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

Bar Martinez 1942

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Bar Martinez 1942
“Bar Martinez 1942” — The evening crowd at Bar Martínez 1942 in Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.

In a sense, it felt like this summer’s big European adventure (ten weeks of travel!) really began in Donostia/San Sebastián Spain. Our arrival felt different from much of the rest of the trip, where mostly it was just the two of us, traveling light and sometimes a bit randomly. But several things were different at this first stop in Spain. We met a couple of “our (adult) kids” here. Within about an hour of our arrival, a stage of the Tour de France also arrived a short distance from where we stayed. And we did something else a bit unusual for us — we took a “pinxtos tour” on our first night.

If you don’t already know, pinxtos are essentially the tapas of this Basque region of Spain — wonderful, varied, “small plate” foods, and Donostia/San Sebastián is known for this culinary style. We usually plunge into such things on our own, but the “kids” had arranged for a tour with a local guide. She took us to a series of pinxtos bars, and it was a lot of fun. The photograph comes from the area of town where these businesses are found, and I snapped it as we wandered about in the evening.

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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

Desert Lake, Island and Mountains

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Desert Lake, Island and Montains
Distant desert mountains stand in morning light beyond Mono Lake and Paoha Island.

Desert Lake, Island and Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Distant desert mountains stand in morning light beyond Mono Lake and Paoha Island.

Mono Lake is known for a few particular things: the picturesque tufa towers along its shoreline and its extremely salty water. (It is landlocked, so all water — except that stolen by LA — leaves the lake by means of evaporation.) But other things that characterize the Mono Basin for me, too. One is the surprising juxtaposition of essentially high desert and the vast surface of this lake. Another is the huge expanse of sky. And at times, the area can be as still and silent as almost any place I’ve been.

This time I went in the morning, primarily to visit two places. One, seen in some other photographs that I’ll share from this visit, is an old ponderosa pine forest that was consumed by wildfire. The other is the spot in this photograph, on a ridge along a roadway, where I can look across hills and the periphery of a volcanic crater toward the lake, its own volcanic islands, and desert mountains in the far distance.

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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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

Arno River, Florence

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Arno River, Florence
The Arno River flowing through Florence, Italy on a hazy summer evening.

Arno River, Florence. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The Arno River flowing through Florence, Italy on a hazy summer evening.

This will not be the only photograph from this memorable evening in Florence. We had heard about an elevated viewpoint overlooking the Arno River and central Florence, so we started walking in that direction. We were surprised — but really should not have been — that there were lots of other people heading the same way, crossing the Arno, entering the narrow streets, and climbing toward the Piazzale Michelangelo.

I had many impressions when we arrived. The first was, “What huge crowds!” It seemed like everyone in Florence was there, and it was a giant waiting-for-sunset party — there was music, people singing, and vendors sold food and drink. Another impression was, “What a remarkable view!” But along with that, “What a lot of haze!” At first that was a bit disappointing, but as the evening developed it started to make the light more interesting, the distances clearer, and the light softer.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Mountains, Forest, and Stream

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Mountains, Forest, and Stream
A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

Mountains, Forest, and Stream. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

The question of how to categorize this photograph (as I do with all o them at my website) perplexed me a bit. Although I was set up outside of Yosemite National Park, the two prominent peaks are within its boundaries. And do I call this a “fall color photograph?” The trees don’t suggest doing so, but the slight yellow on the willows and the lovely golden brown on the hillside signal this season. Categorization questions aside, this was a beautiful late-summer Sierra day, one of sunshine and light – between two days of rain, hail, and even some snow.

It is hard to know how many times I have passed this location over the years — ok, over the decades. But I have typically been here while on the way to someplace else, and while I’ve noticed it in passing I don’t recall stopping to photograph it before. This time I wasn’t in a hurry, and I had no other destination in mind — so I went slow and pulled over a few times to make photographs along this creek.

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.