Category Archives: Photographs: Travel

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel

Amstel Canal

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Amstel Canal
Boats along the Amstel Canal, Amsterdam

Amstel Canal. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boats along the Amstel Canal, Amsterdam

We had clouds — and occasional rain — during a good part of our August visit to Amsterdam. This being our first time in that city, I did not really know what sort of weather to expect, and stories of unusually warm northern European weather had me expecting something different. I mentioned this to some natives we ate with at a brewery one rainy evening, and they sort of laughed, explaining that “seeing the blue sky is somewhat unusual” in Amsterdam. I guess we were lucky then, since we actually did see some blue sky later.

Amsterdam is pretty much as you probably imagine it if you have read about the place. There are, obviously, those canals, with provide one of the many layers of transportation in parts of the city. (Other elements include many walkers, many cyclists, some drivers, public transit, and so on.) We had gotten to this location in the city by boat, if I recall correctly, but then set out on foot to explore a bit. I made the photograph not far from the opera house, on a bridge crossing the canal.

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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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Austria, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Child In The Street

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Child In The Street
A toddler walks in the street in front of arches, Vienna

Child In The Street. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A toddler walks in the street in front of arches, Vienna

There are probably multiple ways to think about this photograph. It is, obviously, a photograph of a small child in a roadway. Is the child actually alone? Why is he/she in the street? Why did I make a photograph rather than running to protect the child? I’m not going to answer those questions here — partly because I think it is better to let the viewer wonder, and partly because there is no scandal in any of the actual answers. But questions remain? What IS this child doing? What, if anything, does this mean?

On a practical note, this is an example of the sort of photograph that would be pretty much impossible to make using the equipment or techniques of my landscape and similar photography. A scene like this happens instantaneously, usually with little or no warning, and it is gone almost as soon as you see it. For this sort of thing I work with a small handheld camera with a prime lens, which lets me respond to such scenes almost without taking (much) time for conscious thought.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrian, Old Buildings

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Pedestrian, Old Buildings
A pedestrian walks past a Paris wall full of interesting shapes

Pedestrian, Old Buildings. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pedestrian walks past a Paris wall full of interesting shapes

Folks like this fellow are often subjects in my street photography. I frequently located an interesting group of buildings or similar, and then I wait for a person to populate the scene. Fortunately, this fellow came by pretty quickly after I had worked out my composition and so forth.

The person is interesting and provides a central focus. However, I feel like the photograph is actually more about the architecture than the person. The person does give the image a focus, but I was more interested in the almost-cubist forms of the wall here. The colors are all rather muted, though the dynamic range is quite large.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pigeons on the Roof

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Pigeons on the Roof
Pigeons on the roof of the Brancusi Gallery at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

Pigeons on the Roof. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pigeons on the roof of the Brancusi Gallery at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

We were here somewhat early in the morning to visit the nearby Centre Pompidou. We may have arrived before it opened — or perhaps we weren’t aware that it had opened, or possibly we just wanted to look a bit before entering. In any case, we were walking around the large open space in front of the entrance, and I took the time to make a few photographs of the surroundings.

Off to the side, along a parallel street, is the Brancusi Gallery — the building whose roof is seen in the photograph. I think that the flock of pigeons first caught my attention. I thought it was odd that they were all clusters on the roof of this structure. Then I began to find the composition of lines and shapes and color interesting, with the slight foreground diagonal creating some dissonance with the squared shape of the gallery and with the older buildings in the background.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook |
Email

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