Tag Archives: stone

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Deserted Street, Orvieto

Image May 16, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It can be a challenge to photograph these narrow streets without people in a popular town such as Orvieto. One strategy is to photograph late in the day and even into the evening, but sometimes an even more promising approach is to go out very early. Most of the tourists aren’t out then, instead sleeping in before a leisurely breakfast in the morning or sitting in a restaurant in the evening. The difference is even greater in Orvieto, where many of the visitors only come for the day, heading back to their “home base” for the evening.

All of the streets here are narrow, but this is an even narrower side street. Unlike the familiar American grid street layout, there the narrow passageways curve and twist and take off in surprising directions. Several things in this photograph intrigue me. First, essentially everything you see is stone masonry, from the cobbled path to the walls and arches. Second, I suspect that these arches serve multiple purposes — both as passageways and to brace the facing buildings.

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.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Eroded Layers

Image May 14, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

These rock formations have fascinated me since I first saw them decades ago as a child. My parents used to take us on family outings to Point Lobos, and very early on I began to photograph the place. (I am pretty sure that I went there on an elementary school field trip, a memory brought back to me on this visit when I saw a busload of kids eating lunch at picnic tables.) This little intimate landscape includes forms which seem to suggest the sea itself — I can see waves and inlets and more in it.

This particular spot at the reserve has a variety of interesting features. Stratified rock layers descend to the water of a cove, and they are twisted all sorts of interesting ways as the work of the water exposes them. There are colorful bands and intrusions. Sometimes the layers are turned on their sides. And, as here, the action of waves gradually peels back the layers, leaving abstract forms. (Hint: If you look closely you might spot a tiny tide pool and a few of its small inhabitants.)

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.

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

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Siena Backstreet

Image November 22, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pedestrians round a corner on a narrow Siena street lined with tall buildings.

During our 2023 European travels we finally returned to Siena after missing earlier opportunities to go there during the pandemic. Seven years earlier we were there for literally only hours, spending an afternoon on a day trip from where we were staying in Chianti. We were entranced by the city, with its remarkable maze of narrow streets and large central plaza, Il Campo.

We made a point of scheduling a longer say on this return visit, with time to wander the streets, sit in cafes and restaurants, visit important sites, and make photographs. This scene is along a non-busy (remarkable, yes?) back street that roughly parallels two much busier thoroughfares. The narrow width of the route, the tall buildings, and the varied colors and textures are typical of this area.

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Narrow Street and Steps, Porto

Image November 15, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A woman stands below steps ascending a narrow street in Porto, Portugal

On our first walk in Porto we headed straight for the historic Ribeira district. This neighborhood rises steeply from the banks of the Duoro River and is filled with extremely narrow and twisty streets on the impressively inclined hillside. Yes, it is a popular tourist destination, but with good reason. In places the streets are so narrow that I was reminded of wandering Utah slot canyons, with soft light filtering down from above.

Later on our visit we branched out a bit more — though to be honest we barely scratched the surface of the place during our stay. We love to walk when we visit cities, and there were plenty of opportunities for that in Porto. On this day we took a long and semi-random looping walk that took us past busy downtown areas, to hilltop views of the Duoro, and through more neighborhoods — like this one where we stopped to photograph the steep and narrow walkways near the end of the day.