Tag Archives: wall

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman in Dry Cleaner Doorway

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Woman in Dry Cleaner Doorway
A woman stands n the dorrway of a dry-cleaners and smokes, Fiesole, Italy.

Woman in Dry Cleaner Doorway. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A woman stands n the doorway of a dry-cleaners and smokes, Fiesole, Italy.

During this summer’s lengthy European travels, one of our longest stays was in Florence. There’s a lot to see there — much of which we had missed on our previous visit in the pre-pandemic era, when we barely did more than pass through on our way to and from other places. So one reason for the longer stay was that we had some catching up to do. In more practical terms, we feel that after a lot of active travel it is good to stop and stay in one place a bit longer — and Florence was that place. But this photograph is not in Florence…

… which might lead you to wonder why I’m posting it here. Well, it is very close to Florence! Friends had recommended a visit to Fiesole, a smaller town in the hills above Florence. So one morning we caught the bus up there for a partial day of wandering and looking at long views of the Arno Valley and Florence. This was a quick photograph I made while wandering through the town — a woman taking a cigarette break outside her dry cleaning shop.

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: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Travel

Tree and Wall

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Tree and Wall
A tree grows against a textured and weathered wall in Orvieto, Italy.

Tree and Wall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A tree grows against a textured and weathered wall in Orvieto, Italy.

Although I don’t think of myself as _just_ a “nature photographer,” my roots are in that sort of photography. Even when I’m focused more on street photography or travel photography, I am still drawn to nature subjects. In fact, sometimes I find them almost more compelling set against the urban landscape — partly because seeing them there reaffirms their significance to us a humans and partly because of how these things relate to that urban world.

I photographed this tree in Orvieto, Italy. While the tree is “natural,” its setting is anything but. It grows right up against this weathered and distressed wall in a narrow walkway between tall buildings. Direct sunlight only penetrates do the bottom of this urban canyon briefly, and the rest of the time the scene is in shade. (As with so many of these cityscapes of narrow streets, I am reminded of photographing in the red rock canyons of the American Southwest.)

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Horse Stencil, Walls

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Horse Stencil, Walls
A stencil of a horse at a place where two walls meet in Siena, Italy.

Horse Stencil, Walls. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A stencil of a horse at a place where two walls meet in Siena, Italy.

Some years back, in the pre-pandemic era, we spent a bit more than a week in Tuscany. It was quite a trip — we mostly stayed with and traveled with family. We spent a week in the Chianti hills at a villa where our oldest son and our daughter-in-law exchanged wedding vows. We also managed to very briefly visit Florence (barely more than one day) and Siena (literally a few hours). Needless to say, that was only enough to make us want to return for longer visits — which we did this summer.

This time we had three nights in Siena, where we stayed in a little place just minutes from the Piazza del Campo, the famous central plaza. If you have been following along, by now you know that our mode of travel is a bit different. We do see some of the Big Sights (and Sites), but we also spend a lot of time just walking and wandering and getting the feel for the place. As a result, we sometimes end up with photographs of small things that you might miss on a more hurried visit — like this little stencil of a horse near the meeting of two walls along a Siena walkway.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Carmo Gifts

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Carmo Gifts
People in front of a Lisbon shop on a steeply-inclined street at night.

Carmo Gifts. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

People in front of a Lisbon shop on a steeply-inclined street at night.

We spent four nights (and days) in Lisbon during out summer 2023 travels. It is a fascinating city, with a very different character than Porto, the other Portuguese city we visited this time. It seem more urbanized and modern, but like Porto — perhaps even more so — it is partially defined by its very hilly terrain. For people like us, who walk a lot when we travel, this was not a trivial factor!

We stayed in an area of older, narrow streets some distance above the city’s famous elevator — though we never made use of it. More than once we followed a walking route down to the central city in an area near the railroad station, following some streets that were exceptionally steep in places. This shop is on one of those steep sections, and I photographed it as we walked back up one evening, as its light spilled out onto the sidewalk and passers-by.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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