Images

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk and Brick Building

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Sidewalk and Brick Building
The front of a brick building on a steep San Francisco street

Sidewalk and Brick Building. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The front of a brick building on a steep San Francisco street.

The tilt of the sidewalk may just give away the location, at least if you happen to already know that I frequently photograph urban subjects while walking around San Francisco. As is often the case, I now don’t recall precisely where I photographed this little vignette, though there is a very good chance that it was in or not far from the Chinatown district of The City.

Without knowing exactly why — though I have a few ideas — I’m always attracted to little architectural scenes like this one. My best guess is that it is some combination of color, composition, texture, and light. Most of the color in this scene is not very intense, but the red pole and the greenish winter moss caught my attention. The scene is filled with rectangles, from the smaller size of tile and bricks to the larger shapes formed by the windows, doors, and sections of wall.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening

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Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening
Evening light on dunes and eroded desert hills in Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on dunes and eroded desert hills in Death Valley National Park.

This view is probably at least somewhat familiar to most who have visited Death Valley, though some may have overlooked it while paying more attention to a more famous nearby feature. The scene incorporates several elements that are “classic” Death Valley: the low dunes in the foreground, the large expanse of low-angle on the other side of the dunes, and the denuded desert hills and mountains ascending beyond that.

I found myself in the particular location from which I made the photograph as the result of some last-minute scrambling to deal with problematic light. Originally I was planning to photograph in sand dunes in the late-day and evening light. However, when I arrived I found that a large cloud had “turned out the lights” on that scene, and I wasn’t sure if it would move in time. So I tried a different strategy — rather than focus on one small subject I found a place from which I could see the vast expanse of the entire upper valley, and then I waited for various areas to be spotlighted by beams of light breaking through the clouds. A brief moment of light slanted across the low dunes and onto the hills across the valley just before the sun dropped behind mountains to my west.

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 and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Green Building, Berlin

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Green Building, Berlin
A street scene in Berlin with a green building

Green Building, Berlin. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A street scene in Berlin with a green building.

Since I’m not an expert in architecture I probably don’t have the correct description terms at my fingertips, but this area of Berlin that lies just on the “East German” side of the old Berlin wall still seems to be characterized by what I’ve heard described as Soviet-Style architecture… but with a few interesting exceptions. Many of the large buildings here have, at least to my eye, that functional, modern, practical look of the 1950s and 196 0s — a kind of modernism that no longer looks all that modern

This green structure — whose purpose I did not investigate — is striking against this background and in this location literally across the street from The Wall. It appears to have been conglomerated from shipping containers, creating an ad hoc and temporary quality. (It isn’t the only example of such things I saw in Europe and the UK.) It sits at an odd angle, out of sync with both the surrounding grid of roadways and the backdrop of more “square” buildings. And that color!

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dunes Meet Playa

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Dunes Meet Playa
Desert sand dunes meet the edge of a playa in evening light

Dunes Meet Playa. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert sand dunes meet the edge of a playa in evening light.

A late-winter or early-spring visit to Death Valley is always on my photographic agenda. This year I visited in early March, shortly after a big atmospheric river weather system had dumped tremendous amounts of rainfall all over Southern California. Years ago I became aware of the seeming irony that the effects of water are nowhere more visible than in Death Valley, and on this visit they were even more obvious. Playas were flooded, roads were washed out and closed, mud flows were everywhere, and the colors of the dunes were intensified by the remaining moisture.

I made this photograph in the evening of my final full day in the park. The light was challenging — late in the afternoon clouds began to arrive, and as the golden hour approached most of the color was drained from the light. I had traveled to this area of dunes hoping to find some interesting light — and a small group of photographer friends — but when I got there it did not look promising. I decided that instead of going directly to specific dune subjects I would find a high place with a wide panorama. From there I could see the entirety of the upper Valley and be ready to use a long lens to take advantage of any good light that might briefly appear, even if it should be at a distance. As dusk came on the sky opened a bit and glowing light from the west softly lit the boundary between playa and dunes.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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