, trunk, landscape, scenic, travel, outdoor, hike, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Steps, Handrail, Mailbox, Door

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Steps, Handrail, Mailbox, Door

Steps, Handrail, Mailbox, Door. San Jose, California. December 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steps, handrail, mailbox, door, and wall in a light industrial building in downtown San Jose, California.

I found this doorway on a side street in a light industrial area of downtown San Jose. I like the combination of all sorts of angles – perspective lines and the line of the handrail – and the contrast between the cold tone cement of the entry way and the warmly lighted interior of the building.

Yes, it is another “urban landscape” photograph.

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

keywords: steps, mailbox, handrail, railing, door, window, doorbell, moulding, stairs, entry, wall, cement, concrete, light, yellow, red, black, downtown, urban, light, industrial, building, san jose, california, usa, street, urban, stock, box