Tag Archives: print

Photographs: Italy

Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk

Leave a comment
Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk
Street vendors stand and wait along a sidewalk next to the Arno in Florence, Italy.

Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk. Florence, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street vendors stand and wait along a sidewalk next to the Arno in Florence, Italy.

I don’t completely understand the economics of these street vendors, but I do know that I’ve been seeing them all over Europe — at least where we’ve been and at least in big cities, and without fail in any locale that attracts lots of tourists. They were around in London. In Paris they seem to have perfected the art of evading the police while selling little Eiffel Tower trinkets, and here in Florence they sell odd little toys, selfie sticks, and “art.”

In Florence I mostly saw a small range of trinkets for sale: prints of somewhat gaudy paintings (more on that subject in another forthcoming photograph), the ubiquitous selfie sticks, some little balloon-like toy that they smash on the ground and allow to resume its original shape, and lighted toys to toss in the air. These guys can’t possibly be making a lot of money, and I don’t envy them having to make a living this way. This small group of them was standing and waiting in a shaded area right next to an area extremely crowded with tourists.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Equipment, Reader Questions

Reader Question: 5Ds/5DsR Print Quality

2 Comments

Reader “Tom” writes to ask:

I’ve read your reports on the 5Dsr.  I assume by now you have one?  Maybe you have different thoughts now, but you seem to point to the new body being good for large print/detail, but maybe not so great for fine art print. 

If that’s still the case, what would you opt for if leaning towards fine art prints, large, maybe a heavily cropped slice measuring say 16″ x 72″ or so? Minus a mf body. 

I’m looking to switch bodies and thinking the 5dsr or possibly the Nikon d810.  Just curious what your thoughts might be if you ever had time. Thanks.

Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR
Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR

It has been a while since I’ve written about the Canon 5DS and the 5DsR cameras here, but since you asked I’ll share more based on my extensive use of the 5DsR over the past months. I have used it to photography everything from landscapes to people to wildlife. I think I see several sub-questions here, so let me respond to each of them.

Are the 5DsR and  5DS good for large prints? Continue reading Reader Question: 5Ds/5DsR Print Quality →

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Snow Geese, Sunset Light

Leave a comment
Snow Geese, Sunset Light
A group of snow geese fly into sunset light

Snow Geese, Sunset Light. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 17, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of snow geese fly into sunset light

I made this photograph on my second visit to the San Joaquin Valley migratory birds this season, on a day that features some very beautiful light near the end of the day. As always, I arrived before dawn, at first photographing in very thin fog. (Overall, this year so far seems have produced a lot less fog than usual and much less than last year.) I photographed all morning, finally took my midday break, then returned in the mid-afternoon.

This group of birds managed to pose quite nicely for me. There are many challenges when it comes to getting a group of birds together in one photograph. There are the usual issues — the birds need to fly past within camera distance, they must be oriented so that they are decently lit, there must be enough light to allow a fast enough shutter speed in order to minimize motion blur. While “decent” light can work, better light is, well, better. In this case the group of birds cooperated and flew toward the low angle light source of the sun, with just enough side light to enhance their features. Another challenge is taking advantage of opportunities when the birds line up in interesting and photogenic ways. Here they are all (well, almost all) headed the same direction. Wings are mostly in interesting and dynamic positions. There is barely any overlap among the birds, and the one small overlap has the head of the closer bird visible.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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

Commentary

Trafalgar Square

Leave a comment
Trafalgar Square
Tourists in Trafalgar Square, London

Trafalgar Square. London, England. July 8, 2013.© Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tourists in Trafalgar Square, London

This is a late photograph post today. It was a busy weekend followed by a busy Monday, and I had no time to post this until evening. The photograph comes from our visit to London a couple of years ago. I’m intrigued by the ever-changing patterns formed by people moving through public spaces like this one. The photograph was made late on a haze afternoon, so the soft light mutes the shadows of the people engaged in activities including walking through the square, watching other people, making photographs, sitting, and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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