Our recent travels to the British Isles began (aside from a very brief stopover in London) with a lengthy visit to Skye and the northwest of Scotland. After that first adventure we returned to Inverness and took a train to Aberdeen for a few days. After more than a week in the wild open spaces of northwest Scotland, returning to this urban setting was quite a contrast!
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This was one of those street photography “grab shots” — I think it was in Le Marais —that I make while walking about in the urban environment. I often make them almost spontaneously — thinking in the moment that the subject is interesting visually, but then not taking time to note the precise location or other facts. To be honest, in a lot of ways this is the opposite of how I work in my landscape photography, and that may be part of the appeal.
From more recent internet research, it appears that “Free ‘P” Star” may be a chain of what we in the US call “thrift stores” or “second hand shops.” There were lots of things in this scene that attracted me: the string contrast between black an orange, the glow of the purple light inside the store, and the impressive collection of street art on the outside wall.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
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Madrid was filled with people celebrating the holiday season when we visited in December. Every evening thousands of people filled the streets in the area where we were staying, and holiday lights were everywhere. There was a big Christmas market at the Plaza Mayor and smaller ones elsewhere. We did not go to Madrid specifically for the holiday events, but we got into the spirit once we saw what was going on.
But none of that is visible in this photograph, made at night not far from where the big crowds were. We were exploring the area, wandering this way and that and turning up interesting lanes. I spotted this building across the street — nothing all that special about the place, but I love photographing night scenes with varied lighting sources, especially when a bit of moisture makes the streets and sidewalks glow and reflect the light.
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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Any American who has visited Spain knows that the Spanish meal schedule is very different from the schedule back home. The most striking difference, of course, is that dinner is likely to be quite late — 9:00PM is not uncommon and it could be later. Other timings are different, too — lunch can be late, but don’t wait until 2:00 or you may find your favorite place is closed for a couple of hours. In this photograph the Zaragoza locals are lining up at 4:00 PM outside and inside this churreria and chocolateria.
For us, that long interval between lunch and dinner was a challenge. But it was clear that there were ways to fill the gap (and the stomach) during those hours. Everywhere we went we saw people sitting down for some kind of late afternoon snack. We heard that La Fama was a nearby “locals” place, and that sure seemed to be the case when we showed up at the 4:00PM opening. People were lined up at the outside window and inside the place was completely packed. Speaking virtually no Spanish beyond a few key words and phrases, we stopped and observed what was going on before finding our way to the counter to order… with a bit of help from a friendly fellow-customer who had a few words of English.
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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