Tag Archives: building

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

Sidewalk and Steel Plates

July 19, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Patterned steel plates criss-cross a sidewalk in San Francisco, California.

This pattern caught my attention as I walked behind the Ferry Building toward the waterfront – the plates apparently cover underground utilities of some sort. The odd angles and the glow of the diffused light from overhead fog created interesting patterns and texture. At first I thought of keeping this as a color image, but in the end the colors were so soft and so close to monochromatic that I decided to go with this 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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/16, 1/125 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, city, urban, sidewalk, driveway, cement, concrete, steel, texture, plate, reflection, glow, criss-cross, diagonal, minimalism, ferry, building, the, embarcadero, stock, abstract, black and white, monochrome

Commentary, Photographs: Night

Yellow Wall with Door and Numbers

June 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The wall of an abandoned building with a metal door and painted numbers and text at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Illuminated by gaudy yellow sodium vapor lamps.

It may be difficult (if not impossible) to make sense out of this image without some explanation. In a side alley off of Nimitz Street at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard I previously found a large abandoned building that is lit at night by bright and garish sodium vapor lamps. When I photographed the building the first time I shot at the end nearest to the main street, and I ended up toning down the intense yellow tones that this type of artificial lighting produces when it shines on a subject like this building. This time I went further back into the alley and near the back of the building found a strange area around an old metal door where the weathered wall and window had been covered by strange marking apparently made with spray paint – numbered squares along the lower part of the wall and, above and out of this frame, seemingly random bits of numbers and text – with all of this interrupted by crossing pipes, conduit, boards, and general decay. With nothing in the frame but the wall, here shot straight on, the bizarrely lit surface seems to me like an almost complete abstraction.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Alley, Mare Island

June 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Artificial light illuminates an alley and an old industrial building at historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

On the second-to-last night of May I had a chance to do a bit more night photography at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard after Ivan Makarov contacted me to say that he was organizing a small group for a visit. We gathered before sunset near the “historic core” area of the island, and before long we all headed off to photograph the diverse and interesting subjects found here.

Having shot the “classics” at Mare Island many, many times I decided to start out with a different subject. Instead of heading for the old brick buildings and the immense ship yard structures, before it became dark I headed into a park like area where old cement bunkers sit among trees. By the time I finished there and walked back to where I had last seen the group… they were all gone! I went ahead and shot alone for the next hour and a half or so, mostly looking for detail shots of smaller subjects. Near the end of my shoot I happened to walk past this alley and decided to make one more exposure before packing up and heading home.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 45mm
ISO 400, f/16, 20 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, artificial, light, glow, column, building, brick, window, wall, dark, sky, night, nocturne, alley, street, asphalt, shadow, drain, gutter, drain, perspective, industrial, urban, factory, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

May 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

Two photos today! Photographer Rebecca Jackrel (Adventures Through the Lens) points out that today is the birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was opened on this date in 1937. Since I have a few photos of this icon lying around I thought I’d repost one of them to celebrate. (More information about this image in the original post)

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.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.