Tag Archives: gray

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

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Hiker, Natural Bridge Canyon

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Hiker, Natural Bridge Canyon
Hiker, Natural Bridge Canyon

Hiker, Natural Bridge Canyon. Death Valley National Park, California. March 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hiker pauses below the bridge in Natural Bridge Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California.

I visited this canyon and its natural bridge on my late-March visit to Death Valley. The Nature Bridge canyon is located just a bit north of Badwater, and after a short drive up the alluvial fan to the trailhead it is an easy hike up an impressively narrow and deep canyon to the large, blocky bridge. I like to save the canyons for mid-morning or late-afternoon shooting, since the light here can actually improve a bit further away from the sunrise/sunset edges of the day – the direct light is block by the tall canyon walls.

This canyon is narrow, but not as narrow as some of the other popular canyons with trails such as Mosaic Canyon, in which there a spots where two people cannot pass. Compared to that this canyon is much wider in most spots, perhaps 20 feet or more in places. Nonetheless the vertical and tall walls of the lower section of the canyon block out most of the sky and give a feeling of being somewhat closed in.

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 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 97mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/6 second

keywords: death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, natural, bridge, canyon, wash, gravel, narrow, cliff, wall, arch, person, man, figure, hiker, trail, light, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, walk, deep, steep, rock, boulder, geology, pink, gray, stock

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

Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street

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Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street
Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street

Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street. San Francisco, California. February 20, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very old and dilapidated garage with hand-painted sign along Virgil Street in the Mission District, San Francisco, California.

Believe it or not, this is street photography.

I know it looks more like scene from an old farm perhaps, featuring the worn doors of the barn or a storage shed. We can imagine that it sits along a pasture or near the farmhouse, and the bit of green might suggest unseen springtime growth nearby. But it was actually photographed in a narrow and very urban alley in San Francisco’s dense and busy Mission District. It was shot “street style” with a handheld camera equipped with only a 50mm prime as I wandered around on foot.

I had seen this garage and pair of doors many times before, and I had thought about photographing them. However the scene never quite seemed to work as a photograph. But on this day two things came together and provoked me to make a few images. First, the light was very interesting. It was a cloudy day, but occasionally the clouds would thin or almost part enough to let in brighter but still diffused light – and that is the light that I used to make this exposure. Second, the little bit of new plant growth (OK, it is a weed) lends a bit of color contrast and life to the scene.

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/8, 1/160 second

keywords: the, mission, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, city, district, garage, door, wall, paneling, hinge, rusty, window, brace, dilapidated, virgil, street, alley, plant, crack, parking, night, sign, peeling, paint, sidewalk, cement, geometric, form, structure, architecture, old, historic, worn, building, stock, gray

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

Painted Bricks and Wall

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Painted Bricks and Wall
Painted Bricks and Wall

Painted Bricks and Wall. San Jose, California. January 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Painted bricks and painted-over graffiti on a suburban wall.

Somehow this little bit of painted surface caught my eye while I was out walking with my camera the other day. I follow a general rule of not photographing graffiti, especially the low-class street tagging sort of stuff, but I will photograph the interesting and varied ways that folks cover it up. Somehow it looks like the person who painted out this tag may have been in a bit of a hurry! I also find those painted bricks on the left side interesting and a bit strange.

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

keywords: willow, glen, san, jose, california, usa, street, urban, city, structure, winter, stock, painted, green, red, white, gray, blue, tan, patch, over, graffiti, wall, board, screws