Tag Archives: colorful

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

Street With Holiday Lights, Madrid

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Street With Holiday Lights, Madrid
“Street With Holiday Lights, Madrid” — Colorful holiday lights suspended above a busy Madrid street near Plaza Mayor.

Our December visit to Madrid coincided with holiday festivities in the city. Main streets were jammed with people walking from place to place, and crowds assembled for holiday events and displays. There were Christmas markets, and holiday lights were everywhere. We did not realize that the season was such a big deal in Madrid, but we enjoyed it and got into the spirit.

At one point we thought, “Oh, what the heck” and braved the walk through the Plaza Mayor — a popular tourist destination and the site of a large Christmas market — on our way to destinations on the other side. We exited the plaza and walked down this pedestrian street lined with busy restaurants and topped by very colorful lights.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Street Art, Zaragoza

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Street Art, Zaragoza
“Street Art, Zaragoza’ – A fanciful female face, street art, Zaragoza, Spain.

I may be misconstruing things that I do not understand, but it seems like some places in Europe tolerate graffiti and/or street art more than in the USA, and perhaps that some of it is a bit more sophisticated than the “tagging” that we see so often here. (Indeed, there is tagging in Europe — even in this image — and there is some fascinating street art in America, too.)

I photographed this detail of a wall in Zaragoza, Spain. I don’t know the cultural reference of the figure, if there is one, but the image caught my attention. I get a kick out of how it is positioned as if the vertical pipe is almost irrelevant — yet the pipe covering that eye does affect how we regard the face.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

The Fly-In

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The Fly-In — geese arrive over a wetlands pond at sunset.
“The Fly-In” — Thousands of migratory geese arrive in the wetlands at sunset.

A day spent photographing migratory geese and other birds often includes a lot of “slow time” when little is happening. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing — sometimes the quiet and stillness is enough by itself. But around sunrise and sunset there is often a of activity as large flocks of birds take to the air and head to nighttime locations. If you are where they arrive, it is the “fly-in.” When they depart, we refer to the “fly-out.”

This huge flock of geese (almost certainly snow geese for the most part) arrived just after I went to this spot to photograph a colorful winter sunset and its reflection in the waters of a wetland pond. The flock arrived, circled, and eventually settled down on the water… and quiet returned.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

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

Mannequin, Madrid

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Photo of a mannequin, Madrid
“Mannequin, Madrid” — A colorfully dressed mannequin on a Madrid street.

We went on a long walk on this morning in Madrid. First we trekked from our hotel near the opera house to the Sunday El Rastro street market, a wildly popular collection of hundreds of street vendors that draws huge crowds. As we began to loop back towards where we started, at some point we passed this colorful mannequin.

One of the pleasures of street photography is that I pay more attention to my surroundings. I notice things that probably would not have registered if I were not carrying a camera. At this point I don’t recall all of the details of this location, but I do know that this mannequin presented a stark and somewhat surprising contrast with the relatively mundane surroundings.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
Articles | Sales | Sierra Nevada Fall Color | Contact Info

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