Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Bay at Oban

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Bay at Oban
“Bay at Oban” — Looking across the bay at the Scottish town of Oban toward distant highland mountains.

They tell me the weather in Scotland is supposed to be gray, wet, and cold. It was anything but that on the first days of our May visit. (OK, it lived up to expectations a few days later.) For most of our first five days in the country it was pleasantly warm and brightly sunny. Some of the natives seemed grateful that we had brought our California weather along with us. Here in Oban the skies were blue with only a few occasional clouds, and views stretched to distant highland mountains.

Following our first night at a Glasgow Airport hotel after a very late arrival, we took the train to Oban for two days of relaxation and jet lag adjustment. The town was just about perfect for this low key part of the trip. It is a lovely place that sits right on the waterfront — fishermen, tour boats, pleasure craft, and ferries come and go constantly. The whole place was walkable. We visited the Oban Distillery and did a little whisky tasting. And we enjoyed the beautiful panorama of mountains and water.

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: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Lamp, Window, Morning Light

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Lamp, Window, Morning Light
“Lamp, Window, Morning Light” A lamp on the ledge of a window in a Stirling, Scotland hotel.

This is an opportunistic photograph, made at a moment when photography is not typically my priority. We were staying in Stirling, Scotland for a few days after our Great Glen Way walk, and it turned out that breakfast was included with our room. So instead of heading out to hunt for coffee and breakfast, we just walked down that hallway, took the elevator down a floor, and walked into the dining room. And there on the window sill next to our table was this eye-catching lamp, posing against the window lit by morning light, with the blue sky beyond.

“So,” you may ask,” you say you weren’t thinking about photographing. But you had your camera with you? At breakfast?” Well, not exactly. This is an iPhone photograph. (I’ll bet that you didn’t realize that until now, right?) It turns out that sometimes the iPhone can be used to make things other than selfies. For the photographers out there, I did use the iPhone’s raw mode so that I’d have a bit more latitude in post — as you can imagine, the dynamic range in this scene was pretty large!

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

Borough Market Entrance

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Borough Market Entrance
“Borough Market Entrance” — People at one of the entrances to London’s Borough Market.

On many mornings London’s Borough Market can be a happening place. There are lots of visitors — people looking for a coffee or a quick bite, tourists wandering through just to see the place or pick up a souvenir, locals who actually shop for products from the vendors. We were there to grab a cup of coffee and maybe a pastry — though in the end we settled for just the coffee before moving on.

The physical layout of the place is fascinating — maybe almost the antithesis of a neatly laid-out market like the one in Porto, where the vendor stalls are arranged in straight aisles on a grid. Because odd angles intersect at Borough Market — where things align with small streets, major avenues, approaches to bridges, and odd spaces between buildings — the layout feels rather haphazard. Not that this is a problem, especially if you are happy to simply wander a bit.

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: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Oban Harbor, Dusk

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Oban Harbor, Dusk
“Oban Harbor, Dusk” — Dusk sky, smooth waters, and evening lights along the edge of Oban harbor, Scotland.

This might have been the actual moment when we truly entered vacation mode — which is a different thing than travel mode. Travel mode had brought us to Oban, Scotland, where we paused for a couple of days between arriving in the UK and starting our walk on the Great Glen Way. Travel mode meant almost a full day in international transit, a quick overnight a the Glasgow airport, a shuttle ride to the train station, arrival and check-in in Oban, and then a search for dinner. We finished dinner, left the restaurant for our walk back to our accommodations, and were greeted with the lovely, peaceful scene of smooth water and the dusk glow in the sky.

Oban is a fine little town, located right on the water and a center for fishing, water adventures, ferries, and more. We enjoyed out short stay there — and our visit to the Oban distillery and a bit of whisky tasting probably enhanced things — as we devoted a couple of days to just slowing down and starting to overcoming jet lag.

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.