Tag Archives: travel

Hotel, Narrow Street

February 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A hotel sign above a narrow Florence street at night

Out for an afternoon walk on our last full day in Florence, Italy last summer, we kept walking as night arrived. We only had a few days here at the very end of a long trip, so we were trying to make the most of a short stay. Our hotel was in the old section of the Florence, so we could walk out the front door onto one of the very narrow old streets and head off in any direction and find interesting things.

At this point, nearly a half-year later, I can’t remember precisely where I made this photograph, though it may have been roughly in the neighborhood between our hotel and Duomo. There were a lot of people out walking on this warm evening, and many other photographs of this street included pedestrians and cyclists, but I think I ended up liking this deserted view with the street winding past the backwards “hotel” sign and then curving out of view.

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

Fractured Cliff, Evening

February 9, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A fractured sandstone cliff in evening light, Capitol Reef National Park

Late in the day we ended up in a canyon not far from the main centers of Capitol Reef National Park, including the main campground. We drove into this canyon after the sun had dropped low enough to leave only the soft, shadow light. We walked a ways up the canyon, moving very slowly and photographing along the way. Given the late hour and the early loss of light in the deep canyon, it wasn’t long before we decided to head back to the trailhead and call it a day.

We packed up and started to head out of the canyon. Soon the canyon widened near its mouth and it opened to the west. While the light had mostly left deep in the canyon where we had been earlier, here there was still a bit of a glow on the tall sandstone faces lining the mouth. Below these cliffs the terrains sloped upwards from the valley floor, and debris from the cliffs collected around their bases. Seeing this light, we immediately decided to pull over and unpack everything and make some photographs before the light faded. This photographs shows a wonderful section of the cliff face where outer layers of the rock have apparently fallen in geologically recent time, revealing the beautiful pink rock beneath.

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

Trattoria Alfredo

February 7, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trattoria Alfredo and Florence streets at night

In many parts of the old, central portion of Florence, with its narrow streets, there is a near absence of colorful commercial signs of the sort that are so common in most American cities. (There is an area of more modern shops that feels more familiar, perhaps, to American visitors.) Along many of the streets there is little to indicate commercial establishments aside from small signs and open windows or doors. While this trattoria isn’t the only place that looks like this, it seems a bit unusual by comparison.

This photograph illustrates one of the things I like about night photography, and in particular about night photography in urban environments, namely the wildly diverse light sources. Here the interior of the little restaurant glows with light that could come from tungsten bulbs and which spills out onto the street, while the street lights down the way to the right have more of the character of daylight. But above the store is wildly saturated light from brilliantly colorful red and blue bulbs, so intense that it overwhelms most of the other light sources.

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

Restaurant Workers on Break

February 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Restaurant workers take a break in an alley under streetlights

Last summer we spent five weeks on the road — starting in New York, then going to London, Paris, Heidelberg, and finally Italy where we spent a week in the hills between Florence and Siena and then concluded our trip in Florence. If I have a regret, it is that we spent too little time in Florence. Our final stop there was almost an afterthought — we knew we would fly out of its airport, and we decided we might as well add a couple of days there. Anyone who has visited knows that a “couple of days” is not remotely enough for this city.

I loved walking around this city and photographing, especially in the mornings and again at night. On this last evening we decided we wanted to find a place for dinner, but we didn’t have a plan so we just wandered. We found a place — it isn’t hard here! — and then wandered some more, right on into the evening. At the very end of the evening, just yards from our hotel, we passed this street corner where employees were taking a break outside of a restaurant.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: travel

Hotel, Narrow Street

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Fractured Cliff, Evening

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Trattoria Alfredo

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Restaurant Workers on Break

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

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