Tag Archives: town

Four Mailboxes

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.

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Ferry Terminal, Oban

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.

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Oban Waterfront, Dusk

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.

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

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Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky

Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky
“Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky” — Cloud-filled skies above the St. Madeleine Sophie Barat Roman Catholic Church in Trona, California

This is not the first time I have photographed this striking desert church, and isn’t even the only photograph of the subject from my visit to this area earlier this year. Trona is a small, hard-scrabble town in the desert between Ridgecrest and Death Valley. It is build around extraction industries, primarily based on “mining” the mineral deposits left behind when water evaporates from nearly Searles Lake. It is a tough place, full of abandoned buildings, and terribly hot at times.

The church has caught my attention for years as I’ve passed through on my way to Death Valley. It is one of the most unusual Catholic churches I have seen. Its construction seems entirely utilitarian, and its shape is notable blocky and square. There’s nothing colorful or soaring about its structure. This all seems fitting in this harsh environment. On this visit I paused to photograph it again, this time with an impressive cloud-filled sky from a departing late-winter storm.


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 | PostEmail

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

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