Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Say Hello

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Say Hello
A sidewalk display outside a San Francisco store

Say Hello. San Francisco, California. December 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sidewalk display outside a San Francisco store

The journey from yesterday’s “photograph of the day” (birds in the predawn light above Central California wetlands) to today’s photograph may rightly be regarded as an example of moving from the sublime to the ridiculous. But I think that the ridiculous is also frequently worthy of a photograph — though it may not be worth quite as many descriptive words.

We were out walking in downtown San Francisco, and I was in street photographer mode. I’ve actually photographed things in front of this shop — a liquor store — in the past, so I think that slightly off-kilter advertising is part of their plan. It may be difficult to see in this small on-screen jpg image, but there are some interesting and slightly odd things inside the store window, too.

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: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

From The Gallery Window

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From The Gallery Window
A San Francisco street scene viewed from the window of a photography gallery

From The Gallery Window. San Francisco, California. December 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A San Francisco street scene viewed from the window of a photography gallery

We came to this place more or less by chance. It was a somewhat lazy day for us — we had attended a concert the night before and stayed overnight near the venue. Since we had another concert coming up on the second evening we decided to not have any serious plans in the morning. We got up late and finally wandered down past City Hall, through a farmers market, and then headed down Market Street. At one point I happened to look across the street and see the sign for “SF Camerawork” above an unlikely looking storefront, so we walked across to take a look, noticed that it was scheduled to open in less than 10 minutes, and decided we would stick around and take a look.

It probably seems odd that I hadn’t ever visited before, especially since this organization has existed in the City for decades, but sometimes odd things happen. In any case, the door finally opened, we climbed the long and marrow stairway, and arrived to find them in the process if installing an upcoming show: Landmark: Yosemite Through The Lens of Contemporary Landscape Photography. Despite the unfinished state of the installation, they allowed us to poke around and see the work that was already hung. They had one of Jerry Uelsmann’s fantastical landscape, several of the Mark Klett & Byron Wolfe juxtapositions of classic photographs collaged with modern photos of the same locations, a few witty Ted Orland pieces, and more. The exhibition space itself is very nice — open and with good light — and at one point I wandered to one of the street-facing windows and took advantage of the upper story location to make a few photographs of the street below.

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: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hair, Bus, Sun

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Hair, Bus, Sun
A street vignette in San Francisco

Hair, Bus, Sun. San Francisco, California. December 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A street vignette in San Francisco

The camera is tilted. The guy is hanging off the edge of the frame. The sun is blown out in the center of the sky. It was underexposed. Darned bus appeared in the frame. That’s street photography, and I like it. There isn’t a whole lot to say about the photograph itself — or perhaps there is more to say that will fit into two paragraphs. The fellow caught my attention as we were walking along. As he passed, with the sun backlighting his wild hair, I had just enough time to squeeze off a shot without even raising the camera to my eyes.

Doing street photography reminds me of an important thing, namely the crucial role that several things play in photography, things that don’t often get quite enough attention among some photographers, especially those who tend to gravitate to landscape photography and who (with good reasons!) like to attend to the careful calculation of many aspects of picture-making. (Don’t worry, I like to take those things into consideration, too.) The things too often left unsaid have to do with the role of luck and with the importance of being able to respond very quickly, even intuitively, at times. We simply cannot control all aspects of a photograph. In a few situations — perhaps working in the studio with inanimate objects — we can come rather close, but in almost all other sorts of photography it is as much about finding a thing and then recording it in the best way possible during the time we have to work with it. Clearly, this photograph is highly reliant on things I could not control. But, honestly, the same could be said about wildlife photography, and even about many landscape photographs.

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: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Restaurant, Evening

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Restaurant, Evening
Evening diners in a San Francisco restaurant

Restaurant, Evening. San Francisco, California. April 30, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening diners in a San Francisco restaurant

Earlier this month I spent an evening photographing at night in San Francisco, this time with my fellow Studio Nocturne SF photographers. That got me thinking about other night photography that I’ve done this year in The City, so I went back to the raw files from this spring visit when I joined another group of friends for dinner and then to photograph along the waterfront, in the same general area where I photographed earlier this week.

I’m often intrigued by shops and restaurants at night, partly perhaps because they often provide a source of light, some of which can spill into the surroundings, but also for the slightly voyeuristic experience if looking through the windows and observing patrons. It was a warm evening when I walked past this place and many windows were open. If you look closer you might see what I see — each window providing a separate and somewhat independent image, almost like paintings hung along the wall in a gallery.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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