Tag Archives: two

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Pelicans in Flight

May 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two pelicans in flight along high bluffs above the Pacific Ocean coast north of Santa Cruz, California.

More pelicans… These were photographed along the bluff just south of Waddell Beach, the coastal section of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. I’ve observed the pelicans – and other birds – skim past very close to the edge of the bluff and then descend to the outlet of Waddell Creek on the beach.

The light on this day was not especially conducive to landscape photography – it had been a sort of murky, gray morning – so I thought I’d use the softer light (with its tendency to reduce blown highlights and to bring out shadow detail) to try to photograph these great birds. The pelicans are often seen along the coast in California, though their numbers had seemed to decrease over the winter. On this morning it seemed like they might be increasing once again.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600 second

keywords: pelican, pelagic, bird, sea, shore, sky, cloud, two, nature, wildlife, bif, santa cruz, county, davenport, california, usa, north america, fly, flight, wing, beak, flock, group, wild, highway, one, pacific, ocean, bluff, stock, northern

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

Man in Suit Between Two Cars

March 15, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A man in a dark suit holding a bag and standing between two cars in front of old buildings in downtown San Francisco, California.

A quick street photo while walking into the fringes of the Tenderloin in San Francisco on the first weekend of March. I’m not sure how much sense this photograph may make to others, but there is a lot in it that appeals to me. For one thing I like the muted color scheme – most everything is some shade of black or near-gray or muted tan, with just a few spots of color. Even the man between the two cars is wearing only black and white clothing. Then there is the very busy but blocky pattern of the front of the buildings behind the man and the cars. However, to my eye at least, several types of order emerge from the complexity of these shapes. For example several elements create forms that rise diagonally from left to right: the two cars, the two balconies, the line through the left window, the dark doorway, and the lighter window in the center right section. And then there are the window reflections – which are becoming a bit of an urban photography theme for me. I also look at the man and wonder what he is doing – why is he wearing that particular set of clothes? What is in the small bag he holds? What is he looking for?

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 second

keywords: man, between, two, cars, sedan, street, curb, park, suit, hill, slant, incline, door, frame, gate, window, balcony, latter, awning, sidewalk, urban, city, downtown, bag, wrought, iron, worn, grafitti, reflection, brick, wall, urban, san francisco, california, usa, north america, travel, person, tenderloin, stock, dark, black suit

Commentary, Ideas, Photographers

Two Photographers: Two Videos

February 10, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

I came across a couple of interesting videos of photographers on the web today.

The first is a wonderful video of Michael Kenna photographing in the snow in Hokkaido, Japan. The video is partly an interview, partly a visual narrative of Kenna at work, and partly a collection of interesting scenes and images associated with some of his photographs. There is a lot to think about and consider in the video, and it struck several chords for me. Among many was his use of the word “hunt” to describe the act of looking for and finding photographic images, and not perhaps just in the sense of tracking and capturing an image, but also, I think, related to the need to be patient and to understand the “quarry.” I often have thought about the “hunt” aspect of looking for subject. (Link originally seen at George Barr’s Behind the Lens blog.)

The second video is rather different but also features a very talented landscape photographer, Charlie Cramer. Unlike the slow moving and rather poetic video of Kenna with its long silent shots and occasional sparse music, this video interview (on the Marc Silber show) is pretty “straight ahead” – basically a record of Charlie talking about his ubiquitous framing guide, a sheet of mat board with a 4 x 5 cutout that he uses to help him visual photographs while he is in the field. This is interesting and Charlie makes a compelling case for using this “tool.” (I’ve thought about it, but never “gone there.” Perhaps I will now…) More interesting to me were a few side comments that Charlie makes in the course of the interview. For one, he refers to the frame as a “blood pressure meter,” and suggests that he more or less “just knows” when a scene is going to work because when he views it in the frame he feels his blood pressure rises. (In another context he has spoken of hearing the scene whisper, “Take me!”) The point, I think (and forgive me if I have this wrong, Charlie!) is that all of the rules of composition in the world won’t help you that much in the end – essentially you need to be able to look at the subject and “just know” that it will work and how.

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

Two Women, Sculpture, and Trees

January 19, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

keywords: getty, museum, center, building, column, stone, sidewalk, walk, sculpture, statue, women, two, rail, steps, stairway, garden, trees, fall, autumn, color, winter, rain, fog, wet, clouds, mist, reflection, lawn, railing, people, umbrella, curve, stock, travel, los angeles, california, usa

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.