Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

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

Evening Along the Canal

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Evening Along the Canal
“Evening Along the Canal” — Visitors to Venice sit along the banks of a canal near the Campo Santa Maria Formosa at night.

This photograph of people lazily passing an evening along a canal in Venice almost didn’t see the light of day. It is a “left behind” photograph that languished in my raw file archives for the past three years. Every so often I revisit the archives, and I almost always discover something that I missed. How do I miss these images? Sometimes I think I had a different idea in mind for the photograph that did not work, and returning with fresh eyes allows me to see it anew. Or, as in this case, another photograph that I made almost next door to this one did make the initial cut, so I think I dismissed this one at the time and moved on.

We were in Venice in August that year. Believe it or not, we had not been there before, and we really felt that it shouldn’t be missed. So we put up with the crowds and heat and incorporated it into a larger trip to Southern Europe. On this evening we had eaten and then gone out for an evening walk in the cooler air, diminished crowds, and beautiful evening light.

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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: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Rectangular

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Color and Light Patterns
“Rectangular” — Patterns of color and light on an urban building, San Jose, California.

This photograph ties in with a couple of aspects of my photographic practice. I’ve always been fascinated by patterns, shapes, colors, and textures in the abstract. I think this is present even in photographs of mine that are not as clearly geometric as this one. In addition, I often photograph things that might seem mundane — every day places and objects.

Connected to that last point, I often carry a camera with me when I go out for non-photography purposes. I walk a lot — often miles every day. And I virtually never head out on a walk without a camera. Most often it stays in the bag and I don’t make any photographs. But every so often I see an interesting subject and, having the camera with me, I make photographs.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Table and Chairs

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Table and Chairs
“Table and Chairs” — A table and chairs under a portico in Santiago de Compostela.

One of the pleasures of (warm-weather) travel in many parts of Europe is sitting at an outdoor table to have a drink or a coffee and watch the world go by. The table and chairs were ideally situated beneath the arch of a portico, perfect for that kind of activity along a narrow street in Santiago de Compostela.

The table was empty, but my photo archive suggests that this was not the case for long. The next photographs in my collection are a series of images of espresso cups and spoons… strongly suggesting that we must have ordered coffee, taken seats at the table, and engaged in precisely that activity.

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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: Europe, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Window with Wrought Iron

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Window with Wrought Iron
“Window with Wrought Iron” — Wroght iron casts a shadow below a window in Casals de Loivos, Portugal.

I photographed this window on the morning we departed Casals de Loivos on the final day of our one-week walk in the hills and vineyards of Portugal’s Douro Valley region. We took a brief walk thought this small village before walking the steep trail downhill to Pinhão, where this segment of our trip would end.

Our arrival in Casals de Loivos was a spectacular conclusion to the walk. We stayed at an inn with a terrace overlooking the Douro Valley and the winding Douro River far below. This window, with its wrought iron grate and fascinating shadows seems to me to capture one of the kinds of light we saw here — bright, brilliant, high angle light that somehow manages to not be harsh despite being intense.

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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.