Tag Archives: crane

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

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Abandoned Piers, San Francisco
Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Abandoned piers along the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay

I found this wonderful dilapidated and weathered structure while walking along a somewhat out-of-the-way section of the San Francisco Bay waterfront. Technically, it isn’t all that obscure, as there is a lot of new development going in not far from here, yet this specific spot and a few others in this area seem like they have not been touched in quite a while.

I’m a fan of photographing the Bay Shoreline early in the morning, when I can shoot into the rising sun, often with backlit fog and morning haze and occasionally with distant objects on the bay or along its far shore making faint appearances in the photograph. In this shot there are several very large tankers anchored far out in the bay along the horizon line, and beyond that the thinning fog still sits over the east bay shoreline. There are other surprises in this photograph, too. Among them are the odd lawn chair sitting precariously on the wreck of this old pier. Also in the frame are a nearly submerged collapsed pier a bit further off, a small row boat with several people in it, and one of the ship yard cranes that are found along the waterfront.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Ship Yard Crane, Night Sky

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Ship Yard Crane, Night Sky
Ship Yard Crane, Night Sky

Ship Yard Crane, Night Sky. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. April 5, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gigantic ship yard crane extends high into the night sky, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California

For many of us, these gigantic cranes, towering above the historic ship yard buildings and docks, are the iconic structures of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. The facility has been here since the 1800s, when it was the first naval ship yard on the west coast of the United States, and its history is quite remarkable. I won’t even begin to try to recount it here since a) it is so extensive and b) I’m far from an expert! In the 1990s it was decommissioned and since that time parts of the facility have fallen into ruin, others have been maintained in more or less their condition at that time, and some have been converted to other uses ranging from industrial to housing.

I have photographed here at night for about a decade. It used to be that these towering structures were mostly just parked in somewhat inaccessible locations behind fences along the waterfront. (The folks I photograph with here have a policy of not going into areas that are off-limits, and this had led to generally very good relations with the folks who oversee the place.) More recently the dry dock facility has been put back to use to dismantle very old ships from the “mothball fleet” that had been moored nearby, and now when I visit I often find the cranes have moved and may even be in more accessible locations. The first thing that struck me on this night’s visit was the effect of the security lights playing over the structure—and the fact that the lights are still the older and very colorful lights rather than the newer, more energy-efficient, and very boring LED lighting!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Ship Yard Crane

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Ship Yard Crane
Ship Yard Crane

Ship Yard Crane. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. April 5, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Giant ship yard crane against night sky at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California

These towering cranes, remnants of the active period of ship building at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, are an iconic feature of the place. Among the many photographs of the locations, especially those by night photographers, they are among the features most often captured. Several of them tower along the waterfront, and their height and their retro-industrial appearance command attention.

Although I have photographed at Mare Island a lot, I have very few photographs of these objects. On most of the occasions when I have photographed there they have been parked too far away (they move on tracks), too poorly lit, or have been obscured by fences and other objects. Recently the ship yard has seen renewed activity as it is being used to partially dismantle some of the old ships of the “mothball fleet” that has long been anchored in the delta near the Carquinez Bridge. On my most recent visit to photograph here at night I found that several of these structures had moved to more accessible areas and that they were better lit. This one was behind a fence, but since I wanted to emphasize its height towering against the backdrop of the night sky I was able to shoot up at a steep angle and keep the fence out of the frame. The perspective distortion, the cut off upper portion, and the sense that the structure is leaning amplify, for me, the mysterious and other-worldly quality of these slightly anthropomorphic structures.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Pond

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Sandhill Cranes, Pond
Sandhill Cranes, Pond

Sandhill Cranes, Pond. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes stands in the shallow water of a San Joaquin Valley marsh

The sandhill cranes are among my favorite of the seasonal birds found in California’s Central Valley. Their call is almost replacing that of the geese as my favorite sonic image of winter in the valley, especially when it comes in thick fog and heralds the approach of birds that I cannot see. Their manner of flight is also special. Rather than wheeling wildly, as geese will do, they often seem to be headed somewhere, traveling in a mostly straight line and frequently at a low level. When they take off they remind me, in a way, of heavily laden passenger airliners that must ascend slowly. They may travel in groups of a dozen or more, but they may also be seen flying over in smaller groups of two or so.

Most often I cannot get very close to them. At one place where I frequently photograph I have gotten accustomed to seeing them take off just after dawn from a location that is just a bit too far away for good photographs. But on this mid-February day they seemed to be a little more willing to stick around as we came closer. On several occasions earlier in the day they stuck around as we drove slowly past. This group stood almost still in shallow water not far from our position (“hidden” in our vehicle on a nearby access road) and only gradually began to leave a bit later. I no longer recall what it was, but something to my left must have been very fascinating to cranes!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.