Tag Archives: windows

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chrysler Building and Street Lamp

August 20, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Black and white photograph of the Chrysler Building and a lamp post in New York City.

Yes, we are in New York City. Needless to say, this is a “target rich environment” for street, urban, and architectural photography. This familiar building is the first post from this trip. It is a black and white photograph for a couple of reasons. First, this turns out to be one of those photograph where I like both the color and black and white interpretations. Second, and more practical, I am working from an uncalibrated monitor and can’t be certain what the colors will look like. With that in mind, it seemed like a good idea to post the BW images first!

The Chrysler Building is an easily recognized Manhattan landmark… especially if you saw “Ghostbusters.” We were out for a “first morning in New York walk” on our first full day here, and the area around this nearby building seemed like a decent objective.

(On a practical note: As with the color calibration issue, I’m not in my usual workflow environment while on the road, so don’t be surprised if some things don’t look exactly like they normally do.)

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.

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

Chinatown Alley

July 23, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A nearly deserted Chinatown alley lined with trash cans, San Francisco.

On this mid-July morning as I walked from the Caltrain station to the Bay near North Beach, I passed through parts of San Francisco’s Chinatown district. I was there early enough that many of the shops on the short section of Grant Street that I visited were not open, and after making a few photographs there I headed west to Stockton Street where the real action is happening in the early morning. While I’m definitely the outsider here (most people seem to ignore me, though a few seem a bit amused by this guy with the camera), I enjoy visiting and photographing this area far more than the tourist zone down on Grant.

In the morning the place is intensely busy. Trucks line the street and disgorge boxes and boxes of produce and many people seem to be doing their shopping. Crowds line up at the bus stops, and every grocery store and market seems very busy. I don’t take too many photographs, most often focusing on architecture and colors. As I walked along the busy sidewalk and passed this side alley, several things caught my attention. First, unlike Stockton Street, it was almost deserted – a couple of people were walking down the alley and by the time I framed my photograph only one remained. (You’ll have to look closely.) While my first impression was that this was a dilapidated and messy place, upon further thought and observation it is actually very ordered. Considering the number of people in the area and that the alley is used at least partially for loading in and out of shops, there is actually very little litter. Small ramps have been set up in the gutter in a few places and the receptacles are lined up along the sidewalk. I wonder what the meaning is of the two pieces of cardboard stuck behind the pipes on the red wall at the right?

The light was also conducive to shooting here. On this typical San Francisco summer day – e.g. cold and windy and foggy! – the overcast softened the light and allowed it to fill the shadows and intensify some of the colors.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning

July 13, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An old pier along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, morning light.

When I take the train to San Francisco early on summer mornings, it is frequently the case that the sun is out as I walk along the Embarcadero waterfront, and the light greats a bright glowing atmosphere as the haze and light fog above the bay are backlit. It can be almost too bright to look at. Often the buildings of the east bay and the cranes of the Port of Oakland are faintly visible on the horizon, as they are in this photograph. There is actually a range of east bay mountains above these structures, but they are not quite visible through the glowing atmosphere in this photograph.

The Embarcadero, the road that runs along the waterfront of the bay on the east side of The City, is lined with many old piers. They range from those that have been restored and turned into tourist areas (think of Pier 39 with its souvenir shops), others that house businesses and even a museum or two, some that are primarily parking areas, and a few others that have been left to rot in the sun. In some ways, those in the latter group are the most interesting to photograph, though there are fewer of them now that the value of this waterfront real estate has once again been recognized. Originally, this was a working port with passenger and freight ships. Now most of that business has gone across the bay to Oakland. However, today the bay front properties are probably more valuable for other purposes anyway.

I have photographed this particular pier before, but this time I liked the very bright sky, barely visible structures across the bay, and the morning light that is just hitting the left side of the buildings on the pier.

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

Saint Patrick’s Church

July 10, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of walls, windows, and roof lines of the side of Saint Patrick’s Church, San Francisco.

I don’t know the full history of this church in downtown San Francisco, but I do know that it is visually interesting. It has the appearance of an old cathedral, with the emphasis on old. Parts of the structure appear to be made of reinforced concrete, parts of brick, and a few sections of newer construction. Bits and pieces of all of that appear in this photograph, with some rather old and weathered materials in much of the structure, but with a much more modern-looking outbuilding at lower right.

While there is a large park (Yerba Buena Park) right across the street, much of the other surrounding architecture is quite modern for the most part. Most striking is the deep blue cubic structure of the Contemporary Jewish Museum right next door, but all around much taller and vastly more modern buildings are found. (Some of the light filling the shadows in this photograph is reflected from those buildings.)

I think that this photograph has a lot in common with a number of my photographs of mountains, especially the Sierra Nevada. In fact, I don’t think it is too hard to find parallels to some of the recent photographs of Mount Conness towering above the shorter Polly, Pywiack, and Medlicott Domes near Tenaya Lake along Tioga Pass Road.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: windows

Chrysler Building and Street Lamp

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Chinatown Alley

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Pier, San Francisco Waterfront, Morning

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Saint Patrick’s Church

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

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