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

Trattoria Alfredo

February 7, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trattoria Alfredo and Florence streets at night

In many parts of the old, central portion of Florence, with its narrow streets, there is a near absence of colorful commercial signs of the sort that are so common in most American cities. (There is an area of more modern shops that feels more familiar, perhaps, to American visitors.) Along many of the streets there is little to indicate commercial establishments aside from small signs and open windows or doors. While this trattoria isn’t the only place that looks like this, it seems a bit unusual by comparison.

This photograph illustrates one of the things I like about night photography, and in particular about night photography in urban environments, namely the wildly diverse light sources. Here the interior of the little restaurant glows with light that could come from tungsten bulbs and which spills out onto the street, while the street lights down the way to the right have more of the character of daylight. But above the store is wildly saturated light from brilliantly colorful red and blue bulbs, so intense that it overwhelms most of the other light sources.

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

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

Restaurant Workers on Break

February 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Restaurant workers take a break in an alley under streetlights

Last summer we spent five weeks on the road — starting in New York, then going to London, Paris, Heidelberg, and finally Italy where we spent a week in the hills between Florence and Siena and then concluded our trip in Florence. If I have a regret, it is that we spent too little time in Florence. Our final stop there was almost an afterthought — we knew we would fly out of its airport, and we decided we might as well add a couple of days there. Anyone who has visited knows that a “couple of days” is not remotely enough for this city.

I loved walking around this city and photographing, especially in the mornings and again at night. On this last evening we decided we wanted to find a place for dinner, but we didn’t have a plan so we just wandered. We found a place — it isn’t hard here! — and then wandered some more, right on into the evening. At the very end of the evening, just yards from our hotel, we passed this street corner where employees were taking a break outside of a restaurant.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Leafless Plants, Sandstone

February 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A few nearly leafless plants grow in a sandstone canyon, Capitol Reef National Park

I made this photograph in a place that is not unknown to Capitol Reef National Park visitors, but which few visit. To get to this lovely little canyon requires a very long drive on a gravel road, and then at least a little bit of research or perhaps a conversation with the right park employee. I was with friends who knew about it, and I probably would not have found it without them.

There are beautiful red rock canyons all over southern Utah, and some are quite well-known — sometimes perhaps known a bit too well. Fortunately there are so many that by poking around in the right corners you can find plenty of lonely yet quite lovely little canyons like this one. We began with a hike across some flat country and then soon entered the mouth of the canyon, which almost immediately became somewhat narrow. It wasn’t a long hike as before long we reached a blockage that we could not really pass. But along the way the beautiful light reflected down from above, bouncing off the red canyon walls, and casting a warm glow down below. Here the scenery was almost entirely of the ubiquitous red rock, broken by a few small plants that were almost leafless by this time in autumn.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone and Singleleaf Ash

February 4, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A singleleaf ash tree stretches across red sandstone wall, Utah

I love the stunning sandstone landscapes of Southern Utah — a world of canyons intimate or huge, smooth red sandstone walls, the force of water, juniper trees, flatlands and mountains, and the thought-provoking presence of people who lived here before we came. When I return to my California landscapes from Utah they always seem a bit… gray. I made this photograph on a visit a bit more than four years ago, when I joined several photographer friends to explore places from Zion National Park to Capitol Reef National Park, spending time in some of the stunning national monument lands in between. I made this photograph in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a place that surely is deserving of national park status.

Back in 2012 during this visit, I thought about how my country had the foresight to protect such quintessential American landscapes and hold them in trust for all Americans today and long into the future. It did not even cross my mind that they might soon again be in danger. But they are, including this very place, now described by self-serving politicians intent on taking the land that we own and giving it away to private interests as being “places where no one goes” or places that are just empty desert. This is, of course, nonsense and only a liar or worse could make such a claim with a straight face. Once again, it appears that it will be time to have to try to re-save these places.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Trattoria Alfredo

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Restaurant Workers on Break

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Leafless Plants, Sandstone

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Sandstone and Singleleaf Ash

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.