Tag Archives: urban

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

Look. No Train Horn

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Look. No Train Horn
Sign near a light rail crossing in an old industrial area.

Look. No Train Horn. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sign near a light rail crossing in an old industrial area.

These signs are along one of the routes I take on my (nearly) daily urban walks. Sometimes the walks stick to tree-lined residential streets, but some of the routes take me into older areas that are a bit rougher around the edges, many of which feature old businesses and shops. There are still rail lines through some of these areas, though they are rarely used — and some have been closed off or even converted to non-rail uses. Here the local light rail transit system follows the route of the old tracks and crosses near an intersection where I found these signs.

Until a few months ago I frequently encountered the light rail trains at crossings like this one. But this is a Valley Transit Authority (VTA) route, and that is the entity that was the victim of a mass shooting earlier this year that tragically took the lives of a number of employees who work on the light rail system. The system remains shut down and there is so far no word on when it will reopen.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue, White, and Shadow

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Blue, White, and Shadow
A shadow falls across a blue wall and white window.

Blue, White, and Shadow. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shadow falls across a blue wall and white window.

Today’s photograph comes from yesterday on my (almost) daily neighborhood walk. Since the beginning of the pandemic and its attendant lock-down, we’ve been doing a lot of local walking, going out almost every day for walks ranging from as little as a mile (just got to get in my mile!) and up to perhaps ten times that distance. Yesterday’s walk was one of the shorter ones, and my initial plan was to “just get in my miles,” likely walking no more than about a mile. But one thing led to another and I ended up doing about several times that distance.

The unanticipated extensions of the walk often come in small increments. Arriving at a turning point, instead of taking the most direct route back home I decide to just add a bit more, heading down one more block. Often that leads to another extension, then another, and before I no it the miles add up. One of those unplanned extensions took me past an older building, once a home but now a small business. Something about the blue and white paint, the old, narrow siding, and the shadow draped across the way persuaded me to stop and make a photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Suburban Fence

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Suburban Fence
A weathered fence along an urban trail, San Jose, CA.

Suburban Fence. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A weathered fence along an urban trail, San Jose, CA.

This is another in the occasional series of photographs from the neighborhood, make while on one of my (almost) daily walks. The walks are not primarily about photography, though I always have a camera with me. They are mostly about “stretching my legs” (for perhaps three to eight or more miles) and clearing my mind. Few things allow the mind to wander productively more than walking.

Years ago I discovered that having a camera in hand can alter the way we (or at least I!) see the world around me. Often when I walk I don’t regard the urban landscape with any great focus, but as soon as I think of myself as a photographer and visual opportunist I start to see things that I had not noticed. I distinctly recall a winter walk years ago when I first realized this. I headed out through the same areas that I see every day… and suddenly I saw all kinds of things that I simply had not paid attention to before: the second story of downtown buildings, shadows on walls, old tiles, patterns in the sidewalk, and more. This more recent photograph features a section of fence that I probably pass once or more per week.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

World Headquarters

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World Headquarters
An abandoned building at the location of a future high tech center, San Jose, California.

World Headquarters. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned building at the location of a future high tech center, San Jose, California.

You might have to look a bit past the superficial visual constituents of this image to see the world headquarters, but something close to that is coming to this location. Far enough from where I live that it is a very long walk, a major “tech giant” is beginning a long-term project to create a major urban campus. At this point about all one sees is a whole lot of empty lots and abandoned buildings, structures from a much earlier period in the history of this city — homes, small businesses, warehouses, and more. The plan is that a decade from now this will be some sort of ultra-modern, thriving technology center with access to transit and more. We’ll see.

For now though it can be a bit of a photographic playground if your interest includes old, abandoned places and things. I did not investigate closely enough to know what actually went on in this building, but it has the appearance of a small shop or light industrial facility — perhaps automobile repair, some kind of fabrication, or similar. Beyond these associations with an earlier time in this region, it also has the appeal of a nicely weathered look, and some interesting paint colors. On this day the light also proved interesting. In fact, if you look at this the right way, there are — or at least it seems to me — two structures on the scene. One comes from the square angles of the building itself and the other comes from the oblique and curving lines of light and shadow.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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