Tag Archives: england

Silver Sandals

Silver Sandals
A person wearing silver sandals walks across wet concrete and stone, Trafalgar Square, London

Silver Sandals. London, England. July 8, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A person wearing silver sandals walks across wet concrete and stone, Trafalgar Square, London

We ended up in Trafalgar Square in the late afternoon. If I recall correctly, we were sort of between planned activities, so we just wandered around here a bit without any particular goal in mind —I think the plan was to meet up with others a bit later and head of to do something. Trafalgar is a busy place, surrounded by traffic and filled with tourists and others. This can make provide quite an opportunity for street photography, with the potential for just about anything to happen and for any sort of person to walk by.

Before long a cleaning crew showed up and went to work on a section of the square when lots of people had been congregating, using high pressure water to clean off the accumulated grime. Their method of clearing the area was fascinating. They blocked off a small section and then began spraying, gradually pushing out the boundaries, and spraying enough water to persuade those close by to move away. In the aftermath of some of this spraying, a person wearing silver sandals walked along this linear section of the square, with alternating stone, reflections, and shadows beyond.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night

Saint Paul's Cathedral, Night
Pedestrians along a walkway leading toward Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night. London, England. July 5, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians along a walkway leading toward Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London

St. Paul’s Cathedral is an obvious landmark at any time, but at night it is even more so, especially if you approach it from across the River Thames by way of the Millennium Bridge. We visited the bank opposite the cathedral on several evenings, so I can no longer remember precisely what we had been there for on this evening — The Old Globe Theater, meeting up with relatives for dinner, a visit to the Tate Modern? I’m not certain.

In any case, we ended up crossing the river in this direction after dark on a warm summer evening when many people were out strolling around. This was one of the first times when I realized that my little mirrorless camera was good enough in low light that I could actually do handheld night photography.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email


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

Summer Evening, River Thames

Summer Evening, River Thames
Evening light on the River Thames, London

Summer Evening, River Thames. London, England. July 4, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on the River Thames, London

In England on the Fourth of July (a bit ironic for an American, no?) we were out along the banks of the River Thames as the summer evening came on. We had wonderful weather during this visit — if anything it was too warm. A low deck of broken clouds covered the sky, but to the west the sky was clearer and the light streamed through the hazy air.

I think this photograph is probably more about the light than anything else. For some reason, when I found the image in my archive and began to work on it I barely thought about the subject at all — the light seemed to be enough. When I did look at it more closely I realized that the content of the image is really fairly ordinary — a dock in the foreground, a bit of the river bank. a tall building on the right and urban buildings across the river on the left, a bridge (a central subject in my view), the clouds, and the warm color of the evening light.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Millennium Bridge

Millennium Bridge
A ramp at the end of the Millennium Bridge, London

Millennium Bridge. London, England. July 4, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A ramp at the end of the Millennium Bridge, London

The Millennium Bridge is a new and popular footbridge across the River Thames, between the area of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum. We passed over it more than once, including on this evening when, if I remember correctly, we managed to squeeze a short visit to the Tate before doing other things.

I think this photograph indulges my obsession with shape and form. There is a kind of symmetry to the scene, but things are quite complicated and there is perhaps a lot more in the scene than a quick glance would suggest. At this end of the bridge it divide into two branches as it descends toward the land, and then the two branches reconvene for the short section in the center of the photograph, where there are several people (including a woman who appears to veer off course, distracted by her phone) and a photo-bombing pigeon. Almost symmetrically placed, there are individuals on either side on the two branches of the bridge. Beyond the bridge leads toward St. Paul’s and the short arches suspending the bridge appear to either side. There are other little oddities in the scene including reflections in the material on either side of the walkways.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.