Photographs: Structures | G Dan Mitchell Photography

Archive for the 'Photographs: Structures' Category

Sunset on Building With Columns, High Line Park

Sunset light illuminates tall columns of the Standard Hotel along the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea, New York City.

This is another photograph from our Friday evening walk along the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea. We walked under the Standard Hotel, which straddles the park at this point, just as the warm and saturated pre-sunset light was peaking. Given the quality of the light and the beautiful evening, I was surprised that there were no people on the other side of the plexiglas wall – there were certainly plenty of us enjoying the evening along the walkway of the park.

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.

keywords: sunset, dusk, evening, light, reflection, columns, concrete, glass, wall, window, shadow, form, architecture, texture, wall, brick, sky, blue, clouds, lights, lamps, hanging, silhouette, chelsea, high line, elevated, park, walk, chelsea, new york, city, state, usa, north america, manhattan, island, travel, scenic, urban, street, stock, standard, hotel

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 75mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/8, 1/400 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.29.2010 :: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

Stonework Detail, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

Detail of stonework at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York City.

Early in the morning we took the subway north to the area around Columbia University where we had been told to visit a Hungarian bakery. (Worth the visit, by the way…) This “cathedral church,” which I had heard of but not seen in person, is located almost across the street. We started in the nearby sculpture garden which features a large, central sculpture (too much to say about it to try to do it here) which is surrounded by small pieces created by schoolchildren. From here it was a very short walk to the cathedral itself.

The cathedral is a powerful piece of architecture, much larger and more imposing than many of the other famous religious sites that I’ve seen in New York. I first made a series of photographs of the interesting textures and forms of the exterior of the building, including this photograph, taking advantage of the soft light created by the cloudy conditions. Eventually we made our way inside. I took no photographs inside the cathedral, partly because there was a service going on and because I was quite affected by the scale of the interior space… and by the very interesting and unusual music being performed by the organist.

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.

keywords: gothic, revival, upper, east, side, detail, exterior, stone, work, stonework, wall, metal, cathedral, church, of, saint, john, the, divine, episcopal, new york, city, state, usa, north america, manhattan, island, weathered, building, historic, architecture, travel, tour, wall, stock

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 105mm (at B&H)
ISO 200, f/8, 1/30 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.28.2010 :: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures :: No Comments »

Maiden Lane, Lower Manhattan

Morning light strikes buildings above the curving urban canyon of Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan.

We were in this area of lower Manhattan for several reasons on the morning of the last full day of our New York City visit. We made a stop at the nearby World Trade Center site – it is difficult to explain all of the reactions that I had to this. The last time I visited (close to New Years Day 2000) we stood on top of one of the buildings to see the nighttime view – and now there is a void in that place.

We were also there to visit our oldest son who was working that day in an office on Maiden Lane – and, later on, to join the throngs walking out onto the Brooklyn Bridge. (This was our first day of clear, blue sky weather.) I made this photograph as we approached that street a bit early, giving us some time to look around a bit. Oddly, when I visit the very narrow and twisty “canyons” of this part of Manhattan, with the very tall buildings towering immediately above and following the curves of the old streets, I always think of different sorts of canyons, for example the sort that I frequently visit in the Sierra. It occurred to me that the same light falls on both types of canyons. You can bet that I would have my camera out if light like that shining on the front of these curved buildings appeared in “my” Sierra!

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.

keywords: new york, city, state, usa, north america, lower, manhattan, island, financial, district, buildings, skyscraper, morning, light, canyon, maiden, lane, brick, stone, window, reflection, sky, haze, vertical, structure, architecture, curve, tall, street, stairs, fire, escape, ledge, column, travel, scenic, stock, downtown

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 105mm (at B&H)
ISO 200, f/8, 1/125 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.26.2010 :: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: 4 Comments »

Parking Lot Near High Line Park

Evening photograph of an urban parking lot near the High Line Elevated Park in the Chelsea area of New York City.

I photographed this parking facility from above as we started down the stairs at the north end of High Line Park. Since I was traveling light at this point I had no tripod – so I made this 1/8 second exposure hand-held. (Image stabilization can be your friend!) Lighting was, to say the least, tricky. Areas of the structure were in deep shadow, but there were also bright artificial light directly within the frame. By some miracle I managed to pretty much capture the full dynamic range in one shot.

These parking elevators are seen all over Manhattan, and they allow cars to be parked several deep on the vertical lift. This was the first time I had the opportunity to shoot one from a position that wasn’t on the ground, and the complicated mass of vertical beams filling the space and lit by artificial light sources seemed like an interesting subject. I haven’t seen the elevators in operation, so I still wonder how the lot operators manage to get the right cars at the top/bottom of each lift so that each person’s car will be at ground level at the right 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.

keywords: new york, nyc, city, state, usa, north america, parking, lot, facility, elevators, cars, autos, automobiles, lift, machine, industrial, structure, scaffold, evening, light, urban, street, downtown, chelsea, manhattan, island, high, line, elevated, park, east, side, lower, architecture, steel, brace, beam, stock

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 35mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/8 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.25.2010 :: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

Standard Hotel, Clouds, and Airplane

An airplane crosses a cloud-filled New York City sky above the Standard Hotel at the High Line Park in Chelsea.

This hotel straddling the High Line Elevated Park in New York City presents a striking appearance, especially when the right clouds are reflected in its glass-window surface. We were in the area on a summer evening when the sky was filled with interesting clouds, and by the time we finished walking to and then along the elevated path of the High Line park we had seen it from quite a few angles.

This was my first visit to New York City in a decade, and I have to say that coming to terms with it as a photographic subject is a tall task for someone trying to take in the whole thing for (not quite) the first time. I do a lot of street and urban photography, but usually in places with which I’m familiar – San Francisco is a short train ride from where I live, so I photograph there a lot. For me, it takes some time to get beyond the overwhelming first impressions and settle down and achieve a level of comfort with the place. There were days in New York when, despite being in the midst of tremendous numbers of photographic opportunities, I found it almost impossible to figure out what to shoot. And there were also certain times when “the light came on” and I made a lot of photographs, including this evening.

I need to go back…

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.

keywords: new york, city, state, chelsea, manhattan, island, the, standard, hotel, windows, reflect, clouds, sky, architecture, building, geometry, pattern, perspective, blue, white, angle, high, line, elevated, park, usa, north america, urban, street, lower, west, side, stock, jet, airplane, airliner, plane, fly, flight

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 45mm (at B&H)
ISO 200, f/8, 1/320 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.24.2010 :: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: 2 Comments »

The Standard Hotel and Clouds

The windows of the Standard Hotel reflect clouds and sky above the High Line Park.

We spent a week in New York City in mid-August – our first visit in a decade. I had forgotten a lot about the character of this city, but it all started coming back to me as we drove into Manhattan on a Friday evening and encountered people everywhere, out and about and doing all of the things that one does here. I have many images in my mind from the visit, but one is a sort of combination of massive, tall, and static structures surrounded by the constant motion of vehicles and people.

The next evening we made our way – with the help of our oldest son, who now lives there – down to the High Line Park area, arriving at the beginning of the “golden hour” light on an evening featuring wonderfully textured clouds. The Standard Hotel straddles the High Line – which, for those who may not know, is a narrow elevated park built on the structure of an old elevated railway. Here the cloud-filled sky is reflected in the windows of the hotel.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM (at B&H) at 105mm
ISO 100, f/11, 1/50 second

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.22.2010 :: Commentary, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

Blood-red dawn light illuminates eastern Sierra Nevada peaks of Yosemite National Park and morning clouds above abandoned high desert cabins in the sage brush along highway 395.

Many who travel the eastern Sierra on highway 395 have no doubt seen these two abandoned buildings along the highway not far from Lee Vining, set against the background of the Sierra’s eastern escarpment along the border of Yosemite National Park. I’ve noticed them for years and have tried to photograph them a few times in the past.

On this late-July morning I had gotten up very early at my Tuolumne Meadows camp site and decided that there might be enough interesting clouds to warrant a trip down to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake for a sunrise shoot. However, I apparently didn’t get up quite early enough (actually, I miscalculated the time of dawn) since the sun began to rise above the horizon just before I turned east from 395 onto 120 to get to the lake. For a moment I vacillated – hurry on to get to Mono as soon after sunrise as possible (since the light gets there a few minutes later) or shoot whatever I could see right then an there? The intense red light made the decision for me and I quickly pulled over near these buildings and made a few exposures as the saturated and very red morning light hit the mountains.

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.

keywords: blood, red, dawn, morning, sunrise, clouds, sky, virga, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, high, coiuntry, parker, pass, snow, eastern, escarpment, forest, sagebrush, high, desert, red, pink, abandoned, dilapidated, cabin, ranch, sagebrush, highway, 395, lee, vining, mono, lake, county, roadside, fence, barbed, wire, landscape, travel, scenic, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.08.2010 :: Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Yosemite :: 8 Comments »

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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Archive for the 'Photographs: Structures' Category

Sunset on Building With Columns, High Line Park

Stonework Detail, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

Maiden Lane, Lower Manhattan

Parking Lot Near High Line Park

Standard Hotel, Clouds, and Airplane

The Standard Hotel and Clouds

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

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