Tag Archives: the

Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sleeveless the Magician

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Sleeveless the Magician
A crowd assembled to watch a performance by Sleeveless the Magician at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Sleeveless the Magician. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A crowd assembled to watch a performance by Sleeveless the Magician at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

This photograph comes from a visit to San Diego a few years ago. We ended up spending a good part of a day wandering around the city’s big Balboa Park along with huge crowds of other people enjoying the early spring Southern California sunshine. I recall that on this day I had left my big camera behind and instead was traveling light, using a very small camera and a couple of little primes, and having fun shooting street photographer style.

A big crowd had assembled along a wide passageway where a street magician was performing, doing tricks that seemed largely designed to appeal to children. I stood at the back of the crowd and made a few photographs. Rediscovering this photograph recently reminded me how much I miss the experience of being in huge, busy crowds in places like this. Yes, I like being alone in quiet places, but I miss busy parks, crowded restaurants, concerts, even airline travel. I’m looking forward to seeing life return to something resembling normal in 2021.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

The Tiger-Dragon

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The Tiger-Dragon
Street art on a vacant San Francisco storefront

The Tiger-Dragon. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street art on a vacant San Francisco storefront.

When walking through this area of San Francisco, rather than take the popular Grant route I often go up a block and walk along Stockton. While Grant is largely lined with tourist shops, along Stockton you’ll find lots of markets, tons of people, and trucks lining up to drop off produce in front the markets. It can be so crowded here that it is almost difficult to pass along the sidewalk.

This photograph shows the side wall of one of the businesses in the area, and in this case a shop that is currently vacant. I don’t know the story behind this vacancy, but I do know that it is increasingly difficult for small businesses to pay the costs in this central San Francisco area. Not far away, along Columbus, there is a string of what were old-school Italian coffee houses that were apparently sold, the businesses closed, and who knows what will replace them?

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: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Rainy Evening, Amsterdam

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Rainy Evening, Amsterdam
Pedestrians walk along a narrow Amsterdam brick street on a rainy evening

Rainy Evening, Amsterdam. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians walk along a narrow Amsterdam brick street on a rainy evening

This was our first day in Amsterdam, on our first visit to this city. We arrived by train from London, got there in the afternoon, went to our hotel to get settled in, and then it was time to begin our explorations and to get something to eat. Our hotel was just outside of the very busy central area of Amsterdam, so we had to walk a few blocks first before we entered the familiar narrow and curving streets… and for the first time saw the busy crowds, scores of bicycles, and more.

It was a slightly wet evening — no hard rain, but enough to dampen the pavement and create reflections. The darkened, cloudy skies and the late hour limited the light, which always has the nice effect of making illuminated signs a bit more visible, but without blowing them out as can happen at night. Our first impression on entering this area was that we could just walk up the center of the street. That turned out to be sort of true, but there’s more to it than that in Amsterdam. Lots of different types of traffic share these streets — the ubiquitous bicycles, pedestrians, occasional scooters and cars — and it turns out that there are some rules and expectations about who goes where. If you haven’t been there before, I’ll just say, “Watch out for bicycles!”

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Amsterdam Pedestrians, Rain

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Amsterdam Pedestrians, Rain
Light rain falling on Amsterdam street filled with pedestrians

Amsterdam Pedestrians, Rain. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light rain falling on Amsterdam street filled with pedestrians

Amsterdam is really a place that is as dark as what you see here — or at least it wasn’t during the majority of our August 2018 visit. I heard from locals that it certainly can be cloudy there a lot, but we mostly had lovely weather, with clouds, an occasional bit of rain, but also plenty of sunshine.

However, the day we arrived it was rainy, and as we walked from our hotel (located just outside the central part of the city) towards the area of the familiar canals night was falling and it was a bit dark and mysterious, with lots of people walking along the wet and reflecting streets.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.