G Dan Mitchell Photography

2nd and King Streets, Dusk. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The intersection of 2nd and King streets in San Francisco as early evening light illuminates the Bay Bridge and downtown buildings.

This is yet another “take” on this scene from the upper level of the SF Giants’ AT&T Park, shot during a slow inning or two of a game against the Braves as evening was coming on over the Bay. I would understand if some began to wonder why I shoot the same scene so many times. In this case there are a bunch of reasons. On a practical level, I just like to get up and wander around the ball park during games. (Sorry… I can almost see the real fans cringing – but for me going to the game is about more than the game. :-) I also like to reshoot subjects and apply what I learned by shooting a particular scene before. I do not necessarily believe that the first take is always the best take. In this case I had learned somethings about the muni trains, the reflected light on the buildings, the composition, and the timing of the lights on the bridge. And the scene is most certainly not the same every time – this time I “discovered” the slowly increasing effect of the artificial light on King Street as the ambient light decreased.

So, there you have it. My excuses for posting what might seem like almost the same photograph I posted a couple weeks ago.

(A small technical note for those who are interested in such things. This was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II full-frame body with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens… handheld at 1/8 second, f/5.6 and ISO 800. Some people will find all of those details to be somewhat interesting, especially when I point out that the quality of this image is such that I’m positive it would print well at 16 x 24 or possibly even 20 x30 inch dimensions.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: 2nd, second, king, street, att, at&t, park, ball, baseball, overlook, trolley, train, muni, track, car, people, street, light, palm, paragon, building, apartment, condominium, lane, traffic, pedestrian, evening, twilight, sunset, illuminate, san francisco, oakland, bay, bridge, treasure island, skyscraper, urban, skyline, landscape, california, usa, travel, scenic, stock, tree, windows, sky

G Dan Mitchell :: May.31.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: 3 Comments »

The New York times features a story on photographer Sebastião Salgado and his epic “Genesis” project. The article is accompanied by a series of ten of Salgado’s photographs. A quotation in the article caught my attention:

“There is no difference photographing a pelican or an albatross and photographing a human being,” he said. “You must pay attention to them, spend time with them, respect their territory.” Even landscapes, he said, have their own personality and reward a certain amount of patience.

Patience. I can relate to that.

G Dan Mitchell :: May.30.2009 :: Photographers, Shows :: No Comments »

Seen at Paul Butzi’s Musings of Photography blog, a link to something Mike Johnson wrote:

“Cameras don’t take pictures, true; but then, people don’t take pictures either. People with cameras take pictures.”

Yes, a concise and direct response to the unending and pointless debates between those who want to believe that it is either all about the camera or not about the camera at all. Thank you for that!

G Dan Mitchell :: May.30.2009 :: Ideas :: No Comments »

I just authored a new post at the jointly-authored California Nature Photography blog (“Dogwoods in the Valley”), in which I share five of my dogwood bloom photographs from my early May trip to Yosemite Valley along with some discussion of the photographs.

G Dan Mitchell :: May.30.2009 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Urban Landscape, Dusk – San Francisco. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Urban landscape – downtown buildings of San Francisco near AT&T Park at dusk.

This “almost-night” photograph was shot hand held from the upper level of AT&T Park just as the light was getting to the point where shooting this way would have been impossible. This is an urban landscape – and despite the very different subject matter I’ve photographed wild landscape scenes with very similar lighting effects.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: urban, landscape, downtown, center, building, skyscraper, street, light, apartment, condominium, window, sidewalk, sky, dusk, twilight, sunset, blue, reflection, balcony, column, glass, att, park, giants, sf, san francisco, california, travel, scenic, night, city, skyline, scape, vertical, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: May.30.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, Dusk. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dusk over San Francisco Bay, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, and urban areas along the San Francisco waterfront near AT&T Park.

I waited along the upper walkway of AT&T Park (through a couple innings!) to see this subdued dusk lighting as the lights come on along the cables of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.

Oh, yeah, the Giants won!

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: at&t, park, stadium, giants, baseball, ball, upper, deck, night, evening, dusk, sunset, urban, waterfront, the, embarcadero, lights, buildings, downtown, apartments, condominiums, san francisco, oakland, bay, bridge, span, west, treasure, yerba buena, island, sky, water, scenic, landscape, travel, stock, palm, tree

G Dan Mitchell :: May.29.2009 :: Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

Brick Building Near AT&T Park. San Francisco, California. May 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brick building viewed from the upper reachs of AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.

Continuing with my habit of shooting near sunset from AT&T Park when I go to SF Giants games, this photograph concentrates on some brick buildings and rooftops across the street from the stadium – I think of this as an urban landscape photograph.

A challenge of these photographs is that I must work hand held and at very low shutter speeds, and I can really only bring a single lens – the ballpark apparently doesn’t look kindly on people bringing professional-looking gear into the park, and I’m certain that a tripod would be out of the question. So I shoot with a full-frame body and a 24-105 image-stabilized lens, often going to ISO 400 or ISO 800. Some photographs are shot with exposures as long as 1/6 second.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: att, at&t, park, stadium, ball, baseball, giants, sf, san francisco, california, usa, travel, brick, building, roof, window, stairs, fire escape, ventilation, vent, window, light, steps, old, urban, landscape, weathered, downtown, city, 2nd, street, king, perspective, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: May.28.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »