Category Archives: Photographs: United Kingdom

Summer Twilight, River Thames

Summer Twilight, River Thames
The twilight sky above the River Thames on a summer evening in London.

Summer Twilight, River Thames. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The twilight sky above the River Thames on a summer evening in London.

This photograph comes from the end of a memorable day in London back in 2013. Believe it or not, this was our first visit to that city. We made the best of it, staying there for about a week before departing for other destinations. Various relatives from the US and Europe also showed up while we were there, and it was on this day, if my memory is correct, that the whole gang had finally arrived and met up. We had just had dinner together and were now along the Thames watching the day come to an end.

This photograph brings up the subject of how to interpret scenes photographed in very low light. It was the beginning of summer twilight on this July evening — there was still light and color in the sky, but artificial light was becoming more visible as in became darker. My tendency is to interpret light in ways that bring more of it to the subject, but with night and near-night photography it is easy to go so far that you lose the sense of a dark environment. In this photograph I decided to keep things relatively dark, at least compared to what I could have done, in the hope that the effect would be close to how we would perceive the scene in person.


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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Pedestrians Along the River Thames

Pedestrians Along the River Thames
Pedestrians stroll along the banks of the River Thames on a cloudy London day.

Pedestrians Along the River Thames. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians stroll along the banks of the River Thames on a cloudy London day.

Today another photograph in the ongoing series that might be entitled “Dreams of Things We Used To Do and Hope To Do Again,” or “Photographs I Left Behind and Have Now Rediscovered.” The photograph comes from a 2013 overseas trip that took us first to London for roughly a week and then on to Germany and (a little bit) Austria. While part of the trip was spent in the bucolic setting of the Bavarian Alps, a good portion of it was in busy, crowded, lively urban settings. Remember those?

These trips of ours feature (among other things) some significant amounts of unplanned time when we can just wander and explore. While this approach means that we may not hit all of the Big Tourist Icons (or only discover them accidentally), it also gives us opportunities to immerse ourselves a bit more in unanticipated local experiences. I can hardly claim that this one — walking across the Millennium Bridge — fits that category precisely, though it was a lovely, cloudy scene along the river.


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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Windows, Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great

Windows, Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great
Afternoon light enters through windows at the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London

Windows, Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light enters through windows at the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London

This photograph comes from the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great (what a wonderful name!) in London, photographed on a visit there way back in 2013. As we often do when traveling in places like this, we came upon this subject essentially by accident. We were walking in the vicinity because we had come to look at something else, paused to eat lunch in a pub, then headed outside with no particular goal in mind, saw an interesting doorway down a street, and went in. “Discovering” things by accident seems to be a theme of my approach to travel.

There are a few other things connected to this photograph. First, it is (obvious from the date of the exposure) another of the lost-but-found photographs uncovered from my old raw files as I work my way through them as a pandemic project. Because of a project that some folks are working on, it is also one that features glass as a subject. Finally, the process of working through the old files has reminded me again that “making” a photograph is very much not an act of clicking shutter buttons. It begins with seeing, then to “capture,” but what happens between that and the existence of a final photograph can be a very long and convoluted process.


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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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.

Shad Thames

Shad Thames
People walk along Shad Thames, London

Shad Thames. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walk along Shad Thames, London.

This week the pandemic “voyage through the raw files archives” arrived in London, with photographs of a weeklong visit back in 2013. (I’m wanting to get to some Sierra Nevada photographs, but I’m sticking to a linear traverse of the archive, so I’m perhaps a month early for those.) As people whose travels have been largely in the US, this was our first visit to London. We had a great time — we were there on our own for a few days and then were joined by some of Patty’s family members. You’ll likely see more photos from the trip over the next week or two.

This fascinating little street, called Shad Thames, is near one end of the Tower Bridge in London, in an area that was historically a receiving area for commodities delivered by ship. (The area is also know as Butler’s Wharf.) Some decades ago, as modern shipping changed the market, the area apparently became somewhat run down but, as happens in big cities, it was revitalized and is now expensive and trendy. The narrow street still has cobbles, but the most striking features are the old bridges between the upper floors of the old warehouses.


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 | FacebookEmail

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.