This photograph was originally posted here in 2007 with no descriptive commentary. While updating the website I added the following narrative on March 18, 2025.
I had my first serious taste of night photography back in the early 2000s, not long before I made this photograph. While reading about the Bay Area Flyway Festival, I saw an announcement of a free introduction to the genre by a group known as “The Nocturnes,” the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group led by Tim Baskerville. Intrigued, I signed up, not knowing quite what I was getting into, and headed up the the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard for the session. I learned a lot — including how vibrant the night photography community was, along with some technical stuff that helped me make successful photographs. I was hooked.
During the following years by interest in the genre deepened and I returned many times to photograph the (mostly) abandoned structures at Mare Island. This photograph was a bit of a lucky catch. I was doing long exposure, tripod-based work that included star trails. Most of the subjects here were lit by moonlight or dim outdoor lighting. But I came upon this building before it was closed up for the night, and the interior fluorescent lights were still glowing in the window — and were quite green by comparison to the moonlit ambient light. I set up, made a couple of exposures… and the lights were suddenly shut off. But I managed to get this image first.
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.
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