Tag Archives: union square

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Consumption

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Consumption
Pile of trash piled on the sidewalk in front of upscale shops in San Francisco

Consumption. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pile of trash piled on the sidewalk in front of upscale shops in San Francisco

Yesterday we drove down to Carmel for the opening reception of the Center for Photographic Art 2018 Members’ Juried Exhibition. (One of my photographs is in the show.) The show is really beautiful, and it includes one of the most consistently high quality photographs of such shows that I’ve seen. I can be a bit of a critic at exhibits (though usually quietly…), but the work in this show is of high quality both aesthetically and technically. If you are in the Carmel area between now and early August, I urge you to visit!

But what does that have to do with this photograph? As photographers we often tend to work in silos defined, at least partially, by our own stylistic preferences and by the notions of others about the style/genre of our own work. Talk to enough photographers and you’ll almost always find that landscape photographers aren’t just landscape photographers, portrait photographers aren’t just portrait photographers, photo-journalists aren’t just interested in photographing events, and so on. (There is sometimes a bit of frustration on the part of photographers who feel that their work has been too tightly pigeon-holed.) This isn’t just about photographers — it also applies to those who love to view photographic art. It is very much worth the effort to step outside of your comfort zone, look at and try to make sense of photography that deals with subjects that may not be your favorites. There is a lot more to say about this, but I’ll stop here — after all, this is just another daily photo post! ;-)

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

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows

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Concrete Building and Reflective Windows
Concrete Building and Reflective Windows

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tall concrete building covered with reflective windows, San Francisco, California.

This photograph is an urban landscape made in the darkened canyons of streets not far from Union Square in downtown San Francisco, California. The crazy perspective angles and lines caught my attention as I walked along this street, as did the contrasting blue of reflected sky and other strange colors, shapes, and textures reflected in the many windows in this scene.

There is a bit of an optical illusion effect in this image. I don’t know if others see it the same way, but to me the lower left section of the photograph almost seems to drop down as if the margin is narrower on that side. But it isn’t, and I think the effect is produced by the crazy angles confusing my sense of perspective.

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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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/60 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, downtown, union square, street, urban, city, architecture, structure, window, reflection, glass, light, concrete, cement, building, columns, perspective, lines, converge, stock

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

Windows and Reflections, Union Square

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Windows and Reflections, Union Square
Windows and Reflections, Union Square

Windows and Reflections, Union Square. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections and other subjects in a wall of windows at the Macys’ store, Union Square, San Francisco.

While busy trying to see closer “street” subjects – usually quite a few here – in San Francisco’s Union Square on a Saturday afternoon I looked up and saw these absolutely wild reflections in the wall of windows of this downtown Macy’s store. If you just glance at the image you see the front of a store covered with lots of windows. However, if you start looking more closely – especially at a large print – you begin to see an astonishing and almost hallucinogenic level of strange details. A few “normal” people appear faintly in some windows – in one a person sits at a table and is perhaps reading or eating. In the middle row of windows you can see hot pink pants, some strange fluorescent green item… and the reflected point of the Transamerica Tower. Along the sides bizarrely warped forms of reflected building windows appear.

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 | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/250 second

keywords: san francisco, union square, macy’s, department, store, california, usa, north america, shop, windows, curved, reflection, people, building, architecture, structure, pattern, abstract, merchandise, restaurant, sign, people, distort, warp, downtown, urban, city, street, transamerica, tower, wall, stock