Tag Archives: window

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Concrete Building and Reflective Windows

March 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tall concrete building covered with reflective windows, San Francisco, California.

This photograph is an urban landscape made in the darkened canyons of streets not far from Union Square in downtown San Francisco, California. The crazy perspective angles and lines caught my attention as I walked along this street, as did the contrasting blue of reflected sky and other strange colors, shapes, and textures reflected in the many windows in this scene.

There is a bit of an optical illusion effect in this image. I don’t know if others see it the same way, but to me the lower left section of the photograph almost seems to drop down as if the margin is narrower on that side. But it isn’t, and I think the effect is produced by the crazy angles confusing my sense of perspective.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/60 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, downtown, union square, street, urban, city, architecture, structure, window, reflection, glass, light, concrete, cement, building, columns, perspective, lines, converge, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Person Looking at Window Display

March 17, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of a person looking at mannequins in a store display window along a San Francisco street.

I saw this starkly-lit scene while walking not far from Union Square in downtown San Francisco in early March. The difference between the body position and posture of the person standing in the foreground and the highly stylized and quite unreal figures in the display case caught my attention. (I’m still going back and forth between this black and white version and the color rendition which shows the wild colors of the mannequins – the middle one wears shiny red pants and seems to have a blood stain on “his” shirt!) I also liked the somewhat skewed angles and perspective from the wall of the building and the descending sidewalk to the right, broken up a bit by shadows from a bicycle and a pole.

For those who might wonder, there is still a bit more urban and street photography in the queue before my more familiar landscape photography returns.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/320 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, city, urban, street, sidewalk, person, man, bag, stand, look, store, window, display, mannequin, brick, wall, shadow, downtown, modern, clothes, sweatshirt, jeans, window, union, square, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman Walking, Red Awnings

March 16, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A woman walks past red shop awnings and downtown building wall along a San Francisco Street.

This shot was made on a very shaded side street not too far from Union Square in San Francisco. The blurred figure is intentional – part of a series I’m working on – since this handheld shot was made at a slow shutter speed of 1/20 second using a 50mm lens on a full frame body. Part of the idea was to place the walker (or allow her to place herself!) in an interesting location relative to all of the other objects spread horizontally across the wide frame: the display windows with the red overhands, the green trash can, the tall black lamppost, and the two manhole covers in the street. The games for me on this type of image include finding the basic composition and then finding and timing the shot of the right passer-by.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/20 second

keywords: street, urban, san francisco, california, usa, north america, travel, woman, walking, sidewalk, street, manhole, cover, light, pole, garbage, trash, waste, can, concrete, wall, pattern, red, awning, store, shop, window, person, downtown, road, geometry, pattern, stride, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man in Suit Between Two Cars

March 15, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A man in a dark suit holding a bag and standing between two cars in front of old buildings in downtown San Francisco, California.

A quick street photo while walking into the fringes of the Tenderloin in San Francisco on the first weekend of March. I’m not sure how much sense this photograph may make to others, but there is a lot in it that appeals to me. For one thing I like the muted color scheme – most everything is some shade of black or near-gray or muted tan, with just a few spots of color. Even the man between the two cars is wearing only black and white clothing. Then there is the very busy but blocky pattern of the front of the buildings behind the man and the cars. However, to my eye at least, several types of order emerge from the complexity of these shapes. For example several elements create forms that rise diagonally from left to right: the two cars, the two balconies, the line through the left window, the dark doorway, and the lighter window in the center right section. And then there are the window reflections – which are becoming a bit of an urban photography theme for me. I also look at the man and wonder what he is doing – why is he wearing that particular set of clothes? What is in the small bag he holds? What is he looking for?

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 second

keywords: man, between, two, cars, sedan, street, curb, park, suit, hill, slant, incline, door, frame, gate, window, balcony, latter, awning, sidewalk, urban, city, downtown, bag, wrought, iron, worn, grafitti, reflection, brick, wall, urban, san francisco, california, usa, north america, travel, person, tenderloin, stock, dark, black suit

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