Tag Archives: hazy

Hazy Sunset, Florence and the Arno River

Hazy Sunset, Florence and the Arno River
Hazy sunset over Florence, Italy and the Arno River.

Hazy Sunset, Florence and the Arno River. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Hazy sunset over Florence, Italy and the Arno River.

A few weeks ago I shared a black and white photograph of this same subject, with almost the very same framing. We had gone to the famous PIazzale Michelangelo for sunset… and the giant party that seemed to happen spontaneously that evening as perhaps thousands of people gathered to watch the day come to an end above Florence, Italy.

While the previous photograph was made a bit earlier in the evening — I made this one just as the setting sun disappeared behind the distant hills, with the sunset sky light reflecting on the Arno River as it flows past the old center of Florence and under a series of famous bridges.


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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Arno River, Florence

Arno River, Florence
The Arno River flowing through Florence, Italy on a hazy summer evening.

Arno River, Florence. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The Arno River flowing through Florence, Italy on a hazy summer evening.

This will not be the only photograph from this memorable evening in Florence. We had heard about an elevated viewpoint overlooking the Arno River and central Florence, so we started walking in that direction. We were surprised — but really should not have been — that there were lots of other people heading the same way, crossing the Arno, entering the narrow streets, and climbing toward the Piazzale Michelangelo.

I had many impressions when we arrived. The first was, “What huge crowds!” It seemed like everyone in Florence was there, and it was a giant waiting-for-sunset party — there was music, people singing, and vendors sold food and drink. Another impression was, “What a remarkable view!” But along with that, “What a lot of haze!” At first that was a bit disappointing, but as the evening developed it started to make the light more interesting, the distances clearer, and the light softer.


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.

Trail, Winter Haze

Trail, Winter Haze
A trail winds past oak trees on a hazy winter day.

Trail, Winter Haze. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A trail winds past oak trees on a hazy winter day.

This is not a place where I typically stop to make landscape photographs. It is along a trail that I often head to when I want to get out for a local hike, and this section of the trail is one that I usually think of as “on the way to other interesting places.” The trail is actually a fire access road, and off to the left and out of the frame there is a ramshackle farm and beyond that a roadway. But the winter atmosphere can make almost anything look better!

The sun was just barely out when I made the photograph on Christmas Eve Day. It was very hazy day of the sort that develops in the Bay Area in the winter when air circulation is poor. In many cases it isn’t exactly an attractive effect. However, when the sun is behind subjects the haze can glow and produce fascinating silhouette effects — and sometimes turn a familiar scene into something quite different.


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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Lake, Ridges, Morning LIght

Lake, Ridges, Morning LIght
Ridges recede in hazy monring light beyond the outlet of a subalpine lake.

Lake, Ridges, Morning LIght. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Ridges recede in hazy monring light beyond the outlet of a subalpine lake.

A short morning walk up a hill from our campsite took us to this view every day during our August Sierra backcountry sojourn, at least if we decided to start out walking in that direction. (The evening view wasn’t bad either!) The scene had quite a variable personality. One night it featured blood red skies as a storm cleared, on another morning a fog cloud briefly nestled in the valley just beyond the outlet, and on this morning the general haziness produced by California wildfires glowed in the early light.

The outlets of most Sierra lakes are a bit less dramatic than this one, but here the bowl containing the lake pinches off to a very narrow canyon through which the stream exits, flowing down a lengthy valley toward a larger river far below. Various formations rise along that valley, and their silhouettes emphasize the distances looking east and down the canyon.


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 | FacebookEmail

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.