Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light

Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light
Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light

Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light. San Jose, California. December 27, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadow of a tree casts its shadow in winter light across an urban wall.

I made this photograph in the very late afternoon near the end of December, 2012. For some reason, each year at about this time I get the idea of doing a personal “photo walk” that starts at my front door and then wanders around the “neighborhood” in a two-mile or so radius. Almost invariably, the walk takes place late in the day and lasts through the sunset hours. I frequently cover (or perhaps I should write “cover again”) familiar territory, and I even re-photograph some of the same subjects that I have photographed in the past. (This isn’t the first time that I have photographed this wall.) I usually walk slowly for the most part, focusing more on looking than on walking. By slowing down and especially by paying attention to things I might photograph, I invariably see things – within walking distance of my home – that I would otherwise not see at all.

This photograph probably looks like a very strange amorphous thing to some viewers, so let me at least explain what you see. This is a concrete wall, with low angle sun striking it almost directly from the left, producing stretched shadows from a nearby tree. The wall is painted green, but the very warm golden hour light moves the color toward yellow. The wall apparently is an attractive target for vandals/graffiti artists, since it is apparent that something was previously painted out using a slightly different color paint. Although it is hard to see in this small web jpg, I like this odd mix of colors and the interesting details of the wall’s texture as they are revealing by the side-light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

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