Tag Archives: travel

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

Urban Fishermen, Dusk, San Francisco Bay

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Urban Fishermen, Dusk, San Francisco Bay
A group of urban fishermen working from a San Francisco Bay pier finishes up for the evening

Urban Fishermen, Dusk, San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California. April 30, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of urban fishermen working from a San Francisco Bay pier finishes up for the evening

During the last weekend of April I joined a group of fellow street photography and night photography enthusiasts in San Francisco. We met up for dinner in the Chinatown district, and afterwards we wandered down to the Embarcadero and the waterfront, busy with tourists at this time of year. Ultimately we ended up in a spot very popular with such folks, a pier the affords walking access to the waters of the bay. I spent perhaps a half hour out there photographing: people, the bay, passing ships and boats, the City skyline.

These urban fisherman are a regular part of the San Francisco urban scene and they represent a sort of intersection between the human and the natural worlds. They are everywhere along the City’s waterfront, and often are fishing within earshot and “eyeshot” of the busy urban scene. Stop and think about what this means and there is a lot to ponder. Even in a busy and fast-paced place like San Fransisco, it is possible to walk a few feet and find yourself standing quietly above the bay in dusk, perhaps with a few friends — one way to help maintain sanity in the urban world. These guys appeared to be finishing up for the evening and were simply standing around and talking as they packed up and as tourists stopped to watch.

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

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

London Rain

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London Rain
A man with an umbrella walks down a rainy London street

London Rain. London, England. August 2, 2016. © Copyright 2016. G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man with an umbrella walks down a rainy London street

Our travel too London was a bit “complicated” this time. We started in New York City, where we had been for nearly a week, and then left for Washington DC, from which our international flight was to depart. (Don’t ask…) Our connecting flight from NYC to Washington was delayed by thunderstorms along the eastern seaboard, and by the time we arrived in DC late that night, our overnight London flight had already departed. We ended up in a (rather nice) nearby hotel, so that we could return to the airport very early for an alternative flight. This flight was on time and we arrived at Heathrow just after sunset and made our way to our hotel in downtown London. We emerged from a tube station… in the dark… in the rain… with cell phones the didn’t work… and not quite sure where our hotel was. Finally we found it, grabbed something to eat and, exhausted, simply went to sleep.

The next morning we started to actually feel like we were in London again, and we went out for a random walk in light rain, ending up on this very narrow street heading toward the Thames. The photography gods must have wanted to reward me for the difficult previous day, and they sent this man in a dark suit and carrying an umbrella down the glistening cobblestone street ahead of us.

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Cucina Torcicoda

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Cucina Torcicoda
Looking through the doors into the nighttime kitchen action at Cucina Torcicoda, Florence, Italy

Cucina Torcicoda. Florence/Firenze, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking through the doors into the nighttime kitchen action at Cucina Torcicoda, Florence, Italy

This is another photograph from the end of our five weeks of travel during the summer of 2016. We began in New York, then went to London, Paris, Heidelberg, and Italy, staying for roughly a week in each place before moving on. This gave me plenty of time for all of the things I like to do in such places: walking, eating, visiting museums, hanging out, and photographing. The trip ended with a short stay in Florence. We had been more or less midway between Florence and Siena for about a week and we planned to fly out of Florence to start our homeward journey, so we went ahead and arranged to stay there a few days before departing.

I’ve written before that if I have one regret from this trip it is that we had so little time in Florence! On this final night we went out wandering and photographing. Passing the doors to the kitchen of this restaurant I was struck by the contrast between the quiet, dark, and symmetrical appearance of the entrance and the energy and action inside the kitchen.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Leaves, Sandstone

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Autumn Leaves, Sandstone
Autumn leaves lie on the sandstone in a high country creek bed, Zion National Park

Autumn Leaves, Sandstone. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn leaves lie on the sandstone in a high country creek bed, Zion National Park

Every so often I decide to dig back through my older file archives from previous years, and I almost always discover photographs that I had forgotten, that perhaps didn’t resonate at the time, or were part of batches of images that I someone never quite finished reviewing. This is one of those. It comes from a lengthy autumn trip to various places in Zion with a group of friends back in 2012.

I made this photograph in Zion National Park, but it could have been made in uncounted numbers of places in Utah — it has the basic ingredients: patterned and worn sandstone plus leaves. This scene is as I found it, a small vignette of leaves, some in colors matching those of the sandstone and couple yellow enough to stand out from the background.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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