Tag Archives: grafitti

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bunker Walls, Mare Island

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Bunker Walls, Mare Island
Bunker Walls, Mare Island

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

Concrete bunker walls with painted sheet metal panels in evening light – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I think I’ll go ahead and classify this as a night photograph, though it is on the margin of what qualifies. If you notice from the technical data that it is a 30 second exposure, you may be more convinced. Almost every time I do night photography at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard across the water from Vallejo, California I start near this collection of concrete bunkers near the so-called “historic core” of the ship yard. I’ve long been intrigued by these mysterious looking structures and the foliage that now is beginning to grow around and top of them, but it has been difficult to figure out the right light for shooting them. On this visit we gathered at about 8:00 p.m. which happened to be a few minutes before sunset. As twilight came on it seemed like I might get an interesting combination of fading light from the dusk sky and some artificial light, so I wandered off among the bunkers and shot for a while. The painted-out grafitti was something that I hadn’t see here previously, but the paint patterns in tones of blue – augmented by the blue-ish evening light – seemed to make an interesting contrast with the rough and weathered texture of the concrete walls.

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 65mm
ISO 200, f/16, 30 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, bunker, wall, concrete, cement, metal, plate, sheet, paint, blue, gray, texture, weathered, dilapidated, worn, old, historic, panorama, grafitti, evening, light, stock, industrial, urban, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Worn Windows and Shadows

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Worn Windows and Shadows
Worn Windows and Shadows

Worn Windows and Shadows. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon shadows fall across worn street-side windows in San Francisco, California.

This sort of window along the sidewalk is common in urban areas like San Francisco, where the occupants of the building want some sunlit but don’t want people walking by on the sidewalk a few feet away staring in at them. (The light glowing behind the glass in the upper left suggests that someone is inside.) I was interested in how worn and grungy the glass has become – it begins with several types of obscured glass, in some of the panes the reinforcing wire is very apparent. They it looks like layers of paint may have been added and partially removed at various times – perhaps the windows were painted out? Perhaps grafitti was partially removed? And more recently someone has added various small paper stickers.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 second

keywords: worn, streetside, street, urban, city, building, structure, pattern, texture, light, afternoon, shadows, panes, frame, brown, paint, cement, obscured, screen, dirty, old, inside, glow, wall, sticker, grafitti, san francisco, california, usa, north america, decay, downtown, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man in Suit Between Two Cars

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Man in Suit Between Two Cars
Man in Suit Between Two Cars

Man in Suit Between Two Cars. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man in a dark suit holding a bag and standing between two cars in front of old buildings in downtown San Francisco, California.

A quick street photo while walking into the fringes of the Tenderloin in San Francisco on the first weekend of March. I’m not sure how much sense this photograph may make to others, but there is a lot in it that appeals to me. For one thing I like the muted color scheme – most everything is some shade of black or near-gray or muted tan, with just a few spots of color. Even the man between the two cars is wearing only black and white clothing. Then there is the very busy but blocky pattern of the front of the buildings behind the man and the cars. However, to my eye at least, several types of order emerge from the complexity of these shapes. For example several elements create forms that rise diagonally from left to right: the two cars, the two balconies, the line through the left window, the dark doorway, and the lighter window in the center right section. And then there are the window reflections – which are becoming a bit of an urban photography theme for me. I also look at the man and wonder what he is doing – why is he wearing that particular set of clothes? What is in the small bag he holds? What is he looking for?

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/60 second

keywords: man, between, two, cars, sedan, street, curb, park, suit, hill, slant, incline, door, frame, gate, window, balcony, latter, awning, sidewalk, urban, city, downtown, bag, wrought, iron, worn, grafitti, reflection, brick, wall, urban, san francisco, california, usa, north america, travel, person, tenderloin, stock, dark, black suit

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Building 101, Corner View

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Building 101, Corner View

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

The corner of building 101 under artificial light and with fog overhead – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

Like I said, I guess I’m not finished with this series yet.

This is the same Building 101 that I photographed from several different perspectives late in the evening of my August 30 visit to the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California to do night photography with some other Flickr folks. The other photographs of Building 101 are straight on and explore various portions of the front of the building. For this one I shot straight at the corner of the building instead, for several reasons. For one, I wanted to include the different types of light striking the two visible sides of the building. Almost all of the light is artificial aside from a bit of moonlight, but the light striking the right side comes from a very close and bright – and very yellow! – sodium vapor light. It was all I could do to handle the saturated yellows on this wall. The front of the building is lit by lights that are a bit weaker, though they only appear less garish by comparison to the almost hallucinatory yellow light on the right side. Above this are some interesting converging angles of roof and walls and overhead the fog glows in the artificial light from sources below.

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, building, structure, 101, yellow, artificial, light, bright, window, door, roof, pipe, wire, metal, texture, rust, peeling, dilapidated, old, worn, out, shadow, reflection, grafitti, paint, urban, industrial, lamp, fog, overcast, sky, glow, stock