Tag Archives: town

Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

New Town, Edinburgh

Image Leave a comment
New Town, Edinburgh
“New Town, Edinburgh” — The New Town area of Edinburgh, viewed from the Edinburgh Castle.

This photograph overlooks the section of Edinburgh, Scotland known as “New Town.” To an American visitor, who might think a town is “old” if it has been around for a couple of centuries, it might be surprising to find out that New Town arose (next to the much older Old Town) roughly 250 years ago. In places with such deep history, 250 years is not that long! New Town features a lot of fascinating Neo-Classical and Georgian architecture and, in fact, it does seem a lot newer than the “Old Town” near Edinburgh Castle.

Speaking of the Castle, that is my camera position for this photograph — the foreground structures are part of it. The castle is on the top of an imposing ridge and its summit provides expansive views. Here we look across New Town to the shores of the Firth of Forth and then to more distant areas of Scotland across the 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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Four Mailboxes

Image Leave a comment
Four Mailboxes
“Four Mailboxes” — Four old metal mailboxes on a weathered wall in Orvieto, Italy.

When we travel we do seek out some of the famous, must-see places and things — castles, cathedrals, geological features, markets, and all the rest. But we also like to engage in a certain amount of random wandering when we can. In some ways this gives me a better sense of the character of a place than I would get by checking off all of the Big Important Things. (Don’t get me wrong. Many of those are important with good reason and are well worth visiting.) I made this photograph on one of these wandering days.

We often start out with a very general goal or idea in mind, but what we do along the way is often fairly unplanned. That was the case on this day in Orvieto, a lovely Italian hill town. Being constrained by its location on the relatively flat top of a hill, the place isn’t huge, and you can cover most of it easily on foot. So we were out walking, poking our heads into narrow alleys, looking for interesting buildings, and photographing any little bits of local character we found.

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.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Ferry Terminal, Oban

Image Leave a comment
Ferry Terminal, Oban
“Ferry Terminal, Oban” — Ferry terminal, waterfront, and the town of Oban, Scotland.

The Scottish town of Oban has many attractions. It is a nice contrast to larger cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh — it is small, walkable, and charming. It sits right on the waterfront, and it is a center of marine traffic, with fishing boats, personal watercraft, and ferries heading to island locations. And being so close to the water, it is a fine place to find great seafood.

We spent a couple of days there in mid-May when the press of tourists wasn’t yet that great, and the weather was warming up. (Despite the overcast sky in this photograph, it was actually warm, and some of the natives gratefully suggested that perhaps we had brought our California weather along.) The ferry dock is at the lower left in this scene, with homes on the hillside beyond.

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.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Oban Waterfront, Dusk

Image Leave a comment
Oban Waterfront, Dusk
“Oban Waterfront, Dusk” — Waterfront buildings reflected in smooth water at dusk, Oban, Scotland.

Our recent visit to Scotland included jet lag adjustment time before our Great Glen Way walk. It did not seem wise to get off our 11-hour flight, eight time zones away from home and immediately start walking! We spent our first night near the airport in Glasgow, then took a train to Oban for a couple of nights before heading to our trailhead in Fort William. Oban was a wonderful surprise — a lovely, walkable town on the waterfront. And, of course, the Oban Whisky distillery is in town. And, yes, we visited!

We stayed at a B&B about ten minutes from the center of town. As we walked back from dinner we came upon this lovely dusk light over the waterfront. I had not thought much about it before the trip, but Scotland is so far north (the northern tip is about as far north as Juneau, Alaska) that the daylight lasted until nearly 10:00pm.

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.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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