Tag Archives: usa

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Crossing Lexington

February 13, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man crosses Lexington on a winter afternoon in New York City

I made this photograph on one of the coldest in a string of very cold winter days in New York City between Christmas and New Year’s Day. On such days we still were out walking around Manhattan quite a bit, but we also sought out shelter and warmer activities. On this day the plan was to visit an exhibit at the Guggenheim. We took the subway up there and arrived late enough that we had to join a line waiting, we presumed, for folks in the already-crowded building to leave so that we could enter. After fifteen or twenty minutes in the line, standing in freezing wind, we realized that the line was not moving at all, and we bailed out for a nearby restaurant where we could warm up.

After lunch we ended up on Lexington, where there was plenty to see and photograph. Many of my photographs on this afternoon took advantage of winter sunlight obliquely slanting across buildings and windows and reflecting onto the sidewalk and street. However, the light for this photograph was different — a sort of soft glow filtering down from the strip of sky above the street. This is a busy place, but during a momentary break in the pedestrian and vehicle traffic this solitary man slowly crossed the street in front of me.

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

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

Brick Wall, Balcony Shadows

February 12, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shadows from metal balconies slant across brick wall

I don’t think I can up with a comprehensive list of all of the variations on urban and street subjects, but there are a lot of them. You can, of course, focus on photographing people — whether street portraits, with our without the subject’s cooperation, or anything up to groups and crowds. You can treat the urban environment as its own sort of landscape, looking for form and color and light in the familiar ways. You can think of it as a way of simply making a record of transitory things that will soon be changed or bone. It can focus on architecture. And the list goes on.

I think of this as a sort of street landscape. This New York wall, at this time of day and during this season, transforms into something that I can’t imagine the builders understood when they constructed it. My bet is that they were making a practical brick wall, with practical windows, a simple pair of balconies (probably designed to save money), and fire escapes. But, as was apparent when I walked past in December, becomes a canvas for a wild conjunction of shapes and textures and shadows.

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

Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Twilight Flight

February 10, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A rushing blur of birds at the end of the day

First, I do know how to make sharp photographs of birds, too… ;-)

There are many things I can’t really explain about winter bird populations. But as I have watched them (and listened to their remarkable sound) from Washington to California, I am starting to at recognize a few more patterns. At times some birds become increasingly active, and at the end of the day, as light fades, there may be opportunities to depict the motions of individual birds and flocks in a different way — rather than trying to stop motion I just go with longer shutter speeds, pan with groups as they fly by, and let the motion blur take over. Frankly, in many ways I think that this confusing blur may better evoke the wild actions of these evening flocks.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two White-Faced Ibises

February 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two white-faced ibises interacting in a San Joaquin Valley wetland pond

The white-faced ibises have intrigued me since before I knew what they were — in fact, I suppose I could say that I photographed them before I realized that they existed. Some years back, on my very first more or less accidental exposure to bird photography, I found myself “out there” on an early morning, with no more clue about what was going on than “someone told me I should go here and see the birds.”(That someone was a colleague where I taught.) I barely knew a goose from a swan, at least when they were flying quickly overhead, but I was amazed by the number and variety of birds that morning. I photographed like a madman, not really knowing at all what I was photographing. Later on, back home and looking at files, I recall finding a series of photographs of a line of birds overhead that had oddly long and curving beaks. I wondered what they were. It turns out they were ibises.

Ibises are not always the most common specimens. In addition to their unusual beaks, they have another particular visual characteristic. In many situations you would regard them as dark and fairly drab-looking birds. Photographing them in flight is often difficult, partly because they frequently just end up looking black against any lighter background. But catch them in the right light and the texture, patterns, and colors of their feathers begin to appear. On this morning I happened upon a group of ibises, perhaps a couple dozen, in shallow water. I stopped and watched quietly and was able to photograph a variety of behaviors, including this interaction between two of the birds.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: usa

Crossing Lexington

Brick Wall, Balcony Shadows

Twilight Flight

Two White-Faced Ibises

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