Tag Archives: urban

Shad Thames

Shad Thames
People walk along Shad Thames, London

Shad Thames. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walk along Shad Thames, London.

This week the pandemic “voyage through the raw files archives” arrived in London, with photographs of a weeklong visit back in 2013. (I’m wanting to get to some Sierra Nevada photographs, but I’m sticking to a linear traverse of the archive, so I’m perhaps a month early for those.) As people whose travels have been largely in the US, this was our first visit to London. We had a great time — we were there on our own for a few days and then were joined by some of Patty’s family members. You’ll likely see more photos from the trip over the next week or two.

This fascinating little street, called Shad Thames, is near one end of the Tower Bridge in London, in an area that was historically a receiving area for commodities delivered by ship. (The area is also know as Butler’s Wharf.) Some decades ago, as modern shipping changed the market, the area apparently became somewhat run down but, as happens in big cities, it was revitalized and is now expensive and trendy. The narrow street still has cobbles, but the most striking features are the old bridges between the upper floors of the old warehouses.


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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560 Blue

560 Blue
“560 Blue” — A man walks past a blue San Francisco building in morning sunlight.

Let me start by pointing out that this is not the first time I have shared this photograph. An earlier interpretation of it exists using a different aspect ratio. I came across it again recently as I scanned through my old raw files, and I decided to take another look at it. This time I altered the aspect ratio, retaining the original 3:2, though I more typically work with 4:3. This allowed me to include the decorative rectangles at the upper right and left. In addition, as I thought more about the role of the blue color in this photograph I decided to simply remove a few elements that were dissonant with that.

The scene is a San Francisco street, and I made the photograph on one of my day trips up to “The City” by train, something that was a regular photographic event for me prior to the pandemic. I was walking up into the main downtown area from the train station, pausing along the way to photograph interesting subjects in the full morning sun across the wide street. I had already made a couple of photograph of this very blue building when I saw the man walking into the scene.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Bench and Shadows

Bench and Shadows
A bench and shadows, photographed through a window, Portland, Oregon.

Bench and Shadows. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bench and shadows, photographed through a window, Portland, Oregon.

This photograph may be a bit difficult to explain, especially to the satisfaction of those who might be looking for the usual landscape and nature images. For the most part, I don’t think I will try to explain it too much, except to say that perhaps it isn’t just about benches, and that for me it seems like it has a connection to work created by an artist that I like quite a bit.

Having said that — not a lot, but that’s all I got! — I can mention a few facts. I made the photograph on a visit to Portland, Oregon. We were out wandering around the edges of the central downtown area, and I was photographing all varieties of street subjects that I saw. This must have been a fairly quick shot, as street photographs can be, since it wasn’t a subject I lingered on.


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.

Building and Los Angeles Sky

Building and Los Angeles Sky
Southern California sky reflected on the surfaces of a modern tower.

Building and Los Angeles Sky. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Southern California sky reflected on the surfaces of a modern tower.

Although it seems like it should have been an obvious thing, I recall realizing for the first time that the appearance of modern reflective towers like this one comes more from what is not the building than what is. With the exception of a few boundaries and the varying tones of the lighter and darker portions, the whole surface of the building is not-building stuff, in this case the sky and clouds. It is almost as if this massive structure’s appearance is mostly ephemeral and transient.

I do recall the circumstances of this photograph made back in 2013. We had gone to this area of Los Angeles to visit a museum where an exhibit of photographs by a well-known “nature” photographer was underway. In any case we ended up walking a bit, looking for a place to grab a bite to eat, and we passed an area with several buildings with appearances similar to this one.


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 | FacebookEmail

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


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