Tag Archives: tourists

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

Street Vendors, Duomo de Firenze

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Street Vendors, Duomo de Firenze
Street vendors and crowds of tourists at the Duomo, Florence, Italy

Street Vendors, Duomo de Firenze. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street vendors and crowds of tourists at the Duomo, Florence, Italy.

One thing you can count on during tourist season in any popular city area like this one is that you’ll find lots of folks trying to sell you stuff, including street vendors of all sorts. The “art” objects for sale range from incredibly cheap trinkets (think of the tiny Eiffel Towers sold by the Paris entrepreneurs), though various kinds of post cards and similar, all the way to hand produced caricatures and others kinds of artistic efforts. (We’re not much for buying such stuff, preferring to make our own memories. Though we do give in on occasion.)

These two fellows were set up in a busy area in the shadow of the Duomo, the gigantic church in the center of the old part of Florence. If I recall, it was still morning, and the crowds were just starting to build, with lines growing at the entrances to this historical feature.

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: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

NO FOTO, NO FILM

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NO FOTO, NO FILM
People passing along a narrow street in Siena, Italy

NO FOTO, NO FILM. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People passing along a narrow street in Siena, Italy.

This photograph comes from our brief, one-day visit to Siena, Italy in 2016, made during a week-and-a-half stay in Tuscany, mostly in the hills between Siena and Florence. We were in Siena only long enough for a single foray into this fascinating city, and I would certainly like to return.

There are several ways to “see” this photograph, I think. It started with the little “pizzicheria” shop across the narrow street, and its catchy little “NO FOTO NO FILM” sign, likely posted to let tourists known that the owners don’t want folks going inside to make photographs. It is also a record of the sorts of crowds you will find here on a summer, tourist season day — many of the narrow streets are absolutely filled with visitors. Finally, if you look a bit closer you might find a few other interesting features — some of the individuals in the scene, some interactions among them, and some shapes and forms that their figures create. I’ll leave it to viewers to have fun with those things.

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: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Morning, Florence

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Morning, Florence
People walk the narrow streets of Florence, Italy on a summer morning.

Morning, Florence. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walk the narrow streets of Florence, Italy on a summer morning.

I made this photograph at a sort of “in-between time” in Florence. From midday on into the evening the place can be quite crowded — such a stupendous place draws just as large of a crowd of tourists as you might imagine. On a summer day, especially in the squares, along the river, and near any of the most famous attractions the number of people can be overwhelming — but most often in an energizing way.

To find somewhat quieter moments I went out early and sometimes stayed out late. As the evening wears on there are fewer and fewer people in some of the crowded areas, though the summer heat of Italy does tend to keep people out in the squares and restaurants longer than you might expect. But even better, in some ways, are the early morning hours when it at least seems like most of the sparse foot traffic belongs to locals. I made this photograph a bit later, after those early hours but before the main crush of crowds had arrived.

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

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

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

Tourists, Evening, San Francisco Bay

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Tourists, Evening, San Francisco Bay
Tourists pause in the evening at the end of a pier on San Francisco Bay

Tourists, Evening, San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California. April 30, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tourists pause in the evening at the end of a pier on San Francisco Bay

I was in San Francisco to meet up with a group of fellow (mostly) street photographers, first for dinner along the fringe of Chinatown and then out to make photographs afterwards. We finished dinner and headed out before sunset, beginning by photographing in the long shadows cast by early evening light in the downtown canyons. Since many in the group wanted to photograph the waterfront we headed that direction. I was geared up more for night street photography — typically done handheld rather than with the tripod I might choose to use for architectural or urban landscape photography — but I hung in with the group anyway.

At the waterfront, after wandering in and around some buildings, the group was of a collective mind to head out on one of the pedestrian piers that juts out into the Bay. Again, this was a bit different from what I had in mind, but there is no denying the attractions of being out over the surface of the Bay as the evening comes on and things quiet down. I photographed some fishermen, a few passing boats, bridges, and back towards the urban waterfront buildings.Eventually, as it became quite a bit darker, I took a moment to photograph a small group of what I assume must have been friends, sitting out near the end of the pier and conversing in the fading 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 and Amazon.
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