Tag Archives: travel

The Louvre

August 19, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Louvre, viewed from an upstairs gallery

Most of our time in Paris was sunny, but one morning we awoke to fog. We were on an upper floor of a hotel in Montmartre from which we had a view toward the center of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, and the fog was a surprise — it look and felt a lot like a good old San Francisco morning fog. In our by-now-typical “casual” (lazy?) fashion we eventually left the hotel and headed downtown.

There is, obviously, a lot to see and do in Paris — and when you spend about four hours per day (happily) eating and sitting in cafes you cannot do everything. But we did want to get to the Louvre, and this was the day. If you’ve been there, this isn’t news, but the place is absolutely huge — overwhelming, actually. We had no illusions about seeing the whole thing, so we spend most of the day on one floor of one section, with brief forays into a couple other areas. During one break I found this window with its view overlooking the courtyard area.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

August 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

The photograph of this view was a result of a couple of coincidences. I have to admit that we rarely got up this early on our trip to France (or the UK, or New York, or Germany…), more often sleeping in and finally getting out the door of our room at 10:00 in the morning or so. We kid ourselves about our ability to adapt to time zone changes — we think we didn’t make it quite all the way to Europe but instead locked into a time about one zone west of Ireland! But on this morning we had no choice but to get up very early since we were scheduled to take an early train to Germany and we didn’t want to miss it.

But being up before dawn wouldn’t have quite been enough to give us this view. There is a hotel story involved, too. When we arrived earlier in the week we were given a room several floors lower. We went up to the room, opened the door, walked in… to find a pack of cigarettes on the bed, suitcases on the shelf, and clothes in the closet! The hotel upgraded us as a result, putting us in a room that was near the top of the building and which gave us a view across Paris. So, up at 6:00 in the morning, still fairly dark in Paris, we got dressed and then watched the light show as the sun spread across the city.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Je Suis Bleu

August 12, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Walking some streets somewhere in Paris — sorry, first visit, and I can’t name everything! — we passed through an area of narrow streets, shops (including many that seemed like high fashion stores), and lots of interesting old buildings and graffiti and more. These things, plus light that was changed due to broken clouds, made the area a photographer’s paradise.

Near a corner I saw this example of street art on a wall. By itself a photograph of it would not be much more than a record, but I stopped and waited to see who might walk into the frame. A bicycle and a scooter passed by on the street, along with a few solo walkers, but nothing too special. Then I saw the two women and the young girl coming up the street and I thought I might get something interesting. It was my lucky day — they stopped briefly just to the left of the figures on the wall and two of them turned back to my right to look at something. The red dress was a nice touch, too!

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Coastal Forest, Fog

August 10, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog obscures a coastal forest at Point Lobos State Reserve

Many people who don’t know the California coast imagine it to be a warm and sunny place. It can be, but often it is actually foggy and damp and cold — and not a place where you’d want to lie on your towel trying to work on your tan! That iconic sunny weather does occur, especially if you go farther south, but the cold and foggy weather is more typical. Surprisingly, I much prefer the cool and foggy to the clear and sunny, and I don’t think I’m the only photographer who would rather see almost any conditions other than blue sky clear days.

On this January day I headed over to Point Lobos after hearing that there would be both clouds and big surf. In many places in this part of California the coastal hills drop precipitously and directly (or nearly so) straight into the ocean. Here at Point Lobos there is an area of flat, forested headland between the ocean and the mountains, but right behind the park the mountains do rise in layers, and on a day like this one the details of the successively higher ridges often disappear into the fog.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: travel

The Louvre

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

Je Suis Bleu

Coastal Forest, Fog

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.