Tag Archives: winter

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

Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window – Getty Center

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Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window - Getty Center
Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window - Getty Center

Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window – Getty Center. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The central courtyard of the Getty Center on a rainy day as viewed through a curved window from the entrance rotunda.

The typical arrival at the Getter Center is via the tram from the parking area, and after leaving the tram and walk up the shallow stairs most people first enter this round, glass-enclosed space from which I made this photograph during my rainy and foggy visit to the Center near the very end of 2009. I shot this view into the wet and almost deserted courtyard through the curved windows using a wide angle lens. I was thinking about several things as I made this photograph: the angular vertical shapes of the outdoor buildings, the perspective lines of the balconies and the pool receding toward the very foggy distance, and the dissonance of the curved window and especially the curving and sweeping “lines” of the window frames.

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, los angeles, california, usa, museum, winter, travel, urban, art, rain, cloud, fog, wet, reflection, column, window, pane, curve, floor, tree, table, chairs, umbrellas, mist, building, architecture, structure, balcony, railing, stairs, person, fountain, water, sign, stock, rembrandt, his, pupils, exhibit

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

House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree

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House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree
House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree

House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree. San Jose, California. January 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old suburban home with barred window, purple trim, brick steps, and plastic Christmas Tree – San Jose, California.

I made this photograph on a late afternoon/early evening “photo walk” from my home. This is an interesting and perplexing building. It is a very unusual home, as you can see from the unusual room line and the shapes at the end of the rounded eaves. Someone perhaps once put a lot of thought and effort into creating such an unusual building – unlike most others in the area. But as the place has aged the result has not been wholly wonderful. The purple paint isn’t necessarily a bad thing – just a bit unusual – but it is quite worn. The tiny plastic Christmas tree to the right of the front door is a strange touch; it still has a very small string of lights attached. And things are a bit off-kilter. The room angles don’t quite match up and the grate over the window tilts to one side. Although this was originally a home, I can’t really tell for sure if it is still a home or if it has become some sort of office or business.

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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.



Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Cliff House, Winter Surf

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Cliff House, Winter Surf
Cliff House, Winter Surf

Cliff House, Winter Surf. San Francisco, California. January 31, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Black and white photograph of Pacific Ocean winter surf at the Cliff House, San Francisco, California.

This was not what I was supposed to photograph on the final day of January. I went to San Francisco to visit my son and then do some street/urban photograph while walking around the city. I expected that we might start in the Mission where he lives – and we actually sort of did, beginning with breakfast at Tartine Bakery. After finishing up we were deciding whether to head toward downtown on foot or catch BART, and I mentioned that since I had my car he might want to go to someplace farther away. He suggest Sutro Baths over in the Cliff House and Ocean Beach area, so off we went.

Although I’ve seen lots of interesting photography from this location – especially some interesting night photography work – I had not photographed there before. The baths are the ruins of what were once apparently some large facilities right next to the rugged shoreline here, but today little remains besides foundations, some low walls, and some remaining pools. I was a bit surprised to find the surf raging; I hadn’t thought it would be an especially high surf day since this was during a lull between storms.

Before long I spotted some of my favorite seascape conditions, bright reflections on the the wild Pacific Ocean winter surf, backlit by sun shining through fog and haze. Although I had no tripod I went ahead and shot some hand held seascapes. I’ve previously mentioned that I don’t always know while shooting whether or not photographs will end up in black and white, but with these I was pretty certain from the beginning. The building in the upper left is the Cliff House, the most recent iteration of a facility that has stood here for a long time.

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: san francisco, california, usa, sutro, baths, cliff, ocean, sea, coast, shore, pacific, surf, travel, scenic, landscape, seascape, wave, swell, spray, bluff, restaurant, building, architecture, historic, rocks, crash, cloud, sky, winter, storm, rugged, stock

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

Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center

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Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center
Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center

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

Black and white photograph of a couple with umbrellas walking one behind the other across a sidewalk on a rainy day at the Getty Center, Los Angeles.

I posted another photograph from this sequence a few weeks back. During our late December visit to the Getty Center I found a spot under an overhang that kept the rain off of me and my gear and I picked out a scene full of vertical structures – windows, walls, distant buildings, columns – and waited as other visitors to the Center walked through this little window of light. Out of perhaps a couple dozen exposures I came up with several I like including this one of a couple with umbrellas.

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, los angeles, california, usa, museum, winter, travel, urban, art, black and white, monochrome, man, woman, couple, walk, umbrellas, folded. walk, sidewalk, railing, window, wall, stone, column, tree, garden building, architecture, reflection, flag, column, travel, rain, mist, fog, cloudy, square, stock