Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Xing School

April 10, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Street crossing marking on the roadway in Chinatown, Manhattan

I’m going to divert briefly from the Death Vally photographs today and return to a much different place, the urban world of New York City. I made this photograph about four years ago and only rediscovered it today. Sometimes as I work my way though files after returning from such a location I get interrupted by another project and occasionally I leave work unprocessed. I think that is what happened in this case, as this wasn’t the only photograph in the batch that I had overlooked. (I only went back to these images because I was looking for something to use as an example in a reply to someone’s technical question.)

The location is Manhattan’s Chinatown, and I’m pretty sure it is a section of my favorite street in this neighborhood. (I have a kind of informal project of photographing this East Coast location and its West Coast equivalent in San Francisco.) I did something a bit unusual with my post-processing interpretation of the image. I suspect that it may not be obvious to viewers, but I played with the color levels and actually diminished their intensity quite a bit — I think this provides a little different sense of the quality of this location.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Los Banos Donuts

March 8, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I can’t be certain, but there is a very good chance that this place was there back when I made my first trip to Yosemite decades ago as a child. I recall my Dad driving us over Pacheco Pass and down through green hills into the Central Valley. (This was before the San Luis Dam was constructed, though I think it was already approved or planned. Yes, I’ve been in California that long!) I know we passed through Los Banos, stopping in a park along the way for a picnic. I don’t know if we stopped for donuts on that trip, but I have stopped here a few times since then.

Every time I’ve passed through this town for the past few years, typically before dawn or well after sunset, I’ve noticed the place and made a mental note to stop and photograph it before dawn or after sunset, its big red DONUTS sign and glowing interior lights calling to us in the darkness. But since I was usually in a hurry to get somewhere — a destination to the east or else back home — I never stopped. Until this season. I finally pulled over and stopped briefly in a parking lot across the street and made a few exposures. I thought the pickup truck was an appropriate touch. (And, no, I did not stop for donuts. This time.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Layers, Contre-Jour

February 27, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

People sitting in Metropolitan Museum windows, plus worlds on both sides

This is yet another take on the scene in this room at the New York Metropolitan Museum, on a cold day when hordes of people went to a warm museum instead of wandering outside. The window faces south, into the midday and afternoon sun, and the window sills provided an inviting and warm place for people to sit. I spend a bit of time here and observed as people passed by, came in and sat down, and moved on.

There may be more going on here than is immediately apparent. The first impression is of a half-dozen people sitting in or near the windows, with outdoor backlight providing the illumination. (Hence the “contre-jour” indication in the title of the photograph.) But there are several other layers. In the far distance Manhattan buildings near the south end of Central Park, whose trees are providing silhouetted shapes below the skyline. There are also reflections from the interior of this room in the windows — keep in mind that elements near my camera position were front-lit by the windows. There is actually quite a crowd reflected in the windows, and if you look closely you can even spot the photographer.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Strolling Couple

February 24, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A couple walks past a white-painted brick wall

This photograph is a bit more “in your face” than most of my street photography. I’m generally not one of those “stick the camera in someone’s face” sort of photographers, preferring to be a bit less invasive of people’s space. (However, I can’t deny that photographing people who did not go out into the urban environment intending to be my subjects is, almost by definition, always at least a little bit invasive and aggressive.)

I’m hard pressed now to recall even making the photograph, which means it was most likely made very quickly and probably while I was walking. I could not have predicted the woman’s remarkable yawn — or perhaps she is singing? ;-)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: urban

Xing School

Los Banos Donuts

Layers, Contre-Jour

Strolling Couple

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