Tag Archives: cable

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Morning

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San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Morning
San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Morning

San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Morning. San Francisco, California. January 6, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

San Francisco skyline and Golden Gate Bridge at dawn as a winter storm passes

I have previously photographed this alignment of San Francisco icons so I know more or less the precise spot to set up in – a slice of landscape about 10 feet wide and perhaps 40 feet long. It has been a few years since I’ve stopped to photograph there, but the opportunity came up on this morning. I had driven up to San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge to meet up with a large group of photographers who were on a so-called “photo walk” devoted to long exposure photography. I had no idea it would be as popular as it turned out to be! Although I arrived at the base of the road to this location well before sun rise, as I ascended I encountered several successive parking areas that were already full… before dawn… on a cold winter day… during a storm!

So I headed on up the road toward the summit, but found that access gates were closed before the top. I parked and thought a bit about what I might shoot, then grabbed my gear and started walking on up the hill. Before long I stopped at this spot – where other photographers were already set up – and set up in “my spot” that aligns the bridge tower with the building and made a few exposures. It was still quite dark – just before dawn and with thick clouds above the city – but this ended up working to my advantage. Photographing this bridge at night is very tricky because the towers are lit rather brightly and the orange color is very “hot” when photographed, making for some truly complicated exposure decisions. However, with just a bit of diffused pre-dawn light filtering in and the lights in the city not yet extinguished, it became possible to get a nice exposure on the bridge and reveal some of the details of the downtown buildings.

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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Lamp Post, Brooklyn Bridge

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Lamp Post, Brooklyn Bridge - A Brooklyn Bridge lamp-post stands against a backdrop of several iconic lower Manhattan structures, New York City
Lamp Post, Brooklyn Bridge - A Brooklyn Bridge lamp-post stands against a backdrop of several iconic lower Manhattan structures, New York City

Lamp Post, Brooklyn Bridge. New York City, New York. August 23, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Brooklyn Bridge lamp-post stands against a backdrop of several iconic lower Manhattan structures, New York City.

I was surprised to find that I apparently never posted this photograph after our August trip to New York City. We had taken the subway over to Brooklyn very early in the morning to meet our son, and then wandered around some areas of Brooklyn near the waterfront where there is a view of lower Manhattan. Eventually we worked our way over to the Bridge with the plan being to walk back to Manhattan.

As we walked along I noticed several things that seem to characterize this bridge. Some of the features are pretty obvious to the point of being iconic – the pattern of the support cables for example. But these lamps kept distracting me, so I decided to see how I could photograph them. At this point, it occurred to me that I could actually leave out most of the bridge except for the lamp post (and a bit of the top of one of the towers) and then line it up with a bunch of other recognizable stuff on the lower Manhattan skyline. I chose to desaturate this image quite a bit in post, which explains the somewhat unusual color palette.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Golden Gate Bridge and Lunar Eclipse

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Golden Gate Bridge and Lunar Eclipse
Golden Gate Bridge and Lunar Eclipse

Golden Gate Bridge and Lunar Eclipse. San Francisco, California. December 10, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The moon, in full lunar eclipse, passes behind the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is the second of two photographs of this week’s full lunar eclipse that I will share. The earlier one was a horizontal format version of roughly the same subject. Here the fully eclipsed setting moon passed behind the upper portion of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the San Francisco Bay shoreline in the Crissy Field area. There was just a bit of pre-dawn light in the sky at this point, and within a few minutes of making this photograph the combination of increasing ambient light, the generally hazy atmosphere, and the moon dropping into high, off-shore clouds brought the show to a fairly quick conclusion.

I was stunned by the number of other photographers out at this very early hour, even considering that it was within the city of San Francisco. I had originally tried Treasure Island, in the bay between San Francisco and Oakland. There were quite a few photographers lined up there at 5:00 a.m., but I did not like the potential positioning of the moon relative to likely foreground features near the horizon, so I didn’t stick around. Instead, I made a guess based on my knowledge of the area that there was a good chance that the moon might line up with the Golden Gate Bridge from vantage points in the Fort Mason, Crissy Field, and Fort Point areas. I drove over there quickly and was surprised to find the parking lots were nearly full and tripod-laden photographers walking about or already set up. I grabbed the first decent parking space, loaded up my gear, and started walking west, figuring that I could get to the likely spot on foot quite quickly.

A second surprise was that the ideal location, which wasn’t hard to find at all, was far less crowded than the areas closer to the parking lot. I was even able to find a spot or two where I could set up apart from other photographers and wait – for only a few moments by this time – for the moon to intersect with the bridge.

Another view of this subject in landscape orientation is posted here.

An interesting side note: Photographer Florian Kainz later shared his eclipse shot with me and asked if I might be the photographer standing in front of the bridge. Yes. That’s me! With Florian’s permission I have included a small version of his photo here – follow the links back to see his full-sized post at Flickr. He has given me permission to share his photograph here. Thanks, Florian!

Lunar Eclipse - just before Sunrise
Photograph © Copyright 2011 Florian Kainz. Used by permission of the photographer.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Night Photography, Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Lunar Eclipse, Golden Gate Bridge

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Lunar Eclipse, Golden Gate Bridge
Lunar Eclipse, Golden Gate Bridge

Lunar Eclipse, Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco, California. December 10, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Moon, in full lunar eclipse, drops behind the Golden Bridge South Tower, San Francisco, California.

Very (very!) early this morning I joined the surprisingly large throng of photographers out to shoot the lunar eclipse in the San Francisco area. I was up and out the door shortly after 4:00 a.m. and heading toward San Francisco. My first thought was to see if I could get an interesting composition with the moon over the San Francisco skyline by shooting from Treasure Island, in the bay between the City and Oakland. I arrived there while it was still very dark and found that lots of other photographers (and a motorcycle club!) were already on the scene. The photographers included to semi-astronomy types with the really, really big lenses and plenty of others.

The problem was immediately apparent. Even though the moon was still fairly high in the sky, it was apparent that it was going to set far to the right of San Francisco. I might have been able to find a workable spot on the island, but I still wasn’t sure the moon would be in a good spot once it got close to setting. At this point I decided to try a “plan B,” and I felt that there was a pretty good idea that I could make something work in the Crissy Field area. So I hopped back in the car, passed through downtown San Francisco, and arrived at the Crissy Field area…

… only to find out that I was most certainly not the only photographer thinking of using this location! There were hundreds of tripod-lugging photographers lined up a long the shoreline! My main idea at this point was to find a location from which the setting moon would pass above and then behind the bridge. So I headed off quickly towards the area where I thought this juxtaposition might be available. Soon I found it, and just as the sky was beginning to lighten up a bit and shedding a bit of natural light on the bridge. It was still quite challenging to get even a workable shot. The wind was blowing stiffly, making the necessary long exposures a bit tricky. In the end I think I got one or two that are interesting.

A vertical format version of this scene is posted here – I still haven’t decided which I prefer!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.