Category Archives: Photographs: Night

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Two Buildings, Night

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Two Buildings, Night
Night photograph of two buildings in the historic core of Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Two Buildings, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One of the attractions of photographing at night is the way that everything changes and familiar and even mundane subjects can be transformed. Night almost automatically adds an element of mystery to subjects, even when the literal subjects might arguably be mundane. This is partly the natural associations we make with the night, but it is also the objective nature of the light — rather than working under the sun or other forms of light from the sky, we rely almost always on multiple point sources of artificial illuminations. (And exception would be working under full moon light, but that has its own implications.)

I made this photograph in the “historic core” area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California. For the most part many of the original structures still stand in this area. (Much more extensive redevelopment has occurred elsewhere on the island, some of which has removed the old facilities.) Here some of the buildings have been updated and put to use for more modern purposes, but the general feeling of the place remains. I have photographed in this little alley-way for about fifteen years now. Somethings stay the same and other change, and on this visit I found that I was able to use the new corner windows on the foreground building as a point of focus.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Ship Yard Crane Structure, Night

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Ship Yard Crane Structure, Night
A huge, rail-mounted ship yard crane at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Ship Yard Crane Structure, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A huge, rail-mounted ship yard crane at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

The historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, on an island across the narrow bay from Vallejo, California, is a remarkable place. It has a long history, going back to the first half of the 1800s, when it was the first such ship yard on the west coast of the United States. It continued to serve in that capacity until the 1990s, when it was finally decommissioned. At first, much of the facility languished, gradually falling into disrepair. More recently, it has become the site of redevelopment, new construction… and efforts to arrest the decay and preserve some of the historic area.

Mare Island has also been a Mecca for Bay Area night photographers for a couple of decades. Ask almost any area night photographer if they’ve been there, and the answer will be “yes.” I got my start doing night photography at Mare Island about fifteen years ago, when I happened to end up at an introductory session run by the original “The Nocturnes” group, put on as part of the Pacific Flyway Festival. The subject of this photograph is one of the gigantic shipyard crane structures found along the waterfront, designed to facilitate moving huge ship components at the dry-docks. This crane sits on carriages that run on a short section of curving track, allowing it to move over a short 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 and Amazon.

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

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night

Roll-Up Door, Night

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Roll-Up Door, Night
A metal roll-up door, old windows, and buildings in multi-colored night light

Roll-Up Door, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.photo description

A metal roll-up door, old windows, and buildings in multi-colored night light

This is another photograph from my recent “alumni night” with The Nocturnes at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California — a location where I did my first night photography about fifteen years ago, and to which I return at least a couple of times every year. The places is a sort of Mecca for Bay Area night photographers, almost all of whom have made the place a subject at some point. It holds very old historic ship yard buildings and structures, some areas that are essentially abandoned, a few areas undergoing redevelopment, and the effects of the ever-present San Francisco Bay that surrounds it.

Some things remain the same and others change. This photograph holds a bit of both extremes. The buildings in the scene have been there a long time and I have photographed them in the past. However, the lighting has changed significantly. This used to be an area of extremely dim light, but now there is a new facility just to the left of the area in the frame, and when anyone approaches security lights are activated and they cast a glow across the faintly green building. Its color controls with that of the more distant concrete building illuminated by an entirely different type of light.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Shipyard Crane Structure, Night

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Shipyard Crane Structure, Night
The base of a gigantic rolling crane structure, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Shipyard Crane Structure, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The base of a gigantic rolling crane structure, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I did my first real night photography at this location, the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, fifteen years ago. I more or less randomly saw an announcement for a free introduction to night photography at the Flyway Festival at Mare Island, and without giving it much thought I signed up. The session was organized by Tim Baskerville, a guiding-light (guiding dark?) of the San Francisco Bay Area night photography scene and the leader of a group called “The Nocturnes.” (Studio Nocturne SF, the night photography collective I work with today, is a direct descendent.) I had almost no idea what I was doing on that first night photography adventure, but I was taken by the genre (and by this location) and I’ve been photographing at night ever since.

This week a group of us met for a “Nocturnes Alumni Event” at Mare Island, and after sharing and pizza we headed out into the dark to make photographs. It is a bit of a strange experience for me by now. I am very familiar with many of the features of the place, but there have been many changes, too. Back in 2003 the site was almost entirely abandoned, and it was not clear what would become of it. Today portions are being redeveloped, for better or worse — mostly better, I think. So some of the old subjects are gone, others that were off-limits back then are now accessible, and new things have appeared. On this evening I was able to get up close to some of these remarkable and gigantic old shipyard cranes. In a Silicon Valley world of virtual industries, it is quite striking to stand beneath these very solid and very real machines — gigantic things that were used to move the components for building ships.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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