Tag Archives: fence

Building 101, Night

Building 101, Night

Building 101, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph under artificial light of a portion of the front of Building 101 near the core of the historic shipyard at Mare Island, Vallejo, California.

I’ve been intrigued by the windows, doors, peeling paint, grafitti, and general appearance of Building 101 at Mare Island in the past, but this was the first time that I set about to photograph it apart from the surrounding buildings. Rather that try to place it in its surroundings in this shot, I decided to just shoot it straight on with a prime lens and simply “show” the front surface of the structure as it is.

Believe it or not, the color balance of this image is “as shot” – the front of building is starkly lit by sodium vapor lamps and the right side is even more strongly lit by the same sort of lighting. The “sky” is fog covered, and the fog is illuminated by a lot of artificial light, coming for the most part here from the town of Vallejo across the water. (As I worked on this image I thought about how different it would have been had the light at the upper right corner of the building been operating!)

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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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, industrial, old, historic, dilapidated, run down, defaced, grafitti, peeling, paint, metal, corrugated, window, door, frame, pipe, conduit, fence, chain, link, lamp, light, shadow, asphalt, sign, yellow, sky, peach, orange, brown, dark, pane, usa, stock, broken, glass

Chairs and Tables, San Francisco Bay

Chairs and Tables, San Francisco Bay

Chairs and Tables, San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California. July 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Chairs and tables on the sidewalk next to a fence along the Embarcadero with an old pier and San Francisco Bay beyond – San Francisco, California.

I found this slightly odd scene along The Embarcadero between South Beach Harbor and the San Francisco Ferry Building. These chairs and tables were cabled together, waiting to be set up for outdoor seating at a small restaurant. I think the range of brown tones in the image is interesting – not just the chairs and tables but also the old pier extending out into the San Francisco Bay.

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.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, summer, city, urban, travel, fog, gray, water, bay, cyclone, fence, stacked, chairs, tables, wooden, sidewalk, the, embarcadero, pier, building, old, dilapidated, run down, stairs, cable, waterfront, old, travel, urban, street, scenic, stock, pattern

Brick Building and San Francisco Skyline

Brick Building and San Francisco Skyline

Brick Building and San Francisco Skyline. San Francisco, California. May 16, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of older brick buildings with the more modern skyline of downtown San Francisco in the distance.

The same brick building that appeared in some night and evening photographs posted earlier appears in the foreground of this photograph. Beyond in the more modern downtown San Francisco skyline – if you look closely you can see a bit of the landmark Transamerica Pyramid peeking over the top of another building in the center of the image. The photograph was made very late in the day, within a shot interval just before sunset when the light streams in from the left at a very low angle.

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.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, urban, street, downtown, city, skyline, skyscraper, buildings, tall, transamerica, flag, reflection, afternoon, late, brick, old, window, door, fence, duct, vent, machinery, clock, tower, church, dish, flag, pole, atmospheric, recession, haze, structure, landscape, black and white, stock

People on MUNI Platform

People on MUNI Platform

People on MUNI Platform. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene from an overhead perspective of several people waiting for the train on a MUNI platform in San Francisco.

There is a good chance that this photograph isn’t going to make a lot of sense to some of my friends who enjoy my landscape work – but it is actually one of my personal favorite recent photographs. There are several things that I like about it. For one, I actually like the mostly muted color palette of grays and blues, but with the warmer yellow stripes on the platform and the two odd “international orange” pylon bases. I also like the combination of a strong symmetry with a bunch of elements that are anything but perfect and symmetrical: the positions of the five figures, the paving stones with squares of dirt, the slightly off-angle barricades. I can also look at this as an abstract image of shapes, most of which are related in some way to rectangles. And then there is the interesting (to me, at least) arrangement of the people into three groups: the two guys on the right who seem to be looking up towards my camera position, the couple who appear to be gazing at each other, and the girl on the left who is facing the other direction and seemingly oblivious to her surroundings as she talks on the phone. I also like the transparent curving wall beyond the four figures at the right and the position of the two trash cans (trash cans!) between them and the girl.

You certainly don’t have to share my enthusiasm for this photograph, but perhaps you’ll understand a bit of what I think I see in it.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

keywords: man, woman, people, cell, phone, couple, gaze, trash, can, barricade, curve, roof, platform, cement, concrete, aggregate, tile, rail, track, muni, trail, transit, station, fence, curb, city, downtown, urban, street, paving, san francisco, california, usa, travel, stock, king, barrier, transparent, curve