Tag Archives: window

Santa Couch

Santa Couch
Santa Couch

Santa Couch. San Jose, California. December 27, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Santa Claus figure on a window behind a gaudily colorful couch on the front porch of an urban home, San Jose, California

Sometimes something catches my attention and I have to photograph it, even though I can’t quite put my finger on why. This might be one of those photographs. On this late afternoon of a late December day, I did something that I often seem to do about this time each year, namely take a camera and walk out my front door and wander around making photographs. I didn’t make too many on this day – perhaps fewer than two dozen.

When I carry the camera I see things that I would almost certainly miss completely if I were just out walking from point A to point B. With the camera in hand I tend to saunter along slowly, stopping to look at things or occasionally wander up a driveway. There is something just a bit strange about this giant, bright Alice-In-Wonderland couch with the face of Santa Clause peeking over the back.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

I Swear He is Smiling

Smiling pilot of the carrier aircraft - Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover - NASA Ames Moffett Field, California. A smiling pilot is visible through the cockpit window of the space shuttle Endeavour during its flyover of the NASA Ames Moffett Field
A smiling pilot is visible through the cockpit window of the space shuttle Endeavour during its flyover of the NASA Ames Moffett Field

Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover – Smiling Pilot. NASA Ames Moffett Field, California. September 21, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A smiling pilot is visible through the cockpit window of the space shuttle Endeavour during its flyover of the NASA Ames Moffett Field.

Just for fun… this is a 100% magnification crop of a section of one of my photographs of the flyover by space shuttle Endeavour, mounted on its 747 transport aircraft. I made the photograph on September 21, 2012 as it flew over the NASA Ames Moffett Field in the San Francisco Bay Area. While working on the original photograph I was looking closely at it when I realized that the face of the pilot (co-pilot?) is visible in the cockpit window… and I swear he is grinning! :-)

(Since I know some will ask… Canon 5D2 with Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS, handheld.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

People Hurrying, Grand Central Station

People Hurrying, Grand Central Station - People hurrying along a ramp in Grand Central Station, New York
People hurrying along a ramp in Grand Central Station, New York

People Hurrying, Grand Central Station. New York, New York. August 19, 2011. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People hurrying along a ramp in Grand Central Station, New York

During our last trip to New York City, in August of 2011, at one point we ended up wandering in to Grand Central Station, perhaps just “because,” though now I don’t remember for sure. This is an iconic Manhattan location, for sure, and the central hall is quite a place, with its conjunction of contemporary hurry and its connections to history as seen in its architecture.

I did not have a tripod, nor did I really want to be burdened with one while moving around Manhattan on foot and by subway, so I shot handheld in the low light. Here I was looking down at a long ramp between two levels of the building, where I could photograph people as they walked past – and I made this photograph just as the group of women passed through the pool of light from the overhead lighting.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Exterior, One Maritime Plaza

Exterior, One Maritime Plaza - Exterior detail of the One Maritime Plaza building, San Francisco.
Exterior detail of the One Maritime Plaza building, San Francisco.

Exterior, One Maritime Plaza. San Francisco, California. August 4, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Exterior detail of the One Maritime Plaza building, San Francisco.

This photograph focuses on details of the exterior frame of Maritime Plaza Building, in the general area of the financial district and not far from the Embarcadero and San Francisco’s waterfront. I photographed in “interesting” light – the weather provided a combination of high clouds, lower clouds that were dropping sprinkles of rain, and incoming ocean fog. Oddly, even with tall these sources of atmospheric opacity, there was still some light. Some came through the clouds, while some came from nearby areas that were a bit more clear.

As I have been doing a bit more recently, I chose to shoot towards a corner of the building, allowing the darker side on the right to seem to recede a bit. Meanwhile, the strongest ambient light fell on the “front” of the building facing to the left. I chose a black and white rendition of this photograph partly because, frankly, there wasn’t much interesting color in this subject, but also because I felt that black and white abstracted the image a bit more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.