Tag Archives: thames

Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel

River Thames at Blackfriars Bridge

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River Thames at Blackfriars Bridge
“River Thames at Blackfriars Bridge” — A boat on the River Thames cruises toward Blackfriars Bridge near central London.

You couldn’t ask for a lovelier London day in June, with blue skies dotted with fluffy clouds and pleasant temperatures. (The first time we visited London we were surprised by downright uncomfortably hot weather.) This photograph looks across the River Thames near Blackfriars Bridge toward a section of downtown London featuring large, modern towers. If you look closely, you might spot a few people wandering along the banks of the river at lower right.

London wasn’t our primary destination on this visit, though we were happy to be there again. The first part of this trip featured three weeks in Scotland. We started with a few jet lag adjustment days in Oban and Fort William before spending the next week walking from Fort William to Inverness on the Great Glen Way. From there we returned to civilization, with stays in Inverness, Stirling, Glasgow, and Edinburgh before taking the train south to York and London.

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: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

River Thames, London

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River Thames, London
“River Thames, London” — Barges pass on the River Thames near Blackfriars Bridge, London.

The photograph shows a fairly familiar view of the Thames and central London. There is a little story behind it though. We travel a fair amount — not extreme, perhaps, but we do get around. But when I get to a new city I often “set” my mental compass incorrectly, and it is very hard to break this “setting.” (After decades of visiting Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows, I’m STILL ninety degrees off!) The first time we visited London I more or less reversed north and south, believe it or not — and consequently I still have to perform mental gymnastics to account for this. And, yes, this is all leading to how I came to make this photograph.

On our first day in London this June we decided that we would walk from our lodgings to Borough Market, which was roughly a half mile away. Without really paying attention to maps we headed out and started walking confidently… and apparently in the wrong direction. (Patty will tell you that she knew, but she went along.) Anyway, some time later we were surprised to come upon “The Eye,” which anyone who has been to London knows is no where near Borough Market. Actually, it is in the opposite direction from where we stayed near Blackfriars Bridge. We reset and walked back along the River Thames toward where we had started… and I made this photograph along the way.

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

Summer Twilight, River Thames

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Summer Twilight, River Thames
The twilight sky above the River Thames on a summer evening in London.

Summer Twilight, River Thames. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The twilight sky above the River Thames on a summer evening in London.

This photograph comes from the end of a memorable day in London back in 2013. Believe it or not, this was our first visit to that city. We made the best of it, staying there for about a week before departing for other destinations. Various relatives from the US and Europe also showed up while we were there, and it was on this day, if my memory is correct, that the whole gang had finally arrived and met up. We had just had dinner together and were now along the Thames watching the day come to an end.

This photograph brings up the subject of how to interpret scenes photographed in very low light. It was the beginning of summer twilight on this July evening — there was still light and color in the sky, but artificial light was becoming more visible as in became darker. My tendency is to interpret light in ways that bring more of it to the subject, but with night and near-night photography it is easy to go so far that you lose the sense of a dark environment. In this photograph I decided to keep things relatively dark, at least compared to what I could have done, in the hope that the effect would be close to how we would perceive the scene in person.

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

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Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrians Along the River Thames

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Pedestrians Along the River Thames
Pedestrians stroll along the banks of the River Thames on a cloudy London day.

Pedestrians Along the River Thames. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians stroll along the banks of the River Thames on a cloudy London day.

Today another photograph in the ongoing series that might be entitled “Dreams of Things We Used To Do and Hope To Do Again,” or “Photographs I Left Behind and Have Now Rediscovered.” The photograph comes from a 2013 overseas trip that took us first to London for roughly a week and then on to Germany and (a little bit) Austria. While part of the trip was spent in the bucolic setting of the Bavarian Alps, a good portion of it was in busy, crowded, lively urban settings. Remember those?

These trips of ours feature (among other things) some significant amounts of unplanned time when we can just wander and explore. While this approach means that we may not hit all of the Big Tourist Icons (or only discover them accidentally), it also gives us opportunities to immerse ourselves a bit more in unanticipated local experiences. I can hardly claim that this one — walking across the Millennium Bridge — fits that category precisely, though it was a lovely, cloudy scene along the river.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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