Tag Archives: people

Curving Street, Arezzo, Italy

We stopped in Arezzo for two nights, during our 2023 visit to Italy (and other places). We decided to stay in some smaller towns for a few days between visits to Florence and Siena. The idea was to see a bit of Italy that is less intensely devoted to tourism, and to have somef down time between the big cities. (Since we were on the road for ten weeks, that down time was welcomed!)

We understand that Arezzo is not on most people’s Italian tour map, but we enjoyed our visit. During walks in the city we visited a lovely park at the upper end of the town near their cathedral, from which we could view the beautiful surrounding countryside. We wandered the town’s narrow and curving streets, enjoying its slower pace and relative lack of crowds.


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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Pausing At The Foto Automatica

This photograph of people pausing at the Foto Automatica in Florence took me back to a previous visit to this city. On that earlier trip we were barely there, stopping only briefly between time in Chianti and our flight home. We stayed in a hotel a few steps from this old-school photo booth, and I was surprised at its popularity. Even in an age of hand-held selfie cameras there seems to be something special about crowding into this little old-school booth.

I photographed it on that first visit, and I photographed it again when we spent a longer time in Florence, this time long enough to explore the place more extensively. We did not stay in the same hotel, but we walked past one day — and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Foto Automatica was still there, in its odd little corner along the narrow street. As I watched a (family?) group paused to make pictures.


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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Souvenir Shoppers, Milan

One of the “problems” with a long trip — at least for this photographer — is that I come back with so many photographs that it takes quite a whileto go through all of them. I made more than 5000 exposures on a 10-week visit to (mostly) Southern Europe last summer. While I’ve viewed all of them at least once, there’s still a lot of work to do when it comes to evaluating and post-processing. That’s my way of saying, “More still to come!”

This was a quick “street photography” shot in the doorway of a small souvenir shop along the square in front of the Milan Duomo. Needless to say, this is a busy area, especially during the summer. There are lots of opportunities to watch and photograph people of all sorts, both tourists and the Milanese.


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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Long Shadows

Long Shadows
Pedestrians at the High Line Park cast long shadows.

Long Shadows. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Pedestrians at the High Line Park cast long shadows.

In my experience, interesting things happen to the light during late-fall and winter in Manhattan. Many are familiar with the “Manhattanhenge” phenomenon where the sun lines up with streets, but I’m thinking more of the combination of low sunlight angles and midday and afternoon light casting long shadows to the north and northeast of subjects, who appear against a bright, sometimes-glowing background.

Interesting things happen in this light. The shadows fascinate me — they are long and often anngle across the scene. (In some places the shadows themselves criss-cross when the light is reflected from building windows.) To photograph this light I have to walk towards it, and if I’m including human subjects they are often walking the other way — so things happen quickly and I have to react with little time for careful thought. As a result, there are surprises… such as the arm position of the man at the left, who walks almost as if he is trying to balance on a tight rope.


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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