Tag Archives: travel

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

At Nelson’s Column

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At Nelson's Column
People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

At Nelson’s Column. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

Everyone has to go to Trafalgar Square when visiting London, right? AT least if it is your first visit, which this was for us. I have previously shared a rather different version of this photograph — one rendered in monochrome and in a 4:3 aspect ratio. While looking through old photographs recently as part of my pandemic project, I came across it once again and saw it in a different way.

I now think that the colors in the image are appealing — I originally felt they were irrelevant. I find some interesting patterns and relationships among them. I also discovered that, for me anyway, there are a lot of interesting little things going on among the people in this photograph. While I don’t think it is a photograph that works primarily on the basis of its larger patterns (though there are some of those), I do think that it is the sort that becomes more interesting when I take the time to study it carefully. (I know. That’s kind of hard to do in a little social media jpg. A big print would work better for that.)

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

Summer Twilight, River Thames

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Summer Twilight, River Thames
“Summer Twilight, River Thames” — 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.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Bluffs, Surf, and Haze

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Bluffs, Surf, and Haze
Thin fog obscures distant views beyond coastal bluffs and waves along the Pacific Coast of California.

Bluffs, Surf, and Haze. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin fog obscures distant views beyond coastal bluffs and waves along the Pacific Coast of California.

The scenes like this one that I photograph, visit and revisit… the more clear is the contrast between their timeless nature and the way we live our lives. This photograph comes from over almost a decade ago — which either feels like a very short time or a very long time right now — but it could have come from virtually any time in the past. There’s nothing obvious in it to link to any particular time.

The scene likely feels familiar to anyone who lives near or visits locations where coastal flatlands run up against the edge of the continent. The sea eventually wins the inevitable battle, and in the process produces a stark contrast between gentle, flat bluffs and the cliffs at their edges, which drop precipitously into the ocean and leave behind sea stacks and small islands. On this evening the sea was rather quiet and a thin fog was beginning to obscure distant views.

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