Tag Archives: detail

Stairway, Kelvingrove Art Museum

Stairway, Kelvingrove Art Museum
“Stairway, Kelvingrove Art Museum” — A stairway and red walls at the Kelvingrove Art Museum, Glasgow, Scotland

This is a stairway at the Kelvingrove Art Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to being a wonderful art and history museum, it has a few other special features. As I understand it, the more impressive entrance (which we used) is actually the rear entrance, bordering on a park. The reddish stone used in its construction is eye-catching, too. And once we got inside we discovered that the main hall has a pipe organ used for regular daytime concerts.

Ending up here was perhaps a bit less of an accident than some of the other stops on this day. We had walked from our hotel in central Glasgow, heading toward the West End where we hoped to see some of the famous street art and murals. The route took us through the park next to the museum, so we had planned stop there along the way. But detours abounded, and when we spotted the nearby buildings of Glasgow University we ended up taking a side trip there, too.


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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Blue Stone Vortex

Blue Stone Vortex
“Blue Stone Vortex” — Curving and intersecting fractures in Sierra Nevada rock under stormy skies.

While I’m often drawn to the large scale landscapes, intimate landscapes appeal to me, too. The big photos do give the grand perspective of the landscape, but I think that images of smaller elements and components of the larger scene can tell us just as much about a place. And their sometimes-abstract nature lets us see the landscape in new ways that we perhaps had not thought of.

The grand landscape was not cooperating when I I photographed these rocks. It had been raining and it was still very cloudy. Are the rocks really this color? That’s a good question! The landscape looks different under various sorts of light, and often our vision system “corrects” for this and we do not notice it. I knew that the overcast was having an effect, but until I opened this photograph (and others made at the same time) in post, I had not realized just how blue the light was. Sometimes I “correct” these strong colors, but this time I decided to go with 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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SEC Armadillo

SEC Armadillo
“SEC Armadillo” — The SEC Armadillo auditorium, Glasgow, Scotland

It was due to a series of more or less random circumstances that we ended up passing this fascinating building during our visit to Glasgow, Scotland. We started walking from our downtown hotel, heading generally toward the University of Glasgow, a nearby museum, and then towards an area known for, among other things, its street art. Then it was time to start back, and we spontaneously decided to follow the waterfront, and that look us past the “Armadillo” building.

At the start of the waterfront section we ran into a helpful local who spent several minutes filling us in on the history of this area, part of which was once filled with shipping facilities. He said that many public buildings in Glasgow end up with names like the one applied to this building. In fact, once you hear it called the Armadillo, that image sticks in your mind!


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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Detail, Duomo of Orvieto

Detail, Duomo of Orvieto
“Detail, Duomo of Orvieto” — Detail of a twisting column from the facade of the Duomo of Orvieto, Italy.

As per the common pattern, the hilltop town of Orvieto Italy has a large “duomo” on a central square. As is also typical, the facade of this church is packed with remarkable visual features — statuary, columns and arches, and fascinating details like this twisting column. Much of it is high enough that it can only be seen at a distance, but this bit is right for eye-level viewing.

You can read about these places and look at pictures of them for years (as I, a late-in-life traveler, did) and not really understand the effect of their physical reality. In particular, if you imagine them in the times when they were first created you start to understand how astonishing and even magical they must have been (and still are). It is remarkable that those who produced a structure that depends so much on massive scale for its effect also had the energy to attend to such tiny details with so much precision.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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