Tag Archives: monochrome

Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fossgate Merchants’ Quarter

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Fossgate Merchants' Quarter
“Fossgate Merchants’ Quarter” — Pedestrians stroll through the Fossgate Merchants’ Quarter, York.

We stopped in York for two nights this past spring, breaking up a train ride from Edinburgh to London. We had not been to York before, but had heard that it would be worth at least a quick visit. There’s a lot of interesting things to see: The Yorkminster Church (where we stopped to hear some music), the historic walls around the town, the river, and the old central area within the walls, especially the well-known “Shambles” area.

Despite a few signifiers of York, I think of this photograph as being more a generic street photography type, with interesting buildings and other details and a small crowd of passers-by. The location is within the old section of town, roughly on the fridge of the Shambles area.

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: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Underpass Intersection, London

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Underpass Intersection, London
“Underpass Intersection, London” — Two roads come together beneath bridges, London.

I photograph when we travel, typically using quite different equipment and techniques than for my landscape photography. While the latter usually uses relatively large and heavy equipment, I downsize in a major way for travel. This is partly due to the realities of travel — we go light and I don’t want or need a big bag of cumbersome gear. (That would actually decrease the overall quality of my photography, which is something I’ll write about at some point.) But it isn’t just the gear — it is also the whole approach. I shoot handheld with a small camera, and I often approach the subjects as a street photographer.

The decision to render this as a monochrome photograph was a bit of a surprise to me. Those round shapes on the wall above the sidewalk are blue lights, and when I made the exposure I thought that they might be a key element. But when I finally got to this image in post, I much preferred the mood of the image in black and white, so I had to let go of that preconception about the lights and color. (As much as pre-visualization is a crucial skill, sometimes post-visualization wins the day!)

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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Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

James Smith & Sons

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James Smith & Sons
“James Smith & Sons” — James Smith and Sons umbrella, whip, and stick shop, London.

During our early June visit to London we were lucky to be able to spend time with our oldest son, Brandon, who was there for a few days after a work visit. It is wonderful to meet up with your grown “kids” in such a place — for all the usual reasons, but also because sometimes they have new and different ways of orienting themselves to the local environment. At his suggestion and in his company we visited a number of places that we would not have seen. The James Smith & Sons shop, which I might otherwise have walked past with little notice, was one of them.

I’ll start with the obvious — you don’t find many shops in the US that were established nearly two centuries ago! The fascinating signs on the exterior are not just some kind of marketing — that’s actually what they have looked like for a long time. Inside, this is a classical shopping experience. Beautiful umbrellas, waling sticks, canes, folding stools, and more, at prices from reasonable to astronomical, fill the shop. Clerks talk to customers, going into great detail about the products. I came “this close” to buying something “just because,” and now I almost regret that I didn’t.

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 | Post | Email

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

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Photographs: England, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

London Eye

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London Eye
“London Eye” — Looking upwards at the London Eye on a cloudy day.

I usually have a good sense of direction, and I can often navigate without maps. But I also have an occasional directional problem. When arriving in a new place I sometimes make an incorrect assumption about the compass directions. Once I do, it is darned near impossible for me to fix it. London is one of the places. For some reason, the first time I visited I reversed north and south, and I’ve struggled since then to get it right. I’ve gotten a lot better — when I look north across the River Thames these days it looks like it is north. But this photograph came about due to the residue of my prior confusion.

When we set out from our lodgings to walk to the nearby Borough Market, I went with my gut instead of logic and headed out confidently in the wrong direction. (To her credit, Patty suspected that I was going the wrong way, but went along.) We walked and walked and instead of finding the Market we were (or I was) surprised to walk up to the London Eye, which is in exactly the opposite direction!

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 | Post | Email

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.