Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Contrada Sovrana Dell’ Istrice

Image Leave a comment
Contrada Sovrana Dell' Istrice
Doors, windows, and brick wall — Contrada Sovrana Dell’ , Istrice, Siena, Italy

Contrada Sovrana Dell’ Istrice. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Doors, windows, and brick wall — Contrada Sovrana Dell’ , Istrice, Siena, Italy.

We had only a single day in Siena during our nearly-two-week stay in Tuscany back in 2016, but it was plenty of time to convince me that i need to return. Central Siena is an amazing place — a literal maze of very narrow streets that ring a large central plaza, the site of the famous annual horse race pitting contestants representing the various districts of the city against one another.

This building is from the Contrade Sovrana Dell’ Istrice — essentially the “Sovereign District of the Porcupine.” As I understand it, each of the “districts” of Siena is named after an animal. Each district also has its own colors, which you’ll see everywhere as you walk through sections of the city.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Market, Panzano in Chianti

Image Leave a comment
Market, Panzano in Chianti
Shoppers at a produce stand at the market in Panzano in Chianti

Market, Panzano in Chianti. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shoppers at a produce stand at the market in Panzano in Chianti.

This is one of will be several basic travel photographs — photographs that simply capture a place, including its qualities and perhaps its people, though my eyes as I visited. I made this photograph at a market in the Italian town of Panzano in Chianti, where we just happened to pass through on market day.

There are lots of wonderful things about traveling outside of the USA. (I just wish I had started earlier!) While you do become aware of differences — and partly by that means perhaps better understand your own culture and its place in the world — there are so many things that are largely the same in places that seem widely separated. Certainly this market shares a lot in common with those in my own state of California. (After working on this photograph I was out for a rural walk around here earlier this week… and it struck my just how much this area I was walking through evoked the memories of Tuscany.)

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Morning, Florence

Image Leave a comment
Morning, Florence
People walk the narrow streets of Florence, Italy on a summer morning.

Morning, Florence. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walk the narrow streets of Florence, Italy on a summer morning.

I made this photograph at a sort of “in-between time” in Florence. From midday on into the evening the place can be quite crowded — such a stupendous place draws just as large of a crowd of tourists as you might imagine. On a summer day, especially in the squares, along the river, and near any of the most famous attractions the number of people can be overwhelming — but most often in an energizing way.

To find somewhat quieter moments I went out early and sometimes stayed out late. As the evening wears on there are fewer and fewer people in some of the crowded areas, though the summer heat of Italy does tend to keep people out in the squares and restaurants longer than you might expect. But even better, in some ways, are the early morning hours when it at least seems like most of the sparse foot traffic belongs to locals. I made this photograph a bit later, after those early hours but before the main crush of crowds had arrived.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bar Vittorio Emanuele

Image Leave a comment
Bar Vittorio Emanuele
People gathering in Bologna on a warm summer evening

Bar Vittorio Emanuele. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People gathering in Bologna on a warm summer evening.

A few years back we drove from Heidelberg to Florence and then into the Tuscany hills where we stayed for more than a week. The drive took a few days, with the first night spent in Munich and the second in Bologna. (Florence wasn’t that much farther than Bologna, but we wanted to visit.) Our arrival was a very strange and even uncomfortable experience. We came into town in the evening, finding the area we were in mostly deserted. We eventually found a place to leave our car and set out to find our “hotel” rooms. That was a strange and complicated story that would take to long to describe here.

We finally got our rooms and decided to head out. It was now dark, there were no street lights in the area, walls were covered profusely with graffiti, it was hot (as expected), and there seemed to be no one else outside. We finally found an open restaurant, got a table, and ate at the nearly deserted place, wondering what we’d gotten into. Then, a bit after 9:30PM, we started to see people. Over the next hour the crowds increased in size and by 10:00PM or so there were lots of people out and about, eating, drinking, hanging out… and enjoying the cooler evening temperatures.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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