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

Powerplant, Railroad Avenue – Mare Island Naval Shipyard

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Powerplant, Railroad Avenue - Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Powerplant, Railroad Avenue - Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Powerplant, Railroad Avenue – Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Mare Island, Vallejo, California. February 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night panoramic photograph of the powerplant building and other structures along Railroad Avenue at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is a bit of a first for me – a night photography stitched panorama. This image is composed of two separate exposures which were aligned and “stitched” into a single image in post. (As such, it could be a very large print!) Shooting from an elevated position, I shot almost directly north (as you can tell from the star trails in the larger version). The view looks up Railroad Avenue past the iconic power plant building with its smokestack that is visible from all over Mare Island.

I’m usually a bit casual about exposure time with long exposure night photographs. It isn’t that I don’t care – it is just that one has a ton of leeway when it comes to the very long exposures I typically use. For example, on a 3 minute exposure you would have to be off by three minutes to overexpose by one stop! So rather than use a stopwatch or an automatic timer I just count to myself. I’m usually will within a 10% error, and that is good enough. However, when stitching “good enough” often isn’t. The separate component frames really need to be quite similar, so in this case I resorted to using my watch to get relatively accurate 90 second exposures.

Another interesting factor in night photography is illustrated in this photo, namely the wildly varied colors of the light sources we deal with. There are three dominant sources in this image. The overall illumination comes from the full moon, which is quite similar to day light in terms of white balance. On the near wall of the brick power plant there is very “hot” and saturated yellow/red tinted light, probably from sodium vapor lamps. Near the left end of the image is an old wooden building that is illuminated by very green light, which I believe comes from mercury vapor lamps. I often chuckle a bit when people speak of “white balancing” the color in a scene like this. If you pick one source for your white balance you’ll throw the others even more out of line. My philosophy is usually to just go with what looks right!

Finally, the idea of making the stitched panorama came from the recently started Panocturnists web site, begun by people connected with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. I was intrigued by the idea of creating panoramic night photography, and I’ve done a few images along these lines on my two most recent visits to Mare Island.

(More of my Mare Island photographs)

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 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 90 seconds

keywords: powerplant, building, structure, railroad, avenue, street, track, asphalt, sky, dark, night, photography, star, trail, color, light, yellow, red, blue, smoke, stack, cyclone, fence, brick, glow, panorama, panocturnes, minsy, san francisco bay area, window, antenna, vallejo, california, usa, north america, mare, island, naval, shipyard, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Point Bonita, Pacific Ocean

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Point Bonita, Pacific Ocean
Point Bonita, Pacific Ocean

Point Bonita, Pacific Ocean. Marin Headlands, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of morning light on coastal cliffs and beaches near the Point Bonita Lighthouse in the Marin Headlands with the Pacific Ocean beyond – Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

This photograph represents another “stop the car, back up, and shoot this now!” moments – the second one during a single weekend.

I had taken a long day to photograph north of San Francisco, ostensibly with the excuse of having to meet someone in the City that evening – heck, might as well leave early and spend the day shooting, right? I had only vague plans to head across the Golden Gate Bridge when I started out that morning, but I stopped near the north end and headed up into the Marin Headlands when I saw some pretty special lighting and atmospheric conditions over the Bay. After shooting that general subject (including photos of the Bridge, the Bay, and the City posted earlier and still to come) I drove on up the road and then out toward Point Bonita.

The last part of this road is a narrow, twisty one-way drive high on the coastal hills above the outer reaches of the Golden Gate. As I came around one turn the view opened up and I saw – for the first time, though I’ve been here before – this great view of Point Bonita and the Pacific. I quickly stopped, set up, and made a few exposures.

The Point Bonita area is an interesting one. All along this section of the Marin Headlands are found old forts and artillery sites, supposedly to protect the Bay from invasion by sea. There is no longer a military presence here – this is now part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area, but many of the historic sites remain. Point Bonita itself is the site of a lighthouse at the north edge of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is a wild place. Not only it is in a spectacular location of tall coastal bluffs and steep cliffs that is fully open to the power of the Pacific, but the lighthouse itself is on a small island set slightly apart from the main landmass. The only way to get to it is to walk a trail along the steep cliffs – which passes through a tunnel at one point – then cross the top of the low bluff, and then walk the bridge to the small island.

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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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, marin, county, headlands, point, bonita, fort, historic, beach, coast, shore, pacific, ocean, coastline, waves, surf, horizon, sky, clouds, bluffs, rocks, island, trees, nature, landscape, seascape, tower, antenna, trail, road, travel, scenic, black and white, monochrome, stock, morning, light

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

Mare Island Power Plant, Dusk

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Mare Island Power Plant, Dusk

Mare Island Power Plant, Dusk. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The power plant and surrounding buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, photographed at dusk as fog rolls in overhead.

While I mainly go to the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard to do night photography, I like to start before dark when the evening light is still present. I have photographed this old power plant, with its iconic and widely visible smoke stack, in the past – both at night and at dusk. This building faces to the west and is open to the late light.

Previously when I have photographed it in these circumstances I’ve tried to include more of the surroundings – the neighboring buildings, the road in front, the railroad tracks that pass by and head into the distance. This time I swapped out the wide lens for a telephoto and decided to work for images that are more tightly cropped and which focus more on details of the building.

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

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keywords: minsy, mare, island, naval, ship, yard, decommissioned, abandoned, smoke, stack, industrial, government, historic, building, brick, wall, window, antenna, pipe, reflection, ladder, fog, evening, dusk, light, corrugated, metal, cement, concrete, structure, vallejo, california, usa, tree, street, light, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Landscape of Brick and Glass

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Landscape of Brick and Glass

Landscape of Brick and Glass. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Urban landscape black and white photograph of brick buildings in downtown San Francisco, California.

Another photograph from AT&T Park, and again right around sunset. In this case I am shooting towards the downtown San Francisco skyline, which at this time of the day is intensely lit by the setting sun – hence the high key effect on the buildings in the distance and the sky gone all the way to white. With a bit of pondering it becomes apparent that this scene containing many different (mostly brick) walls and odd sized windows on buildings topped with skylights and ventolation systems is almost as complex a landscape as you can find. I like the glow inside the upper window of the closest building.

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

keywords: brick, building, wall, roof, vent, skylight, peak, window, gutter, door, light, air conditioner, interior, arch, old, dish, antenna, glow, skyscraper, tall, distant, high key, sky, white, bright, san francisco, california, usa, travel, scenic, urban, street, downtown, landscape, cityscape, skyline, stock