Tag Archives: historic

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria

Hohenwerfen Castle

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Hohenwerfen Castle
Hohenwerfen Castle

Hohenwerfen Castle. Werfen, Austria. July 19, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hohenwerfen Castle stands on a hill above Werfen, Austria, in the Salzach Valley with the alps as a backdrop.

This castle has an almost “fairytale” appearance, standing alone atop a tall hill in the middle of the Salzach river valley with tall mountains rising on almost all sides. It is not far from Salzburg, Austria. From what I have read, the actual story might be a bit more prosaic, and there is even a hint that the castle may be associated with some grim and somewhat awful stuff in its role as a place where various people were imprisoned.

We had come here to visit the popular Eisreisenwelt Ice Caves, high up in the mountains above the castle and the valley. The castle is an obvious central point of interest in the valley, but perhaps because we had been so high up in the mountains I had not really thought to photograph it. However, as we came back down on the road from Eisriesenwelt to the valley, we came to a hairpin turn closer to the valley where we suddenly had an unobstructed view of the castle with the town behind and successive mountain valleys rising beyond. Although it looks clear in the photo, it was raining lightly from a passing thunderstorm and this made the light a bit more dramatic.

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.
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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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Urban/Street

Heidelberg Hauptstrasse

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Heidelberg Hauptstrasse
Heidelberg Hauptstrasse

Heidelberg Hauptstrasse. Heidelberg, Germany. July 12, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking down the Haupstrasse of Heidelberg, Germany from the Heidelberger Schloss

The “Altstadt” (old town) of Heidelberg is packed together in all of the interesting ways that seem so very different from what we typically find in the USA, where many towns, especially in the west where I live, mostly evolved in the post-automobile era. Heidelberg is, to say the least, considerably older than that! Very narrow streets (what Americans might call “alleys”) twist and turn and the buildings are packed closely together and right up to the edge of the street. Where the “road” portion of the streets is (barely) wide enough to let a vehicle pass, the sidewalks have been reduced to little more than a foot or two wide.

I made this photograph from the hill above the town where the famous Heidelberg Castle sits. We had walked up there for the obligatory tour of the castle – and an impressive thing it is! – and afterwards we walked along the hillside beyond the castle to where there is a park and some clear overlooks of the town and the Neckar River. For this photograph I put a long lens on the camera and focused on the hauptstrasse (main street) that runs the length of the old town, here running from near the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) and on towards the newer portion of the street.

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.
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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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Column, Wall, and Dying Tree

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Column, Wall, and Dying Tree
Column, Wall, and Dying Tree

Column, Wall, and Dying Tree. Portland, Oregon. May 26, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The brown branches of a dying tree stand against a stone wall and column, Pittock Mansion, Portland, Oregon

This might be about as unrepresentative a photograph of the Pittock Mansion as one could make. ;-) Pittock Mansion is a historic location in the hills above Portland, Oregon. If I recall the story correctly, it was built by an early leading citizen of the area who ran the newspaper (The Oregonian?) and may have had interested in the lumber business. The expansive mansion was built on a hillside above the city, with views of three of the major volcanos of northern Oregon, and on grounds that included beautiful and lush gardens. The mansion itself is large and luxurious and was, for its day, very modern.

So I went and photographed a dead tree against a stone wall. What can I say? This section of wall combines a blocky section of the wall with a cylindrical column. Not surprisingly for the Pacific Northwest, moss grows on the rock, giving it the slight green tint. I think the tree is dying – at least it looks that way – and its odd color caught my attention.

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 | Facebook | Google+ | 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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Germany

Heidelberg Castle and Bridge

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Heidelberg Castle and Bridge
Heidelberg Castle and Bridge

Heidelberg Castle and Bridge. Heidelberg, Germany. July 10, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Heidelberg Bridge spans the Neckar River and heads to Old Heidelberg, with the Heidelberg Castle in the hills above.

This may seem odd, but when I travel to a new place I often prefer to not know too much about where I’m going and what I’ll see. One reason for this is that I like to save a few surprises for my arrival at the place itself, and another is that I like to, as much as possible, come to know the place at least partially from my own perspective rather than that of some person who writes about it and tells me what to see and what to think. (There was a time when I was more organized about preparation – perhaps I’ve just sort of “been there and done that” with the very organized approach. Or maybe I’m just getting lazy!) So I arrived in Heidelberg knowing very little about what I would see (or what I should see) and little specific knowledge about the place beyond that which I had picked up from various conversations.

In addition, we were very fortunate to be able to stay with Patty’s brother and sister-in-law, both of whom have lived in Germany for many years. Their home is on a small side street in a portion of the town that is somewhere between very old and modern, and which is on the “other side” of the hill that runs along the Neckar River past the altstadt, or old town. So, knowing almost nothing about what I would see, we set out from their home on a walk, taking part of the Philosophen Weg (“Philosophers Way”) over the intervening hill toward the river and the old town. So my first view of Heidelberg was from a hillside across the Neckar, with the Heidelberg Castle in hills above the town – quite an astonishing and magical way to see the town for the first time! Eventually we made our way to (and past, as we were going out to dinner) this historic Heidelberg bridge that crosses the river to enter the town.

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 | Facebook | Google+ | 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.