Tag Archives: walk

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

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Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden
Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors with umbrellas walk through the Getty Center garden beneath winter trees on a foggy and rainy day.

This is – obviously – a black and white landscape orientation take on the scene in the garden at the Getty museum in Los Angeles that I posted earlier in a portrait orientation color version. The conditions were rainy and foggy – unusual, I presume, for the Getty – as several small groups of visitors carrying umbrellas wandered along the twisting and sometimes angular path through the garden below the main buildings. The light colored umbrellas are an interesting visual feature that you’ll always see when it rains at the Getty, as they loan them to visitors by the hundreds. I’m sure it is no accident that the color of the umbrellas blends well with the color of the facility.

These photos were more or less very quick shots. As I noticed the misty view of the garden the umbrella-carrying people quickly showed up on the path – much to my surprise since I figured that few people would be out there in this murky weather. Fortunately I had a zoom lens on the camera and was able to quickly frame both vertical and horizontal compositions and then shoot fairly quickly as the people passed through the scene and assembled themselves in interesting arrangements.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: getty, center, art, museum, travel, scenic, los angeles, california, usa, fog, mist, rain, shower, visitor, people, man, woman, person, umbrella, tan, garden, tree, bare, grove, grass, lawn, shrub, plant, sidewalk, walk, trail, path, building, structure, reflection, silhouette, winter, branches, stock

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street, Southern California

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

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Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden
Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden

Umbrellas, Getty Center Garden. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors walk through the garden on a rainy and foggy afternoon day at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.

I’m probably just about the only person who goes to the Getty Center hoping for rain… and who is regards himself as lucky when he gets rain… and fog! :-)

We were in LA during the past week to visit my daughter and our son-in-law, and we decided to stop at the Getty on the start of our return drive to the SF Bay Area. I’m always fascinated by the grounds of the Getty and by the opportunities to photograph people on those grounds, and interesting weather makes this even more appealing. On top of that my daughter had told us about the wonderful Rembrandt exhibit and I was looking forward to the Irving Penn “Small Trades” photographs on display. (It is a great exhibit – see it if you are in the area.)

I often confess that as much as I enjoy the art at the Getty, I enjoy the Getty as architecture and urban landscape just as much. Although few of my Getty photographs appear here, I very much enjoy photographing the forms and lighting of the buildings and the gardens. It was raining lightly when we arrived, and by the time we made it up the hill fog had settled on the ridge. I actually made well over 100 exposures throughout the day. Many were shot quickly as momentary conjunctions of people and light and atmosphere appeared and just as quickly disappeared. I happened to find myself on a walkway overlooking the fogged-in garden just as a couple groups of umbrella-bearing visitors encountered one another near the sharp point of this path.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: getty, center, art, museum, los angeles, california, usa, path, walk, sidewalk, people, man, woman, umbrella, tan, red, white, trees, silhouette, plant, lawn, grove, step, reflection, fog, mist, cloud, rain, shower, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove

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Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove

Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beneath the canopy on a foggy afternoon in the Monterey Cypress forest at Allan Memorial Grove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

(Since this is simply the black and white version of the photograph I just posted earlier, I’m including largely the same text here that I included with the color rendition.)

I am always intrigued by the patterns of the trunks and lower branches of the Monterey cypress trees when I walk through the Allen Memorial Grove at Point Lobos. I’m also intrigued – and challenged – by the nearly monochromatic nature of the scene, especially when fog mutes the light as it did on this afternoon. On the other hand, the fog also softens and diffuses the light and decreases the contrast between the light parts of the trees and the shadows.

It was in such conditions that I made this photograph in August on a very foggy – and getting foggier! – late afternoon. When I made the exposure I was pretty sure I would make a black and white print from this scene but I also kept open the option of a color version. When I worked up the two versions later I was surprised that to find that I liked the color version more than expected, so I made prints of both the color and black and white versions and lived with them a bit.

In the end I decided that this black and white version works best as a print… I think. (I also have to point out that this photograph relies a lot of the inclusion of a ton of fine detail that just plain isn’t going to be visible in the small jpg version I can post online. Ah, well!)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: monterey, cypress, tree, forest, grove, trunk, group, branch, afternoon, fog, pattern, point, lobos, state, reserve, california, usa, peninsula, big sur, carmel, pacific, coast, ocean, nature, flora, park, allen, memorial, trail, hike, walk, landscape, travel, scenic, stick, twig, stock, black and white

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove

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Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove

Monterey Cypress, Allan Memorial Grove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beneath the canopy on a foggy afternoon in the Monterey Cypress forest at Allan Memorial Grove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I am always intrigued by the patterns of the trunks and lower branches of the Monterey cypress trees when I walk through the Allen Memorial Grove at Point Lobos. I’m also intrigued – and challenged – by the nearly monochromatic nature of the scene, especially when fog mutes the light as it did on this afternoon. On the other hand, the fog also softens and diffuses the light and decreases the contrast between the light parts of the trees and the shadows.

It was in such conditions that I made this photograph in August on a very foggy – and getting foggier! – late afternoon. When I made the exposure I was pretty sure I would make a black and white print from this scene but I also kept open the option of a color version. When I worked up the two versions later I was surprised that to find that I liked this color version more than expected, so I made prints of both the color and black and white versions and lived with them a bit.

In the end I decided that the black and white version works best… I think. I’ll post it next. (I also have to point out that this photograph relies a lot of the inclusion of a ton of fine detail that just plain isn’t going to be visible in the small jpg version I can post online. Ah, well!)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchell

keywords: monterey, cypress, tree, forest, grove, trunk, group, branch, afternoon, fog, pattern, point, lobos, state, reserve, california, usa, peninsula, big sur, carmel, pacific, coast, ocean, nature, flora, park, allen, memorial, trail, hike, walk, landscape, travel, scenic, stick, twig, stock