Tag Archives: bicycles

Bike Rack and Wall

Bike Rack and Wall
“Bike Rack and Wall” — 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.


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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

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Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening
Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

If I remember correctly — and I’m pretty sure I do in this case — I made this photograph late on our first day in Amsterdam this past summer. We had arrived by train from London that afternoon, made our way to our hotel just outside the main “downtown” section of the city, settled in, and then headed on foot into the city to start exploring. For some reason I had expected sunny and somewhat warm weather — which had recently been the trend in northern Europe — but we certainly did not have that when we arrived!

This first late afternoon exploration was quick. It began with a stop at just about the first decent-looking restaurant we ran across, since we were pretty hungry by this point. We finished, went outside, and began walking. It was a dark and drizzly evening, which produced a subdued and moody effect. I made this photograph — obviously! — as we walked on a bridge across one of the canals, finding bicycles leaning against the railings.


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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Buildings and Canal Reflection

Buildings and Canal Reflection
Amsterdam buildings reflected on the surface of a canal

Buildings and Canal Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Amsterdam buildings reflected on the surface of a canal

The number of ways people get around in the confines of central Amsterdam is utterly astonishing. Yes, there are cars, though fewer than in a typical American City. There are pedestrians — tons of them. Cyclists are everywhere — I had heard that they love bicycles in Amsterdam, but I wasn’t prepared for the number of them. There are lanes for all three forms of transportation, and those of use who aren’t used to this have a hard time keeping them straight, and we have to be on constant guard against accidentally wandering into a bicycle lane. And, of course, there are canals.

The canals thread through central Amsterdam in surprising ways, passing between and under the other means of transport. If you are on foot you look down at them, but those on the boats have the opposite experience, sitting close to the water and looking up at the rest of the city. Here I photographed across one of the canals so that I could capture the reflections of the colorful — and frequently strangely aligned — buildings running alongside.


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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Easy Joe’s

Easy Joe's
Street scene with pedestrians, Seattle

Easy Joe’s. Seattle, Washington. September 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene with pedestrians, Seattle

Today I’m going to insert one more street photograph into what has largely been a recent stream of natural world photographs. (I suppose that focus should not be a surprise during the fall season!) Back in September I was in the Seattle area of several days, mostly on non-photographic business, but I managed to get out and spend some time photographing, too. One day I made it to the North Cascades for a bit of landscape photography, and on another I sneaked out for a few hours of street photography.

I actually have no idea what Easy Joe’s is (or who Easy Joe is or was), but since the text appears in the scene I am going with it. For some reason, this photograph feels like Seattle to me — something about the architecture, perhaps, or the light or possibly I just recognize the downtown location. It also presented a sort of urban geometry that I enjoy, with tons of vertical and horizontal forms, but broken up by the passage of a compact group of pedestrians.


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