Tag Archives: station

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

All Stops Special – Caltrain Station

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All Stops Special - Caltrain Station
All Stops Special - Caltrain Station

All Stops Special – Caltrain Station. San Francisco, California. July 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The San Francisco Caltrain station, photographed through glass lobby windows.

I frequently ride Caltrain to the City to do street photography. (Getting there by train is far better for me than taking the car, mainly because I think I can do more effective photography of this sort when I’m working completely on foot and not dealing with the whole driving/parking thing.) In this photograph I liked the nearly empty glass-enclosed lobby area, lit by very diffused light under the early morning fog, and with the trains visible on the other side. The “All Stops Special” sign seems enigmatic when seen out of context.

By the way, as much as San Francisco residents love the sunny and warmer days that occasionally come to the City this time of year, for photography I much prefer at least some fog and cloudiness, especially when I try to shoot during the daytime hours.

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.

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: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

People on MUNI Platform

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People on MUNI Platform

People on MUNI Platform. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene from an overhead perspective of several people waiting for the train on a MUNI platform in San Francisco.

There is a good chance that this photograph isn’t going to make a lot of sense to some of my friends who enjoy my landscape work – but it is actually one of my personal favorite recent photographs. There are several things that I like about it. For one, I actually like the mostly muted color palette of grays and blues, but with the warmer yellow stripes on the platform and the two odd “international orange” pylon bases. I also like the combination of a strong symmetry with a bunch of elements that are anything but perfect and symmetrical: the positions of the five figures, the paving stones with squares of dirt, the slightly off-angle barricades. I can also look at this as an abstract image of shapes, most of which are related in some way to rectangles. And then there is the interesting (to me, at least) arrangement of the people into three groups: the two guys on the right who seem to be looking up towards my camera position, the couple who appear to be gazing at each other, and the girl on the left who is facing the other direction and seemingly oblivious to her surroundings as she talks on the phone. I also like the transparent curving wall beyond the four figures at the right and the position of the two trash cans (trash cans!) between them and the girl.

You certainly don’t have to share my enthusiasm for this photograph, but perhaps you’ll understand a bit of what I think I see in it.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

keywords: man, woman, people, cell, phone, couple, gaze, trash, can, barricade, curve, roof, platform, cement, concrete, aggregate, tile, rail, track, muni, trail, transit, station, fence, curb, city, downtown, urban, street, paving, san francisco, california, usa, travel, stock, king, barrier, transparent, curve

Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Point Reyes Life-saving Station

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Point Reyes Life-saving Station

Point Reyes Life-saving Station. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. June 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the historic Point Reyes Life-saving Station and dock with Drakes Bay and Point Reyes cliffs beyond. Point Reyes National Seashore, California.

This old building sits right on the shoreline of Drakes Bay, on the sheltered side of the Point Reyes Headlands. It was used until a half century ago as the staging area of rescues at sea, and it includes an unusual rail system for launching rescue boats. (It somehow seems right to show this historic building in black and white, and compositionally I like the effect a bit better as well.)

keywords: point reyes; national seashore; park; lifesaving; life-saving; station; building; dock; pier; drakes bay; historic; beach; shoreline; waterfront; windows; black and white; white; whitecaps; landscape; scenic; travel; california; usa; pilings; stock

Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Passengers Leaving Caltrain

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Passengers Leaving CalTrain
Passengers Leaving Caltrain. San Francisco, California. May 9, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of commuters leaving the train at the 4th and Townsend Caltrain station in San Francisco, California.

keywords: California, San Francisco, Spring, downtown, passenger, urban, street, commuter, train, caltrain, station, track, platform, pole, window, people, walk, stock, travel, door, fourth, street, 4th, townsend, transit