Tag Archives: walk

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Crosswalk, Upper East Side

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Crosswalk, Upper East Side
Pedestrians in an Upper East Side crosswalk on a very cold winter day in Manhattan

Crosswalk, Upper East Side. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians in an Upper East Side crosswalk on a very cold winter day in Manhattan

Another freezing day in New York, another visit to a museum, another walk, and more photography. This time our plan was to visit the Guggenheim, on the Upper East Side along Central Park. Because we tend to stay on Pacific time when we go to New York — instead of my usual 5:30 wakeup time, I wake around 8:30 — we ended up stalling on various little tasks until nearly noon. Then we stopped for coffee, followed by a walk to a subway at our Lower Manhattan location, and then a subway ride up to a stop on Lexington to the east of the Guggenheim. We arrived to find that lots of other people apparently had the same idea — there was a long line snaking around the corner. We joined the line, in 20 degree temperatures, and then simultaneously noticed that the line wasn’t moving and that we were increasingly freezing. We gave up, and headed east to find a warm place to get something to eat.

After lunch — soup, of course! — we set out again, but with no particular goal in mind. We headed south on Lexington, with a plan starting to form that would take us over to and perhaps through part of Central Park before we picked up another subway train at the lower end of the park. As we walked down Lexington we were headed straight into the sun, and its headlong light made the atmosphere glow, bounced light off of building windows, and cast long shadows from the approaching pedestrians on the crowded sidewalk and crosswalk.

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

Path Above San Francisco

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Path Above San Francisco
A person walks on a path through a grove above the night lights of San Francisco

© Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A person walks on a path through a grove above the night lights of San Francisco

This is another of my handheld night photographs, something I’ve been experimenting with for a couple of years now. Newer high ISO small handheld cameras make it possible to work without a tripod in the urban landscape, essentially doing street photography in the (near) darkness. While there are some compromises in pure image quality — more noise to deal with in post, and greater potential for motion blur, working this way makes in possible to photograph in ways that just aren’t possible with a tripod. I can move quickly and respond to changing subjects more readily, and I’m less of an obvious intrusion on the scene.

This photograph might seem like one for which a tripod would be appropriate. I can’t argue with that on a technical basis. But I point out that between the time I saw this person walking along the path and the time I made three quick exposures was measured in seconds. With a tripod-mounted camera I simply would not have been able to make the 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 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: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrians, Le Marais

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Pedestrians, Le Marais
“Pedestrians, Le Marais” — People on the sidewalk in Le Marais, Paris

Le Marais, where we ended up almost by accident as we searched for a photography museum in Paris, turned out to be a wonderful place to make photographs. The old streets are narrow, predating the more recent modernization of many parts of Paris, and the buildings are often old. Most people are on foot, and there are wonderful back drops for photographing them everywhere.

The person in the colorful clothing, paused against the textured and weathered wall for a cellphone check, first caught my attention. I did make another photograph in which this person is the only figure, set off against a very large expanse of wall. But when I have the chance I often like to try more than one interpretation of a subject, so I framed a vertical composition and waited for other passers-by to walk through the frame, trying to catch them in interesting juxtapositions and poses.

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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.

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk, Leaves, Rain, Reflections

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Sidewalk, Leaves, Rain, Reflections
A pedestrian walks across a reflecting, leaf-covered sidewalk in rain near the Tate Museum, London

Sidewalk, Leaves, Rain, Reflections. London, England, August 2, 2016. © Copyright 2016. G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pedestrian walks across a reflecting, leaf-covered sidewalk in rain near the Tate Museum, London

I made this photograph close to the river side entrance to the Tate Modern in London. I like the museum itself, but I also like the surrounding area for photography of people and of “stuff.” Nearby the Millennium Bridge arrives on the shore of the River Thames and intersects with the popular walkway along the river, so there is no shortage of activity or of people, plus there is a variety of architectural and other subjects, ranging from the river and the bridge to downtown London across the water.

This section of sidewalk in front of the museum was wet from the drizzle, and tiny fallen leaves littered its surface. Seen from my elevated position there were reflections from the buildings. I began by photographing a small group of nearby trees, but soon this solitary figure crossed the open area headed toward the building.

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.