Tag Archives: interior

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Spain

Arches and Columns

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Arches and Columns
Arches and columns in the Mosque-Cathedral, Cordoba.

Arches and Columns. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Arches and columns in the Mosque-Cathedral, Cordoba.

Yes, I am most emphatically not in the Sierra Nevada of California this summer! House-sitters engaged, tickets purchased, reservations made… and we are now three weeks into a grand adventure. (It is also a rather hot adventure, but I’ll save that story for later.) I will not post photographs all the time as we travel, as I’d rather spend the time doing the traveling than post-processing photographs. But from time to time I’ll share a few that I think might interest readers.

We just spent a few days in Cordoba, Spain, where our main goal was to visit the Mosque-Cathedral. I cannot begin to describe the site in a way that does it justice, but it is among the most remarkable places I have ever visited. The deep history it contains, and the blending of influences from Islam and Catholicism, are deeply thought-provoking. It is filled with too many beauties and connections to fully understand it in a short visit — but don’t miss the opportunity if you ever have the chance to go.

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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Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Boba Tea Shop, Night

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Boba Tea Shop, Night
A San Francisco Chinatown Boba Tea shot at night.

Boba Tea Shop, Night. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A San Francisco Chinatown Boba Tea shot at night.

This is another San Francisco night street photography photograph, made possible by the advent of very good, very small digital cameras that can now make good images in very dark conditions. Places like this one, with narrow streets, bright interiors, and a fair amount of ambient light from business signs, become viable subjects for the photographers working with handheld cameras and no electronic flash. In this sort of photography I often work quickly, pausing only long enough to frame up an interesting urban landscape and look for people to populate it.

As a person who frequently photographs on foot in San Francisco and who has lived reasonably close to The City for decades, I know some parts of San Francisco pretty well at this point. I’m frequently in and around Chinatown when I’m up there — because a friend suggests it, because I pass through on my way to another destination, or because it is my destination. For the most part I eschew the busy, commercialized stretch of Grant Street that most think of when they hear “Chinatown” in San Francisco. But at night it becomes more interesting to me, and the larger number and variety of ambient light sources are both interesting and helpful. The bright interior of this shop contrasts with the dark world on the sidewalk, and it is hard for me to say what is actually going on in the shop.

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

Photographs: Nature

Inside the Flower

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Inside the Flower
The interior of a California Golden Poppy

Inside the Flower. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The interior of a California Golden Poppy

Recently I wrote another post that considered some of the characteristics of California’s state flower, the golden poppy, ranging from its ubiquitous appearance throughout the state to the challenges of photographing the blossoms. The color is intense, and so “hot” in the red channel that it is easy to blow out the details of the flower even with a supposedly correct exposure. (Advice to new golden poppy photographers: It is generally better to underexpose by perhaps a half stop or so than to risk blowing out the red channel.)

There are plenty of ways to photograph this flower. You’ll see quite a few photographs made from flower height, some with several of the colorful blooms lined up in the frame. It is possible to photograph them from a higher angle and see into the interior fo the flower, though there are some technical challenges to that approach. In this photograph I managed to find a flower that was open on one side, so that I could do both — photograph from a lower angle and see inside the blossom. I decided here to try to completely eliminate everything that is not the flower itself, leaving a sort of small and very orange floral landscape.

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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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Travel

Salzburg Cathedral

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Salzburg Cathedral
The interior of the Salzburg Cathedral.

Salzburg Cathedral. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The interior of the Salzburg Cathedral.

This photograph comes from the same trip that produced the recent photograph of mountain landscape in Bavaria. It turns out that the latter location (in the Berchtesgaden area) is very close to the German/Austrian border, and Salzburg is just on the other side of that border… and Salzburg is where we arrived and departed by train. In the end, despite staying in Bavaria we ended up spending considerable time in Salzburg, the location of this famous and remarkable Baroque-style cathedral.

I’ll use this photograph as an excuse to share a bit about my approach to travel photography. Nearly a decade ago I stopped carrying large cameras and big lenses when I travel, instead using a smaller system with (mostly) relatively small prime lenses. We travel light, preferring to limit ourselves to carry-on luggage, and this approach helps achieve that goal. The smaller and lighter gear also, I think, improves my travel photography. I’m less weighed down by bags of heavy equipment, and I look less like “tourist photographer,” which may let me work without attracting as much attention. This photograph was made using a small 14mm prime lens on a APS-C camera, shooting handheld.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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.