Tag Archives: alley

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

Bike Rack and Wall

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Bike Rack and Wall
A bike rack in front of a wall covered with graffiti and street art, Bologna.

Bike Rack and Wall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A bike rack in front of a wall covered with graffiti and street art, Bologna.

This photograph comes from a less-traveled (at least by tourists) back street in Bologna, Italy, in a neighborhood of narrow streets and walkways that seems like it might be where some of the locals actually live. There was, indeed, more street art and graffiti in this neighborhood, though this is perhaps an extreme example.

Several things drew me to this scene. Oddly, one of them was the connection between the light here and light that I have photographed in the narrow sandstone canyons of the American Southwest, where light bounces back and forth between reddish walls and acquires a warm softness. But the rest of the scene is, obviously, nothing like those natural landscape. a phalanx of bicycles crowds a wide rack, and the wall behind and above is plastered with a wild array of posters and graffiti.

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

Trogir Street, Early Morning

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Trogir Street, Early Morning
Trogir Street, Early Morning. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell

Trogir Street, Early Morning. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A (nearly-) empty early-morning street in Trogir, Croatia.

Trogir, Croatia is located not far from the city of Split. (It is not too far from the Split airport, as any visitor will note after watching and listening to planes on approach over the town.) It is a very old town and quite a striking place, with buildings and narrow streets constructed from local stone. Its history goes back over 2000 years, and these days it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a well-known location from the Game of Thrones franchise and, not doubt partly as a result, a very popular place with tourists. The latter can be an issue, especially in such a small town, and during the daytime it can be really crowded.

My friend and Croatian fellow photographer Franka Mlikota Gabler was visiting while we were there, and she suggested meeting before sunrise for some early morning — and crowd-free! — photography. Aside from people setting up restaurants and shops or making deliveries, or tourists heading out to catch early flights from the Split airport, the place was almost deserted. I photographed this narrow street while it was early enough that the blue hour light still suffused the narrow passageways.

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.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Alley, Arrow, Windows

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Alley, Arrow, Windows
A directional arrow in a narrow alley outside of a windowed industrial building

Alley, Arrow, Windows. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A directional arrow in a narrow alley outside of a windowed industrial building

Night photography is, perhaps ironically, truly all about the light. There isn’t that much of it in most cases, so we resort to very long exposures (or perhaps very high ISO values) and we seek out places where there is just enough of it to make photographs. Night illumination is often from artificial sources, and frequently it comes at least partially from inside the subject rather than falling on its exterior. Subjects that may be mundane in normal daylight can take on new qualities in the light of the night — they may stand isolated from their backgrounds, take on unusual colors, and even become mysterious and moody.

This building is one of those subjects that glows from within. When I first saw it my initial idea was to get very close to some of the windows and simply photograph the interior of the empty building. For various reasons, ranging from practical to aesthetic, I gave up on that idea. Instead I stepped back a bit, included the windows and building interior, but also worked with the light spilling out into this alley, where a variety of patterns are produced on the pavement.

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.
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Photographs: Night

Windows, Brick Building, Night

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Windows, Brick Building, Night
Light from the interior of an industrial building spills through windows and into an alley

Windows, Brick Building, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light from the interior of an industrial building spills through windows and into an alley

This building was a bit of a surprise to me. As I recall from past visits, I’m pretty sure that it had been more or less abandoned at one point, and I typically found it completely dark when I photographed there at night. I specifically recall photographing around it and having to content with a very dark environment, the sort where exposures of many minutes were necessary. But on this visit I found it, instead, to be a source of light. The interior was clear and well-lit, and large expanses of windows allowed the light to spread from the building onto the surroundings.

On a slightly technical level a few things seemed notable about photographing this structure. First, it is an example of how well current photographic technology can handle some very challenging light situations. The subjects in this photograph ranged from a bare lightbulb inside the building (visible as the brightest area in the central window) to virtually black shadows on the close side of the building wall. Yet a single exposure was sufficient to capture enough image data to protect the highlights and retain some detail in even the darkest areas. The second observation has to do with the inevitable changes that time brings to places like this. I have photographed here for about fifteen years, and on this visit I saw many changes. I lamented many of them, especially the places now off limits, knocked down, or modified almost beyond recognition. But at the same time, the re-opening of some of the old structures has made them more photographically interesting — as in the case of this building where there is now sufficient light for photography.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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