Tag Archives: brown

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

Street Art, Bologna

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Street Art, Bologna
Weathered layers of street art and graffiti on a Bologna wall.

Street Art, Bologna. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Weathered layers of street art and graffiti on a Bologna wall.

Recently I have noticed that American visitors to Europe are surprised by the amount of graffiti (aka “street art”) in some cities. There is a lot of it, but I’m not sure if there is more of it than in the US. Perhaps they/we just end up in places where it is found more often when traveling, or maybe we are so used to it at home that we no longer “see” it. Another possibility: In the US I think there are efforts to control graffiti in places that tourists go, but in at least some parts of Europe that seems to be less the case. (This is not to suggest that graffiti isn’t a problem, as some recent stories about cretins writing and carving on antiquities has shown.)

One of the European cities where I first started to notice this is Bologna, Italy. Almost a decade ago we spent one night there during a drive from Germany to Tuscany — and I have this strong memory of walking through unlit streets with tons of graffiti at dusk. (After our recent trip, when walks in the same area at the same time of day included quite a few people, I’m beginning to distrust that early memory.) This photograph comes from a side-street in Bologna, where it was one of many examples. This one fascinated me, with its top layer of glued-on paper deteriorating to reveal layers of earlier marks and its interesting palette of colors.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Alcove and Wall

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Alcove and Wall
An alcove, a weathered wall, a door, and a sidewalk — Florence, Italy.

Alcove and Wall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An alcove, a weathered wall, a door, and a sidewalk — Florence, Italy.

This photograph comes from Florence, Italy. Anyone who has been there, especially in the busy tourist season, knows that the place is incredibly busy and crowded, at least during the hours when visitors are out and about. We escaped the most intense crowds on this morning by heading “the other way,” into a neighborhood that lacked the usual tourist attractions.

Like almost any photographer visiting this part of the world, I cannot resist the colors and the old, weathered surfaces and shapes of the buildings. Back home, old buildings just took… old. But here the Latino of time and wear somehow seems more attractive.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Green and Brown

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Green and Brown
A dry fallen leaf rests on lush green leaves on the forest floor.

Green and Brown. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A dry fallen leaf rests on lush green leaves on the forest floor.

When I visit gardens to ostensibly photograph flowers, I inevitably find myself photographing other things — structures and objects, trees, fallen flowers, people, and ground plants growing in lush and shaded areas. The beautiful and very green leaves often seem like they would be easy to photograph, but I almost always realize that finding just the right arrangement can be challenging.

The stroke of luck here was finding this one light brown leaf lying atop the larger green leaves. This was spring, not autumn, and old, dry leaves are pretty rare. And, no, I did not put it there — I found it the way you see it.

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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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Pelicans and Coastal Bluffs

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Pelicans and Coastal Bluffs
A line of pelicans flies toward bluffs along California’s Pacific coastline.

Pelicans and Coastal Bluffs. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A line of pelicans flies toward bluffs along California’s Pacific coastline.

Brown pelicans seem to have made a solid comeback along the California coast, though I understand that they are susceptible to the avian flu that has affected many wild bird species this season. They are usually easy to find along the California coast, where they can often be spotted gliding along next to bluffs or just above the surf. (Photography hint: Look for places along bluffs and peninsulas where they pass close to the land.)

They sometimes can surprise me. I’ve been out along the coast on a day when they didn’t seem plentiful, only to have a large group like this one suddenly appear and glide past. If I recall, when I saw these birds coming I had the wrong lens on the camera. I made the fastest lens change I could, raised the camera, and had just a barely enough time to photograph them above these coastal bluffs.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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.