Category Archives: Photographs: Night

Person Sitting Behind Blue Sign, 7th Avenue

Person Sitting Behind Blue Sign, 7th Avenue
Person Sitting Behind Blue Sign, 7th Avenue

Person Sitting Behind Blue Sign, 7th Avenue. New York, New York. August 19, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of a person sitting behind a blue sign along 7th Avenue near Madison Square Garden on a summer evening in downtown New York.

On our last night in Manhattan we needed pizza – we bracketed our visit with New York pizza on the first and last night. (We had lots of great food in between, but that is perhaps a story for another post.) So we headed out of our hotel and up 7th Avenue near twilight. My son – who shoots old film cameras these days – and I grabbed our cameras to see what we could shoot. Keeping things simple, I just stuck a 50mm lens on my camera, cranked the ISO, and shot quickly as we moved through the crowds. Nearby there was a building with a “sign” that moved blue text up and down the front of a building and across part of the sidewalk. Sitting behind a section of the garish sign I saw this man sitting quietly.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Pipes, Shadow, and Brick Wall

Pipes, Shadow, and Brick Wall
Pipes, Shadow, and Brick Wall

Pipes, Shadow, and Brick Wall. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. May 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white night photograph of pipes, shadow, and a brick wall at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California.

This is an example of the sort of thing I was looking for during my night photography shoot near the end of May at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. The place is well-known among night photographers for its interesting and impressive abandoned (mostly) structures, some of which are very old. The most striking subjects for most shooters involve the massive ship yard equipment that towers above old brick factory buildings. I’ve made my share of photographs of those wonderful subjects!

But on this visit I resolved to not shoot the familiar large buildings and structures, and to instead look for odd little vignettes of the place that I had overlooked in the past. This pipe standing against a brick was was actually hard to really see in the very dim artificial light in the alley where it is located, but I thought that the pipe and its shadow on the brick wall might be interesting. At the time I made the exposure I wasn’t certain if it would end up being black and white or color, but after working with it in post I’m happier with this monochrome version.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 96mm
ISO 200, f/8, 96 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, nocturnes, brick, wall, weathered, worn, pipe, joint, shadow, old, black and white, monochrome, urban, street, landscape, detail, curb, stock

Bunker Entry Door, Mare Island

Bunker Entry Door, Mare Island
Bunker Entry Door, Mare Island

Bunker Entry Door, Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. May 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Entry door to old bunkers at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I was surprised to find this bunker door open. Typically this area of old cement bunkers at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard seems to be sealed up tightly – in fact, most of the doors (or what I presume to be doors) have been covered with metal plates. Although this images has the look of soft daylight, perhaps that of an overcast day, the effect is the result of shooting during very late twilight when there was a combination of diffused light from the sky and some artificial light spilling into the scene from nearby.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 73mm
ISO 200, f/16, 30 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, bunker, door, concrete, cement, entrance, sign, main, entry, point, authorized, personnel, only, frame, paint, worn, weathered, dilapidated, historic, structure, military, urban, industrial, stock, black and white, monochrome

Night Scene, Mare Island

Night Scene, Mare Island
Night Scene, Mare Island

Night Scene, Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. May 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of pipes, barricades, trash receptacles, and wall with alarm – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

I suppose this more or less qualifies as a photograph of nothing. What we have here are: a couple of barricade posts, part of a dumpster, some pipes and valves, a trash can, a textured concrete wall lit from above by a single lamp, a fire alarm, and shadows from various of these objects. I saw this as I walked along Nimitz street along the waterfront at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard and, for some reason, just felt that it was a picture waiting to be recorded.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 40mm
ISO 200, f/16, 13 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, pipes, valves, barricades, pole, trash, can, receptacle, dumpster, wall, fire, alarm, light, artificial, glow, asphalt, concrete, cement, industrial, urban, nocturne, stock