Tag Archives: drain

Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

J’Existe

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Detail of wall with sticker-covered pipe, Le Marais, Paris

J’Existe. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of wall with sticker-covered pipe, Le Marais, Paris.

For those who wonder, the title of the photograph comes from the small sticker attached near the upper end of the pipe near the middle of the frame. Once I noticed this one I started seeing them in other places in Paris… and in photographs I had made without seeing them!

I made the photograph on a walk through Le Marais, an older section of Paris that still has narrow streets and lots of rather old buildings. We were staying not far from here, and having visiting this area in the past I wanted to go back. With the narrow streets — barely wide enough for a single vehicle, with sidewalks that are barely wide enough for one person — photographing here can be a bit of a “cramped” affair, especially when shooting the buildings straight on. But the architecture is often quite interesting (if nearly monochromatic) with very old structures, some leaning at “interesting” angles. This little vignette caught my attention with its interesting geometry build out of lines and rectangles — and I was intrigued by the fact that the numerous stickers covered the pipe… but had politely been left off of the walls.

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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pipe and Wall, Fremont District

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Pipe and Wall, Fremont District - A drainage pipe attached to an urban wall, Fremont District, Seattle, Washington
A drainage pipe attached to an urban wall, Fremont District, Seattle, Washington

Pipe and Wall, Fremont District. Seattle, Washington. May 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A drainage pipe attached to an urban wall, Fremont District, Seattle, Washington.

This minimalist photograph shows something barely worthy of a photograph, by most standards – a plastic drainage pipe attached to a worn stucco wall up a small alley in the Fremont District of Seattle, Washington. There are, perhaps, a few visual puzzles to consider though. The perspective is oddly skewed for several reasons. First, my camera was angled upwards fairly steeply to shoot this wall as it was above the alley I was standing in, and the alley was heading down a slope. In addition, some of the visual cues about up, down, and sideways are a bit contradictory. First, the longer section of the pipe obviously cuts across the scene diagonally. But a close look at the upper section of the pipe shows that it is not quite vertical, with true vertical shown by the drip/seepage lines on the wall.

In any case, enough musing about the photograph. It is a drain pipe and a wall, and I don’t suppose that leaves room for a whole of additional description!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Alley, Mare Island

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Alley, Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. May 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

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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: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows

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Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows

Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. February 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from moonlight passing through shipyard structures fall across walls on historic buildings at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

I have shot almost this precise scene previously, and under similar circumstances – on a night photography shoot with The Nocturnes, the SF Bay Area night photography group led by Tim Baskerville. Last night we were back at Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) again, this time with perhaps 40 photographers.

After meeting up with everyone and getting organized, I wandered over near the MINSY museum to shoot some brick walls, shipyard structures, and – especially – the shadows cast by the nearly full moon on the ground and the building walls. It was to be a short shoot…

I composed this one with interest in the paired shadows on the walls – one on the green section and the other higher on the brick section – and the contrast between the brick colors and the green wall at the right. I also wanted to include the metal roof beyond and the power plant smokestack in the distance – and, of course, a few star trails above – and I was (and am) intrigued by the combinations of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal forms. I made this first exposure – nearly five minutes – and then set up a second shot while waiting for the dark frame exposure to finish.

After getting the second shot I framed another that included a different section of the brick wall and shadows plus the base of a huge steel shipyard structure. With everything ready I pressed the shutter… and something didn’t sound right. The camera didn’t make an exposure. I tried again – still nothing. At this point I checked the display and found the Canon “err 99” message that can crop up from time to time. The usual solution is to remove the battery, the lens, and perhaps the CF card and then try again – it almost always works. This time it didn’t. I tried a different lens. A different battery. I finally determined that something had gone very wrong with the shutter mechanism, which simply wasn’t opening. Argghhh. So, after making two exposures I packed up, walked back to my car and did the 90 minute drive back home.

Today I put the 5D a box and shipped it off to Canon. We’ll see what happens. I’m sort of inclined to get a 5D II and keep this body for backup after it is repaired. But wouldn’t you know it… while bodies were available last week from several vendors for about $2700, they all seem to be gone now. Double argghhh…

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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