Tag Archives: trees

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Two Women, Sculpture, and Trees

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Two Women, Sculpture, and Trees
Two Women, Sculpture, and Trees

Two Women, Sculpture, and Trees. The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two women pause near statues and trees with autumn leaves on a rainy day at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California.

I like to photograph from near the top of the steps next to the building at the Getty that houses the photography section. From here the view opens to the large gardens below, with buildings beyond and to the right. If you watch long enough you can find interesting compositions as people accidentally assemble themselves as they walk across this space.

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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Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Dining Terrace and Columns

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Dining Terrace and Columns
Dining Terrace and Columns


Dining Terrace and Columns. The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors on the outdoor dining terrace among tall stone pillars with fog beyond – Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California.

I think this terrace is one of the most interesting places at the Getty Center for a variety of reasons. For one, these slender and tall columns seem to support a rather large part of the museum – being a virtual native Californian I can’t help but think about their seeming fragility here in earthquake country. But the space itself is a very interesting one. While protected from sun and rain (as on the day I made the photograph) it feels very open because of the unusually high “ceiling” and the fact that it is almost completely open along a good part of its edge. While the “back” wall is nondescript – and, in retrospect, I can’t even describe it – the front opens to the large gardens that are spread below.

Elements that attracted me to the scene on this visit included the gradual gradient from shadow at the lower right to much brighter light at the far edge of the terrace, the vertical length of the support columns and their relative placement, the very small figures of the visitors, and the diffuse and misty fog and rain beyond the terrace.

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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Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street, Southern California

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

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Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden
Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors walk through the garden on a rainy and foggy afternoon day at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.

I’m probably just about the only person who goes to the Getty Center hoping for rain… and who is regards himself as lucky when he gets rain… and fog! :-)

We were in LA during the past week to visit my daughter and our son-in-law, and we decided to stop at the Getty on the start of our return drive to the SF Bay Area. I’m always fascinated by the grounds of the Getty and by the opportunities to photograph people on those grounds, and interesting weather makes this even more appealing. On top of that my daughter had told us about the wonderful Rembrandt exhibit and I was looking forward to the Irving Penn “Small Trades” photographs on display. (It is a great exhibit – see it if you are in the area.)

I often confess that as much as I enjoy the art at the Getty, I enjoy the Getty as architecture and urban landscape just as much. Although few of my Getty photographs appear here, I very much enjoy photographing the forms and lighting of the buildings and the gardens. It was raining lightly when we arrived, and by the time we made it up the hill fog had settled on the ridge. I actually made well over 100 exposures throughout the day. Many were shot quickly as momentary conjunctions of people and light and atmosphere appeared and just as quickly disappeared. I happened to find myself on a walkway overlooking the fogged-in garden just as a couple groups of umbrella-bearing visitors encountered one another near the sharp point of this path.

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: getty, center, art, museum, los angeles, california, usa, path, walk, sidewalk, people, man, woman, umbrella, tan, red, white, trees, silhouette, plant, lawn, grove, step, reflection, fog, mist, cloud, rain, shower, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Fall Morning, San Francisco and the Golden Gate

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Fall Morning, San Francisco and the Golden Gate
Fall Morning, San Francisco and the Golden Gate

Fall Morning, San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The view from the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate and San Francisco to the East Bay and the hills beyond.

This is probably another familiar scene – the panoramic view of the Golden Gate and its famous bridge with San Francisco and its famous bay beyond. This vantage point high in the Marin Headlands provides a spectacular perspective on San Francisco and a good portion of the Bay. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are visible above the north (left) tower of the Golden Gate bridge and the inland hills of the Diablo Range (a.k.a. as the “east bay hills”) are seen in the far distance.

This scene is often presented in a more panoramic perspective – in other words a wider and shorter composition. I played around with that idea here, but I ended up liking the sense of depth provided by the bit of Marin Headlands bluff at the bottom and I like this late autumn sky – though it felt more like early winter!

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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