Tag Archives: brick

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

Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

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Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

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

Nimitz Street with high fog and moonlight and ambient artificial lighting, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is probably one of the iconic scenes for night photographers at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. This shot looks up Nimitz Street near the waterfront and across railway tracks toward some of the core old buildings and beyond to the smoke stack of the power plant. It includes some of the huge overhead structures that were, as I understand it, used to move large ship components such as engines from the shops in which they were assembled to the ships under construction.

As is typical at night at Mare Island, the photograph includes a wild range of types of lighting. The 3/4 moon is partially responsible for illuminating the high fog, but the fog also picks up a warmer glow from a variety of types of lighting on the ground at Mare Island and beyond. The buildings are lit by some of the same light sources, but also by local security lightning and some street lights including tungsten, sodium vapor and perhaps even florescent sources. (When composing such shots I have to be very careful to place the camera in a position where direct light from these many sources is blocked by buildings, towers, and so forth.)

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, shipyard, historic, abandoned, decommisioned, nimitz, street, avenue, tracks, scaffolding, structure, tower, industrial, brick, building, road, window, door, quonset, hut, truss, wall, room, smoke, stack, chimney, power, plant, fog, high, star, trails, glow, night, photography, nocturnal, reflection, dark, urban, stock

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

Raccoons and Brick Wall, Mare Island

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Raccoons and Brick Wall, Mare Island

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

A group of nocturnal raccoons emerges from beneath a brick wall with boarded up windows and doors at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

I’ll have to admit that wildlife photography was more or less the furthest thing from my mind when I was shooting this scene of an artificially lit weathered brick wall in the core of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near the end of August. The thing that interested me in this shot was the shape of the pipe attached to the outer wall of this building against the bricks, along with the way it snaked between various windows and doors. So I set up the tripod and made a couple exposures. While making the second one I suddenly thought I saw something move – which seemed completely unexpected. Although it was much darker that it appears in this shot, I eventually saw a furry shape emerging from a gap between the sidewalk and the building… and then another…and another. Eventually there may have been as many as a half dozen raccoons in this little cluster of critters.

It may be hard to see them in this reduced size version of the photograph, but they are the small fuzzy area near the lower right below the valve on the wall. On the full size image it is possible to make out a few paws and the vague outline of their faces.

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
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keywords: raccoon, animal, nocturnal, pack, group, emerge, hole, under, building, brick, wall, boarded up, pipe, sidewalk, concrete, panels, window, door, reflection, night, photography, pattern, structure, historic, mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, abandoned, dilapidated, run, down, valve, industrial, wildlife, wood, stock

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

Painted Brick Wall

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Painted Brick Wall

Painted Brick Wall. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A painted brick wall with a grated alcove near Chinatown, San Francisco, California.

This is the person-less version of this scene that I was shooting when the man walked into it and I created the photo I posted earlier. I suspect that this interesting pattern is the result of someone painting out the rampant graffiti found all over Chinatown, but the color choice seems a bit odd for something so prosaic. The wall is just a few yards down a side street off of Grant.

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: san francisco, california, usa, travel, scenic, urban, city, sidewalk, wall, brick, painted, orange, beige, green, olive, red, white, window, arch, alcove, grate, metal, fan, texture, structure, urban, city, street, chinatown, downtown, travel, landscape, detail, stock, building

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man Walking Past Painted Brick Wall

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Man Walking Past Painted Brick Wall

Man Walking Past Painted Brick Wall. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man walking on the sidewalk past a painted brick wall in Chinatown, San Francisco, California.

I was part way through my long San Francisco photography walk when I noticed this interesting painted wall on a side-street in Chinatown. (For those who wonder how the heck I made a photograph in Chinatown that only included one figure – who is not a tourist! – I was there very early.) The pattern of rectangles and lines made me think of some sort of “pastel Mondrian,” if that makes any sense.

As I was shooting the wall, this man politely wandered through the scene – and he was even wearing the right color hat for the shot!

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
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keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, scenic, urban, city, brick, wall, painted, orange, green, beige, red, white, vent, screen, window, metal, grate, cover, pattern, sidewalk, hill, parking, meter, man, walking, hat, keys, jacket, glasses, old, slacks, chinatown, urban, street, stock, worn, dilapidated, run down