Tag Archives: america

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

Three Women, Grant Street

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Three Women, Grant Street
Three women stand in front of a Grant Street storefront at night, San Francisco.

Three Women, Grant Street. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three women stand in front of a Grant Street storefront at night, San Francisco.

At this point I’m not sure I recall the exact circumstances that had me in this part of San Francisco after dark, but from the group of photographs that I have in my archive I can tell that I had made my way to the Chinatown district by evening, and after photographing there headed south past the Moscone Center, all of which suggests I had gone up there and back on the train. Taking the train to San Francisco for a day of street photography has long been a favorite activity, though I think it has now been about two years since the last attempt, aside from a few brief forays when I was up there this past fall for a couple of shows.

This San Francisco district, and others like it, are great places to photograph after dark, especially if you can work quickly, in street photography style, using a small handheld camera. There is often a fair amount of light from the combined sources of street lights, passing traffic, and the often-colorful lights spilling from commercial storefronts. With a small camera, especially at night, I can photograph without being so obvious that I intrude on the scene myself. One theme in my night street photography is people doing seemingly unusual things in a very normal human fashion. This appears to be a group of three friends passing through this area, but pausing to look in an unusual direction for just a moment.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Trees at Twilight, Lower Manhattan

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Trees at Twilight, Lower Manhattan
Winter trese in twilight at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station, Lower Manhattan

Trees at Twilight, Lower Manhattan. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter trese in twilight at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station, Lower Manhattan.

At about this time two years ago, near the end of the Before Times, we were in New York City for the holidays. It was a trip much like previous visits there — we mingled in gigantic crowds, walked almost everywhere, occasionally froze in very un-California weather, ate in packed restaurants, and did pretty much all of the things one does in a busy, crowded, and intense place like New York. Although we had no idea at the time — the first news of the oncoming pandemic had still not arrived — this would be the last big trip like this for years.

I mentioned above that we walk a lot in Manhattan. Those who don’t know the place are, it seems, often surprised to find that almost everyone there walks, residents and visitors alike. Certainly part of the reason is that it is not a friendly place to drivers. But it also really is a friendly place to walkers, despite what you might think. We always wander around on foot a lot when we visit, and even in winter we’ll sometimes walk long distances. This was one of those days. We started in more or less Midtown and then headed south all the way to Lower Manhattan below the City Hall area, where we met family members. Close to our destination we passed this scene at a subway entrance near City Hall as the day was ending and evening lights were appearing.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Plant, Reflections

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Autumn Plant, Reflections
An autumn plant silhouetted against the surface of a shallow Central Valley pond.

Autumn Plant, Reflections. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn plant silhouetted against the surface of a shallow Central Valley pond.

In another recent post I noted that this is the season when I like to spend a lot of time in California’s Great Central Valley photographing birds, many of which are migratory visitors to the state and only remain for a few months. But the complete story is a bit more complicated. Yes, the birds do attract me to these locations. But the locations themselves and their potential as landscape subjects are equally compelling. (I sometimes describe what I do out there as not being precisely “bird photography” or “landscape photography,” but something that often feels more like “birdscape photography.”

I fill out another detail of that “complete story,” too. Sometimes the birds don’t show up, or they are there but too far away or in small numbers, or the light simply isn’t great for photographing them. This is often my cue to pivot to pure landscape photography, and in this region of fog, water, and sometimes an expansive sky, that can be a pretty interesting subject, too. On this visit the birds were few and far between — not a real surprise during an early-December visit on a gray day. By mid-morning I turned my attention to the landscape and was intrigued by the many plants at the water’s edge. In retrospect, the shape of this one and its adornment with what might be remind one of ornaments suggested a Christmas tree.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light

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Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light
An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

As I posted this photograph it occurred to me that “leaning aspens” or “falling aspens” might better describe what is going on here — but I’m sticking with the original title. This is a somewhat different view of a subject that I shared previously, photographed on an autumn day when the sun was just about to drop behind high ridges to the west and the hazy air glowed in the backlight. The primarily photograph I came away with included a larger portion of the scene, but I also grew to like this one that narrows its focus to a group of small-trunk trees. The trees at right on on the edge of a pond, and I suspect that they are leaning as a result of growing in wet, unstable soil.

This will almost certainly be my final aspen photograph of 2021, so I’ll add a few general comments about photographing this subject in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. One feature of the Sierra aspens is that they grow in wildly different niches. Some trees find large, flat areas with good soil, ample water, and protection from the elements, and they may grow into tall, straight, massive trees. Many others seem to struggle in rocky soil, drier locations, high elevations, limited light, exposure to wind, and these trees — the majority of Sierra aspens, in my experience — often show the effects. They can be twisted, stunted, knocked over by avalanches, and more. Superficially you might think that this reflects poorly on “our aspens.” But the reality is that we can find a great variety of aspen forms — more, I think, than in some areas known for these trees.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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