Tag Archives: restaurant

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Restaurant, Diner, Bicycles

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Restaurant, Diner, Bicycles
A man sits at a table at an outdoor restaurant at night, Florence, Italy

Restaurant, Diner, Bicycles. Florence, Italy. August 27, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man sits at a table at an outdoor restaurant at night, Florence, Italy

Photographing in the streets of Florence, Italy was a joy when we visited this past summer. My only regret is that we were there for such a short time. We spent a week in the hills between Florence and Siena, and we picked up our rental car in Florence before leaving for the hills. (And, yes, driving in Florence is just as much fun as you have heard.) Then we returned to Florence and had parts of three days there before leaving. As I know fully understand, three days was not nearly enough time!

In one way, the streets of Florence seem to have a more uniform look than many American cities. There are few obvious commercial signs and many buildings are roughly the same shade of brown. But the streets are often very narrow and they twist and turn in all kinds of interesting ways, occasionally opening up to large squares or the banks of the Arno River. At night things are even more magical. One moment you might find yourself in the midst of crowds of people, and in another you might be on a deserted side street. This small street, with its beautiful lighting, extended off of one of the large squares, a somewhat busy place, but here there was just one man sitting at this sidewalk cafe.

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.
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Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Taking a Break

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Taking a Break
Restaurant staff taking a break in a Florence alley

Taking a Break. Florence, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Restaurant staff taking a break in a Florence alley

The restaurant, just out of sight to the right of the edge of the frame, was nearly across the street from where we stayed for a couple of days in Florence, Italy, along a narrow street roughly between the Duomo and the Uffizi. A friend of ours who had been there before us mentioned it, and we thought about eating there — it looked interesting, but it also looked a bit like something we could see back home. But it continued to intrigue me, and I looked at it every time we walked past.

We were out for a walk on our last evening in Florence, and I was making a lot of night street photographs. The night utterly transforms the scenes — people behave differently, and the varied colors of light paint the walls of buildings. As we returned to the hotel we walked toward the restaurant and I saw a group of employees taking a break in the alley… and quickly photographed them before they returned to work.

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.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Cafe Le Chinon, Night

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Cafe Le Chinon, Night
Evening lights reflect on cobblestone street at the Cafe Le Chinon in Montmartre, Paris

Cafe Le Chinon, Night. Paris, France. August 11, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening lights reflect on cobblestone street at the Cafe Le Chinon in Montmartre, Paris

Readers will have to give me a bit of slack for continuing to remark about things in Paris that are likely more obvious and mundane to people who know the city better than I. However, this was — believe it or not! — our first visit, so many things were new to us. Among the new (and wonderful!) things were the many cafes, with tables spilling out onto the sidewalks.

We stayed in a hotel in Montmartre, at the recommendation of our oldest son and our daughter-in-law, who had stayed in the area when they visited not long ago. Other than that, we didn’t know all that much about the area, besides some vague knowledge that it is sort of “artsy” (by long tradition) and that the famous Moulin Rouge is located nearby on a slightly seedy street. By the time I made this photograph we had been in Paris for some time, and we had learned to love the idea of wandering out late at night to pick a restaurant, and then to sit there slowly enjoying a meal, wine, and then coffee as the world walks by.

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.

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

Cafe de la Presse, Night

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Cafe de la Presse, Night
Night at the Cafe de la Presse, San Francisco

Cafe de la Presse, Night. San Francisco, California. July 25, 2015© Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night at the Cafe de la Presse, San Francisco

In San Francisco for an evening of night street photography, we first wound our way up into Chinatown from the northwest at twilight, then slowly worked our way along various streets, looking for interesting light, architecture, and people. Because the streets are so narrow, filled with people, and lit brightly, this is a very interesting place to photograph. We continued on, ending up in the busy and touristy areas just south of Chinatown, where we split up and went separate ways.

It was almost time for me to leave, so I headed back the way I cam, on streets that were now becoming a bit less busy and crowded. I passed this little restaurant, with its corner entrance, and paused long enough to make a handful of exposures, photographing the wood-paneled interior and exterior walls and columns and the people who seemed to be settled in for a slow and quiet evening.

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.