Tag Archives: travel

Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Windows, Lamp, Shadow

May 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

In the summer of 2013 we spent three weeks visiting London, Heidelberg, and the Berchtesgaden area of Bavaria. Since we traveled there from Heidelberg by train, we arrived and departed at Salzburg — and since Salzburg was so close we managed to visit that city on other days during our stay. With our musical backgrounds, the first thing we think of when we think of Salzburg is Mozart, since this is his birthplace and the city is still something of a musical center. Of course, once we arrived we realized there is a lot more to the place. (Did someone say “coffee?”)

I love wandering around in virtually any city with a camera, and I did a bit of that sort of wandering here. It was only after photographing in different areas and on different days that I began to recognize these characteristic lamps showing up in many photographs of diverse subjects, at which point they became a bit of a subject for me.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park

May 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Bavarian Alps rise above Königsee in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Over the course of a summer week in 2013 we had a lot of opportunities to gaze at these Bavarian Alps. We spent a week with family in the Berchtesgaden area, staying in a big farm-house with views across a bucolic valley and into the mountains as they rose to the summit of the Watzmann, the second-highest peak in Germany. We did the “tourist thing” and rode the electric boats up the Königsee Lake between high ridges, and on one memorable day we visited Jennerbahn, took the tram to the top, and spent the rest of the day descending alpine valleys on foot — with a mid-hike stop for snacks and a beer!

During our stay I think I got a sense of how these mountains are different from my “home range” of the Sierra Nevada — though I would need a much longer stay and more hiking to get to know them well. Because they are built from different sorts of rock, the shapes of the peaks are often quite different. The tall rugged peaks also rise almost directly from relative lowlands — for example, a short hike took us from the lake to the base of a huge cliff at Die Eiskapelle, a place that felt thoroughly alpine. In the Sierra we have kept vast stretches of the range relatively wild, isolated from human structures to the point that one can imagine that he/she is in a fully wild place. In the alps there are huts, and you can stop for a beer in the middle of an afternoon hike! The ridges and valley in this photograph rise from the shoreline of the Königsee.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night

May 17, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pedestrians along a walkway leading toward Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London

St. Paul’s Cathedral is an obvious landmark at any time, but at night it is even more so, especially if you approach it from across the River Thames by way of the Millennium Bridge. We visited the bank opposite the cathedral on several evenings, so I can no longer remember precisely what we had been there for on this evening — The Old Globe Theater, meeting up with relatives for dinner, a visit to the Tate Modern? I’m not certain.

In any case, we ended up crossing the river in this direction after dark on a warm summer evening when many people were out strolling around. This was one of the first times when I realized that my little mirrorless camera was good enough in low light that I could actually do handheld night photography.

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

Photographs: Austria

Salzburg Cathedral

May 13, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Salzburg Cathedral and surrounding area, Salzburg, Austria

On this trip to Europe in the summer of 2013 we did not actually stay in Salzburg, Austria — but we did end up in this town several times. In the middle of our visit, which started in London and then included Heidelberg, we took a weeklong trip to Bavaria where we stayed in a big old farmhouse near Berchtesgaden and Königsee, with views of the Alps. Our train from Heidelberg ended up in nearby Salzburg, we ended up visiting Salzburg again while we were “just up the road” in Bavaria, and then we went back to Salzburg again to catch the return train to Heidelberg.

This spectacular cathedral is a famous icon of Salzburg, and here it is seen from a slightly elevated location just outside of this central square. Since I shoot digital, the original photograph is color, but it seemed to me that the bit of dramatic cloudiness would be more effective in monochrome, and the brighter light on the close walls of the structure seem “right” in black and white, too.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: travel

Windows, Lamp, Shadow

Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Night

Salzburg Cathedral

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