Tag Archives: west side

Upper West Side

Upper West Side
Steps leading to residences on the Upper West Side, Manhattan

Upper West Side. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Steps leading to residences on the Upper West Side, Manhattan

Recently I’ve been sharing a steady stream of landscape photographs, most of which came from trips to photograph fall color on the east and west coasts. We were in the East twice in recent months, and both times took us to somewhat more rural areas of New England — southern Vermont in August and New Hampshire (and a bit more Vermont) in October. But both times we include some time in New York City. That lengthy introduction is all by way of warning you that there’s some Manhattan urban and street photography coming up!

I start gently with this photograph, one that you might even think of as a sort of “urban landscape.” We often stay at a place on the Upper West Side, a bit west of the Natural History Museum, since it is outside of the busiest parts of Manhattan, provides good subway access, and is closer to some folks in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. We walk a lot while we’re there, and I photographed these steps in the neighborhood on one of those walks. The line-up of the steps intrigues me, but I also like the unusual palette of colors.


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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Masked Man With Dog

Masked Man With Dog
A man in a protective mask with his dog outside Zabar’s Market, Mahnattan.

Masked Man With Dog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man in a protective mask with his dog outside Zabar’s Market, Mahnattan.

New Yorkers may laugh at me for pointing this out (one already did!) but apparently “Zabars” is kind of a “thing” here. The market was located a few blocks north of where we were staying during roughly the last week of 2021, and our walks on the largely deserted streets in the area frequently took us past it. From the outside, at least to a non-New Yorker who doesn’t know what it is, the market doesn’t look like anything special — but since my visit I have heard, from more than one source, that it is “something special.”

We never went inside. Hey, there’s a pandemic. We avoided going inside much of anything besides our hotel and the places where our “kids” live plus a few outside dining spots. (For my California friends — eating al fresco in Manhattan during December is a, uh, “special” experience!) Several things about this photograph seemed to suggest the times we are in, including the masked fellow with his dog. If you had come across him in this spot two years ago, you might have and questions. Now? Just another guy on the sidewalk! The emergency orange pylons seemed appropriate here, too.


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.

Masked Women

Masked Women
Two masked women in conversation during the December 2021 Omicron surge, Manhattan

Masked Women. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two masked women in conversation during the December 2021 Omicron surge, Manhattan

Back in mid-December the pandemic surged again with the arrival of the omicron variant in the United States. Just when we (at least those of use who are triple-vaccinated) thought things were beginning to ease up, case numbers skyrocketed. We had made plans for a holiday visit to New York City, and as we watched the evolving news stories we wondered whether or not to go. In the end, while the “right” answer remained unclear, we decided to take extra precautions and continue with our plans… and embarked on a weeklong visit just before Christmas.

We love New York. We like the crowds and the energy, dropping into restaurants, visiting museums, walking through the parks, and all the rest of the Manhattan experience. It helps that two of our “kids” and their spouses live there. (They were our main reason for the trip.) Beginning with the carefully masked airline travel, much of this trip was unlike any New York visit we’ve made in the past. By the time we arrived, the city was in the grip of the omicron surge. The streets (at least by Manhattan standards) were nearly empty. The few restaurant meals we indulged in were at cold outdoor tables. Almost everyone was masked. These two women are perhaps emblematic of the experience — outdoors on a cold winter day, sitting masked in the open air on a bench for a few moments of conversation.


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.

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