Tag Archives: fence

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

Nimitz Avenue, Tower and Buildings

February 18, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tower, buildings, and power plant smokestack along Nimitz Avenue, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

One more, and perhaps the last, in the current series of Mare Island night photographs made with The Nocturnes during the first weekend of February. This scene is one that is well-known to Mare Island night photographers – a row of industrial buildings in the “historic core” of the old shipbuilding facility where huge overhead steel structures run between the machine shops and the old docks. In this photograph I decided to more or less shoot through the base of one of these giant towers. The scene is illuminated by bright and colorful artificial light and the photograph required an exposure of about a minute and a half. (I cheated and shot the 5D2 at ISO 200.) Though they may be hard to see in the small jpg, some star trails are visible in the sky near the smokestack of the old power plant.

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

Brick Wall and Fence, Railroad Avenue

February 13, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of a night scene on Railroad Avenue at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard with cyclone fence, brick wall, pipes and tank, window, and speed limit sign.

I was thinking about the Panocturnists group when I made this photograph at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard during the first weekend of February. The location is in many ways pretty mundane – one of the first areas that most first-time Mare Island night photographers shoot near the entrance to the so-called “historic core” of the site, and nothing that would warrant a second look during daylight hours. Not surprisingly, most photographers here are initially attracted to a nearby turnstile or to the massive steel structures overhead. I’ve shot here enough now that, while I’ll still shoot those subjects, I usually look for less-obvious subjects that I may not have tried previously. So while some new folks photographed right behind me I decided to see what I could do with the street light-illuminated fence, wall, and collection of pipes in this corner. (And, as the long exposure was underway I was able to help out the first-timers… :-)

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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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California

Shelter From the Rain, Getty Center

February 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of four people sheltering from winter rain at the edge of a covered overlook at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.

I’ll confess to being a complete sucker for photographing at the Getty – I really love the place. The art is, of course, wonderful, and I especially enjoy the really fine photographic exhibits found there. In the recent past I saw both the Irving Penn and Edward Weston shows. But I’ve admitted more than once that the place itself is what intrigues me the most. The light is amazing and quite variable – I’ve been there on winter days when the ocean was visible and almost too bright to look at, and on rainy days when fog drifted among the buildings and through the gardens. The architecture is a great subject, but so are the people.

I was there most recently at the end of December, when we stopped on our way back from Southern California for an afternoon. My photographic interests are such that I was almost overjoyed when I saw that it would be rainy at the Getty and even happier when I found fog along the ridge top location. I posted some photographs from this visit earlier this year, and this one begins another short sequence of Getty Center images.

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.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

January 23, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter surf in a rocky bay with high clouds above as last sunset light strikes the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, California.

Another weekend. Another excuse to drive to San Francisco. Another excuse to come back the long way via the Coast Highway.

This time I actually had my sights set on a location a bit south of this. I’ve been to this iconic California lighthouse before (including the well-known November lighting of the original beacon) so I usually don’t stop. As I approached I thought the light looked pretty interesting and I liked the clouds I was seeing in the sky – it is more often either fogged in or perfectly clear. I actually drove right past the turnoff to the lighthouse, I was so intent on my original location. But, as I’ve written before, I’ve learned to not drive, walk, or otherwise propel myself past a good photographic opportunity, so I pulled out soon after this point and took a look back at the lighthouse and the rugged surf. From the vantage point where I stopped a bit south of the lighthouse the light was not good at all, but at least I was able to turn around and head back to where it was interesting.

Since the light was going fast, I quickly found a spot to park, grabbed my gear, and headed out toward the edge of the low bluff just north of the lighthouse – and on this side the warm evening light, softened by some fog and ocean spray, was very nice. I shot as the sun dropped to the horizon, then made a few other photographs of some very interesting sunset clouds – I’ll post them later – before getting back in the car 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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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.