Tag Archives: buildings

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night

Roll-Up Door, Night

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Roll-Up Door, Night
“Roll-Up Door, Night” — A metal roll-up door, old windows, and buildings in multi-colored night light

This is another photograph from my recent “alumni night” with The Nocturnes at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California — a location where I did my first night photography about fifteen years ago, and to which I return at least a couple of times every year. The places is a sort of Mecca for Bay Area night photographers, almost all of whom have made the place a subject at some point. It holds very old historic ship yard buildings and structures, some areas that are essentially abandoned, a few areas undergoing redevelopment, and the effects of the ever-present San Francisco Bay that surrounds it.

Some things remain the same and others change. This photograph holds a bit of both extremes. The buildings in the scene have been there a long time and I have photographed them in the past. However, the lighting has changed significantly. This used to be an area of extremely dim light, but now there is a new facility just to the left of the area in the frame, and when anyone approaches security lights are activated and they cast a glow across the faintly green building. Its color controls with that of the more distant concrete building illuminated by an entirely different type of light.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Shipyard Crane Structure, Night

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Shipyard Crane Structure, Night
The base of a gigantic rolling crane structure, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Shipyard Crane Structure, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The base of a gigantic rolling crane structure, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I did my first real night photography at this location, the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, fifteen years ago. I more or less randomly saw an announcement for a free introduction to night photography at the Flyway Festival at Mare Island, and without giving it much thought I signed up. The session was organized by Tim Baskerville, a guiding-light (guiding dark?) of the San Francisco Bay Area night photography scene and the leader of a group called “The Nocturnes.” (Studio Nocturne SF, the night photography collective I work with today, is a direct descendent.) I had almost no idea what I was doing on that first night photography adventure, but I was taken by the genre (and by this location) and I’ve been photographing at night ever since.

This week a group of us met for a “Nocturnes Alumni Event” at Mare Island, and after sharing and pizza we headed out into the dark to make photographs. It is a bit of a strange experience for me by now. I am very familiar with many of the features of the place, but there have been many changes, too. Back in 2003 the site was almost entirely abandoned, and it was not clear what would become of it. Today portions are being redeveloped, for better or worse — mostly better, I think. So some of the old subjects are gone, others that were off-limits back then are now accessible, and new things have appeared. On this evening I was able to get up close to some of these remarkable and gigantic old shipyard cranes. In a Silicon Valley world of virtual industries, it is quite striking to stand beneath these very solid and very real machines — gigantic things that were used to move the components for building ships.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Krämergasse und Ingrimstrasse

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Krämergasse und Ingrimstrasse
Corner of Krämergasse and Ingrimstrasse, Heidelberg

Krämergasse und Ingrimstrasse. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Corner of Krämergasse and Ingrimstrasse, Heidelberg

I have walked this street in Heidelberg a few times during three visits in the past few years. Sometimes it is filled with people (and bicycles), but it was very quiet on this day when we used it partly as a way to bypass the busy main street, which was crowded with other visitors. On the corner at the left you can see the sign for a restaurant where we enjoyed a very fine meal on my birthday a few years ago.

There are several things that I like about this simple scene. The streets have a certain neatness and orderliness that seems northern European to me. Not all German cities that I’ve seen look like this — and even parts of Heidelberg don’t — but it is a “type” of street. The light was beautiful, too — coming across the tops of the buildings on the left side of the street, striking the faces of the buildings on the right, but softened a bit by thin clouds. And, at least to my eyes, those bicycles seem to be peeking out from behind the corners and they seem like the only things inhabiting this empty street.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pigeons on the Roof

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Pigeons on the Roof
Pigeons on the roof of the Brancusi Gallery at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

Pigeons on the Roof. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pigeons on the roof of the Brancusi Gallery at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

We were here somewhat early in the morning to visit the nearby Centre Pompidou. We may have arrived before it opened — or perhaps we weren’t aware that it had opened, or possibly we just wanted to look a bit before entering. In any case, we were walking around the large open space in front of the entrance, and I took the time to make a few photographs of the surroundings.

Off to the side, along a parallel street, is the Brancusi Gallery — the building whose roof is seen in the photograph. I think that the flock of pigeons first caught my attention. I thought it was odd that they were all clusters on the roof of this structure. Then I began to find the composition of lines and shapes and color interesting, with the slight foreground diagonal creating some dissonance with the squared shape of the gallery and with the older buildings in the background.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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