Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman with Umbrella, Salzburg Street

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Woman with Umbrella, Salzburg Street
A Salzburg, Austria street scene including a woman with an umbrella

Woman with Umbrella, Salzburg Street. Salzburg, Austria. July 17, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Salzburg, Austria street scene including a woman with an umbrella

This is one of those photographs that you could see in any number of ways, I think. It is a narrow street in Salzburg, Austria, not far from the main square and the Salzburg Cathedral and perhaps right in front of the building that is described as the birthplace of Mozart. (Somehow the juxtaposition of a shopping district with that place seems just a bit jarring.) You could regard it as an almost random scene from this street, though I think there is a bit more going on.

One of the things I like about street photography is working quickly and spontaneously, reacting quickly to people, events, and juxtapositions that may last only for a brief moment. If I recall correctly, I perhaps began simply by thinking “there is a shot here somewhere, with all these people on this narrow street.” Then things began to coalesce a bit when I noticed the bright backlight streaming almost directly down the street and stretching long shadows toward me. Then I saw the woman with the dark umbrella — and who can resist a photograph of umbrellas!? As she walked past I quickly made a brief series of photographs, trying to instantly place her and her shadow in some kind of compositional relationship with people and objects in the scene. From this series, this one has her standing slightly apart from others and with her shadow stretching toward the lower part of the frame, and a similar shadow from another woman almost parallels it. The people at front right were in shadow (yes, some work in post makes them more visible) but I felt like they provided some balance to the brightness on the left side of the frame and, to me at least, there is something a bit odd and interesting about their intense gaze at something behind me. Looking closer at the people in the scene — closer than I could consciously look when I pressed the shutter release — I find the dark figure on the right margin interesting, and as the people stretch into the distance several of them seem to have stories to tell, too.

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: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Windows, Lamp, Shadow

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Windows, Lamp, Shadow
“Windows, Lamp, Shadow” — A street lamp and its shadow between two windows, Salzburg, Austria

In the summer of 2013 we spent three weeks visiting London, Heidelberg, and the Berchtesgaden area of Bavaria. Since we traveled there from Heidelberg by train, we arrived and departed at Salzburg — and since Salzburg was so close we managed to visit that city on other days during our stay. With our musical backgrounds, the first thing we think of when we think of Salzburg is Mozart, since this is his birthplace and the city is still something of a musical center. Of course, once we arrived we realized there is a lot more to the place. (Did someone say “coffee?”)

I love wandering around in virtually any city with a camera, and I did a bit of that sort of wandering here. It was only after photographing in different areas and on different days that I began to recognize these characteristic lamps showing up in many photographs of diverse subjects, at which point they became a bit of a subject for me.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night

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Saint Paul's Cathedral, Night
Pedestrians along a walkway leading toward Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night. London, England. July 5, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians along a walkway leading toward Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London

St. Paul’s Cathedral is an obvious landmark at any time, but at night it is even more so, especially if you approach it from across the River Thames by way of the Millennium Bridge. We visited the bank opposite the cathedral on several evenings, so I can no longer remember precisely what we had been there for on this evening — The Old Globe Theater, meeting up with relatives for dinner, a visit to the Tate Modern? I’m not certain.

In any case, we ended up crossing the river in this direction after dark on a warm summer evening when many people were out strolling around. This was one of the first times when I realized that my little mirrorless camera was good enough in low light that I could actually do handheld night photography.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Summer Evening, River Thames

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Summer Evening, River Thames
Evening light on the River Thames, London

Summer Evening, River Thames. London, England. July 4, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on the River Thames, London

In England on the Fourth of July (a bit ironic for an American, no?) we were out along the banks of the River Thames as the summer evening came on. We had wonderful weather during this visit — if anything it was too warm. A low deck of broken clouds covered the sky, but to the west the sky was clearer and the light streamed through the hazy air.

I think this photograph is probably more about the light than anything else. For some reason, when I found the image in my archive and began to work on it I barely thought about the subject at all — the light seemed to be enough. When I did look at it more closely I realized that the content of the image is really fairly ordinary — a dock in the foreground, a bit of the river bank. a tall building on the right and urban buildings across the river on the left, a bridge (a central subject in my view), the clouds, and the warm color of the evening light.

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.
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.