Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite Face, New Snow

April 22, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

New snow on ledges and trees at the base of the face of Half Dome

This photograph was made the morning after a Sierra winter storm had coated the high country of the Yosemite Sierra with a fresh coat of snow. The snow did not quite make it all the way down to the bottom of Yosemite Valley, but it covered most of the slopes, fissures, and trees of the walls and peaks around the Valley.

I don’t often photograph Half Dome—I can go days in the Valley without doing so at times—but I did photograph it a few times on this trip. At one point I photographed it wreathed in moving clouds and fog, barely visible. Here I photographed the famous face of the mountain, though I wanted to focus on the combination of new snow and small trees dwarfed by the giant and nearly smooth granite face, and to capture something of the cold, hard feeling of this winter view.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Ship Yard Crane

April 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Giant ship yard crane against night sky at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California

These towering cranes, remnants of the active period of ship building at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, are an iconic feature of the place. Among the many photographs of the locations, especially those by night photographers, they are among the features most often captured. Several of them tower along the waterfront, and their height and their retro-industrial appearance command attention.

Although I have photographed at Mare Island a lot, I have very few photographs of these objects. On most of the occasions when I have photographed there they have been parked too far away (they move on tracks), too poorly lit, or have been obscured by fences and other objects. Recently the ship yard has seen renewed activity as it is being used to partially dismantle some of the old ships of the “mothball fleet” that has long been anchored in the delta near the Carquinez Bridge. On my most recent visit to photograph here at night I found that several of these structures had moved to more accessible areas and that they were better lit. This one was behind a fence, but since I wanted to emphasize its height towering against the backdrop of the night sky I was able to shoot up at a steep angle and keep the fence out of the frame. The perspective distortion, the cut off upper portion, and the sense that the structure is leaning amplify, for me, the mysterious and other-worldly quality of these slightly anthropomorphic structures.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Wall, After Rain, Night

April 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Night photograph of the walls of an industrial building reflected in a pool of rainwater, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Recently I returned to the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard with my friends from The Nocturnes, a group of folks who focus on night photography. The Nocturnes have been photographing there for many years and the group forms a core of San Francisco Bay Area night photographers. Mare Island has become something of a mecca for night photography in the area, to the point that you can often find photographers shooting there in the dark and so that certain images from the location have achieved an almost iconic status. I first photographed there about a decade ago, and I’ve gone back at least a couple of times each year, to the point that I now have quite a few images of the place.

Having shot there so much, the way I approach the subject has evolved. At first, like anyone else getting to know the place, I focused on the well-known shipbuilding machinery—steel towers and cranes, dry docks, and so forth. Eventually, I began to look for other subjects, and I also began to understand the patterns of the place. Shooting on a full moon night is one thing, while shooting on a completely dark night another. Clear skies bring different opportunities than clouds. (I’m still waiting for a foggy night there!) More recently there have been changes to the area lighting on the island. The lighting is part of what has made photography there so interesting. It includes a wild range of sources—sodium vapor, mercury, fluorescent, tungsten, moonlight, and more—and sometimes turns otherwise bland structures into brilliantly colorful subjects. (Or at least it did. Now the older, colorful lighting is gradually being replaced with sun-white LED lights!) The weather is a major player, and it had rained the week beforehand. Because of this I was on the lookout for puddles and pools that might reflect the images of Mare Island structures, and here I found a very large puddle right in front of the wall of this large building.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Stairs and Green Windows, Night

April 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An industrial building with green windows and a shadow-casting staircase, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

The lighting is part of what has made photography there so interesting. It includes a wild range of sources—sodium vapor, mercury, fluorescent, tungsten, moonlight, and more—and sometimes turns otherwise bland structures into brilliantly colorful subjects. More recently there have been changes to the area lighting on the island. Now the older, colorful lighting is gradually being replaced with sun-white LED lights!) While I have to agree with the goal of increased energy efficiency, many of us mourn the loss of those old, colorful light sources. The LEDs can produce light that looks almost like daylight in some situations!

The first thing that brought me to the general area of this photograph was a pool of bright light in front of it that I saw coming from a very bright light across the roadway. As I approached I saw the interesting old external staircase, a subject that I often find interesting at Mare Island, and the complex pattern of shadows cast by the lights. I’m also a fan of the many large banks of windows in the buildings on the island. I’ve always assumed that the construction must have included so much glass so as to provide better interior light for these very large shop buildings. These windows are somewhat opaque, perhaps at least partially from age, and the lighter objects inside are only seen faintly through the glass.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Granite Face, New Snow

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Ship Yard Crane

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Wall, After Rain, Night

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Stairs and Green Windows, Night

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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.