Tag Archives: artificial

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

Windows and Shadows, Building 101

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Windows and Shadows, Building 101

Windows and Shadows, Building 101. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night black and white photograph of windows, corrugated metal, and shadows on the front of Building 101, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This photograph shows details of the facade of Building 101 at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California – mainly the large window at the lower left of the front of the building, but also including some shadows cast by various items attached to the building an nearby that caught the light from nearby security lights.

After looking at the gaudy coloration from the artificial lighting on this building I thought it might be interesting – or a relief! – to try a black and white version of the close-up view.

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: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, window, panes, frame, wood, corrugated, metal, wall, wire, broken, glass, pipe, conduit, shadow, fence, lamp, sign, front, artificial, light, illumination, asphalt, weeds, industrial, urban, black and white, usa, stock

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

Ship Yard Structure, Night

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Ship Yard Structure, Night

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

A towering ship yard structure against fog lit by artificial lighting at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

An explanation of the colors in this photograph is probably in order. If you had been there next to me, looking up at the sky past this tall steel structure, you would not have seen colors that looked like this. It was, of course, dark out! You would have noticed a glow coming from the base of the fog clouds that were overhead, but it would not have seemed to have much of a color beyond a certain “warm” effect.

However, once I extend the exposure time so that I get a “normal” exposure in the camera (a bit more than three minutes in this case) light and color that are not visible to the human eye become visible to the camera. During RAW conversion I did not significantly alter the colors – these are what ACR refers to as “as shot” color balance. So we get this wild, luminous effect in the fog clouds and the brightness of the light on the structure becomes similar to that of daytime light… except the colors are different and many of the shadows come from sources that would be impossible in a daytime exposure.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, structure, scaffold, steel, wire, industrial, equipment, beam, steps, ladder, rust, yellow, fog, sky, illumination, artificial, light, usa, tower, overhead, equpment, cage, platform, bolt, rivet, stock

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

Towers, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

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Towers, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

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

Shipyard towers and other structures against a background of fog illuminated by artifical light along Nimitz Street, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

Another “ship building towers at Mare Island in the dark” photograph. Indeed. This was one of the last photographs I made during my recent late August visit to this historic site to do night photography. By this time the fog was really moving in and covering much of the sky – and with long exposures the overcast picks up the light from all around and diffuses it in some pretty interesting ways.

The location of this shot is near the museum in the core of the old ship-building area along Nimitz Street next to the waterfront. The large structure was, from what I understand, used to move very large components to the ships in dry dock or at the waterfront. The railroad tracks in the foreground run along much of Nimitz Street and you can see some of the towering cranes along the waterfront beyond.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchell

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, nimitz, street, track, rail, railroad, tower, gantry, structure, truss, steel, industrial, equipment, building, asphalt, manhole, cover, lights, fog, clouds, shadow, artificial, light, glow, usa, stock

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

Abandoned Building, Night

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Abandoned Building, Night

Abandoned Building, Night. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 8, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned building photographed under artificial light at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is another photograph from the early March visit to historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard with The Nocturnes for a round of (almost) full moon night photography. I’m not actually sure what this building is or was. I just happened to look up a deserted alley while walking down Nimitz Avenue, and I saw  it lit up by lurid sodium vapor lighting. For that reason the colors of the original photograph are a bit much. I had to make some subjective decisions about how to best tone them down. The brightly lit area at the lower left of the building was almost blown out in the red channel from this wild light. I decided to keep a bit of the yellowish tone but reduce it to a more “normal” looking level.

This highlights one thing I enjoy about working with night photography images made in the presence of artificial light. The whole notion of “accurate” is fairly meaningless. First, you almost never make a final photograph that is as dark as the scene actually was – in truth, you cannot “see” a scene like this at night in the way a camera can. Once you realize this, concerns about coming up with  “accurate” color rendition seem sort of pointless – and I just use my judgment and work toward a rendition that seems right to me.

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: mare island, naval, shipyard, minsy, night, photography, nocturnes, vallejo, california, usa, abandoned, industrial, structure, building, window, door, perspective, sky, steps, ladder, wire, railing, distressed, old, architecture, artificial, light, urban, historic, shadow