Tag Archives: historic

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Lick Observatory

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Lick Observatory
“Lick Observatory” — Lick Observatory, on the summit of Mount Hamilton.

This could be a very long post, but I’ll try to keep it short. The Lick Observatory, constructed in the 1800s, sits on the highest peak within sight of my home — both the home I grew up in and the one I live it now. When I was young, one of the greatest adventures was a trip up there, especially when it snowed on the 4000’+ summit of Mount Hamilton. Years later, when I was an avid cyclist, I used to ride up to the summit at least once per month, and today I still know the road like the proverbial back of my hand.

I ended up there by accident on this late mid-December afternoon. My day started before dawn out in the Central Valley, where I had gone to photograph migratory birds. For various reasons (including the absence of geese from wildlife area where I ended up) I left the Valley earlier than usual and decided to take the longest and most isolated back-road back to the San Francisco Bay Area — and that is the 75 mile narrow road between Patterson and San Jose. The high point — quite literally — of this drive is the summit of Mount Hamilton, so I stopped there briefly to make a quick visit inside, take in the tremendous panorama of the south San Francisco Bay, and make a few photographs, including this shot of the historic observatory building.!– wp:separator –>

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Green Building and Tracks

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Green Building and Tracks
Green Building and Tracks

Green Building and Tracks. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. March 3, 2007. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ambient light floods the side of a building and old railroad tracks with green-tinted light, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

A friend recently shared a photograph of a bit of curving railroad track, and I recognized it as being the same track that appears in this photograph from seven and a half years ago. I went back to look it up to share it with him, and in doing so I realized that I seem to have not shared it previously — so I’m rectifying that with this posting!

I have been photographing this location at night for over a decade now. I’m pretty certain that my first visit was back in 2003, when I happened to see an announcement of an event sponsored by The Nocturnes the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. I had seen photographs made at night, of course, but it wasn’t anything that I had ever done, so I showed up. I was quickly hooked, especially when it comes to photographing urban and industrial areas in ambient light. This photograph is fine example of what attracts me about that light. If you were there in person, you would not really see anything quite like this — it was so dark that most of the details would be lost in shadow, the intense colors would be invisible to your eyes, and the only real details would be on the small lighted wall in the distance. But the camera can see what the eyes cannot. Here that includes not only the details in shadow areas, but also the wild colors that are produced by artificial lights.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist 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: Photographers

Edward Weston Darkroom

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Edward Weston Darkroom
Edward Weston Darkroom

Edward Weston Darkroom. Carmel Highlands, California. September 28, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

In late September I had the opportunity to join a group of photographers visiting the Wildcat Hill Weston home in the Carmel Highlands area of the California Coast. The Weston family, members of which still live and work here, trace their family history at this place back to the great photographer, Edward Weston. The main house is maintained in much the state it would have been in quite a while ago, and there are wonderful archival objects — photographs, art, objects, this darkroom, etc — everywhere. This small darkroom, designed for contact printing, is a small space off the main room of the building. Not only does it have fascinating historical interest for photographers, but it is also remarkable to see the modest and personal space in which so much Weston photography was realized.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bridge Tender Tower

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Bridge Tender Tower
Bridge Tender Tower

Bridge Tender Tower. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Chicago bridge tender “house” or tower, West Chicago Street Bridge.

I had notice one or two of these buildings previously, but had not thought too much about them. The most recent time I thought about them was in relationship to a photograph of another downtown Chicago subject that included the tops of a couple of these buildings, and I was trying to figure out what the call them in the photograph data. On that photograph, since the building wasn’t really a primary subject, I eventually probably just called it “building” or perhaps nothing at all.

However, this photograph features one of these structures as it predominant feature. On the river tour we saw a lot of them, and I eventually figured out the obvious — that they had something to do with the operation of the bridges. As I worked on this photograph I finally looked them up and discovered that they are called bridge tender towers or bridge tender houses. They apparently were the control points for the mechanisms of the bridges, Which can be raised to allow taller boats to pass through. I thought this one was especially remarkable and unusual. Many of the others seem to be made entirely of stone and often in what I would characterize as an art deco style. This one seems like some odd hybrid of medieval jail/tower and ships cabin, and the blue color is very striking, too.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.