Tag Archives: stairway

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Stairway

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Blue Stairway
A blue stairway in a softly lit alcove

Blue Stairway. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue stairway in a softly lit alcove

In contrast to much of what I have recently shared, this photograph is not a landscape. Or perhaps it is. OK, it is. I think of photographs like this, at least to some extent, as being “urban landscapes.” In many ways (but not all) I see them in ways that are similar to how I see landscape. I’m looking for form and composition, color, effects of light, some sense of the feeling of the place, and often a quality of stillness. I also think that these photographs, like some of my personal favorite landscape photographs, attempt to look at a familiar place in an unfamiliar way. For example, there is almost nothing in this photograph to tell you that it was made in San Francisco, not far at all from some rather iconic views.

Despite the similarities to my landscape photography, there are also some obvious differences. The distinctly non-natural subject is one obvious clue. Perhaps less obvious is that these photographs are not made in the usual natural landscape manner, relying on tripods, remote releases, and sometimes plenty of time to think and consider. Instead, these are virtually always shot handheld with a small camera. I’m generally on the move when I photograph these subjects, typically pausing only long enough to frame and trip the shutter, and then I continue along. In fact, I barely broke my stride as I passed this scene and made 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Steps and Concrete Walls, Night

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Steps and Concrete Walls, Night
A stairway in the dark, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Steps and Concrete Walls, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stairway in the dark, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

I made this photograph recently, on a night photography visit to the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard with my friends from the Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. We assembled for an “alumni” event, so almost all of us were veterans of night photography at this location. Many of us have photographed here for a decade or more.

Instead of beginning with the usual subjects, I needed out into the night with the goal of avoiding them, at least at first, and instead looking in unlikely places that I had not previously photographed. I spent more time that I would have expected in the area of this staircase. I first happened on it almost by chance. I was photographing this building from some distance away, and as I worked on that photograph I began to notice the potentials of some of the concrete structures near the front of the building. I wandered over there, slowly considered the possibilities, and was first drawn to this stairway. It took be a bit of work to finally arrive at this composition — my first thought was to use a vertical composition.

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.

Commentary, Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Two People, Railing, Walls

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Two People, Railing, Walls
Two People, Railing, Walls

Two People, Railing, Walls. New York City. December 29, 2013. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two figures seen through a gap in walls at the top of a stairway.

There is probably not too much to say about this photograph, though I could probably say a lot about it if I got started. During a rainy day visit to a New York City museum, I saw the gap between walls at the top of this stairway and the effects on color and luminosity of the various different sources of reflected light in this space. I lined up with the scene to leave a slender gap between the corners of two walls so that people passing by in the hallway would momentarily show up in this gap. I tried a variety of focus points – on the people, on the edges of the walls, on the railings… but in the end I liked the version that doesn’t really focus on anything specific.

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

Stairway and Broken Windows

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Stairway and Broken Windows
Stairway and Broken Windows

Stairway and Broken Windows. Near Vallejo, California. March 16, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Exterior staircase, broken windows, and peeling paint on the wooden side panels of an abandoned building near Vallejo, California

I had joined up with a group of night photographers that I often shoot with on this evening, and we were sitting around in the late afternoon hours sharing pizza when someone made the radical suggestion of going out to shoot before darkness arrived! In the past, this has been just about the only group of photographers I’ve ever met who would stay inside during a San Francisco Bay area golden hour and sunset period, anxious for the light to go away so that shooting could begin! But on this evening, the radical concept of shooting in the daylight must have seemed so innovative that quite a few of us headed out to find either landscape-style shots over the San Francisco Bay or else abandoned and dilapidated industrial subjects nearby. I opted for the latter, and hoping to cover a bit more ground before dark, rather than walking nearby I drove, trying to figure out where I wanted to be in the fading light.

I ended up near this lonely, abandoned and partially destroyed building that has been left to vandals, who seem to be doing their best to accelerate the natural destructive forces that eventually take such buildings. Many windows are broken, there is spray paint in many places, and the exterior of the building is tremendously weathered and worn. Just a few minutes before sunset I made a series of exposures of this building, using a long lens to isolate smaller sections of the building. The sunset light turned the otherwise-dull building a much more intense shade of brown/yellow, and the brighter sky and clouds over San Francisco Bay are reflected in the broken windows. Soon after I finished shooting, the sun set, and I headed back to where my nocturnal friends awaited, and we headed out to photograph in the night.

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

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.