Tag Archives: historic

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

Moonlit Stairs and Windows

Leave a comment
Moonlit Stairs and Windows - Metal staircase and wood framed windows on an old building at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, photographed under the light of the full moon.
Metal staircase and wood framed windows on an old building at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, photographed under the light of the full moon.

Moonlit Stairs and Windows. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. April 16, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Metal staircase and wood framed windows on an old building at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, photographed under the light of the full moon.

This month I have had the opportunity to return to the ongoing task for filing through older raw files to see what I missed the first time around. (The task also leads to deleting some files that I originally held on to.) For me this is an important ritual, as I often accidentally “leave behind” some photographs when I first review them – either I get to busy and move on before I fully explore them, or in some cases I simply don’t yet “see” the photograph when I look at it too soon after making it. I have a theory about the latter issue. Sometimes I think I’m so invested in what I hoped or thought the photograph would be that I fail to see what it really is, at least until I’ve waited a while.

The subject of this photograph is the exterior of a building at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, a place that I have photographed only in the dark! I have worked with this building before. It is superficially a pretty uninteresting structure, but some of the unusual exterior stairways become interesting compositionally when illuminated by moonlight as in this photograph. I’ll share a few odd technical details about this one, too. The exposure time was nearly 8 minutes! And the capture was still underexposed. Since I cannot meter a scene like this, I often make my first exposure based on some sort of educated hunch – and I guess I just couldn’t imagine that I’d have to stand there any longer than this! Of course, because of the distance between the close-in railing and the far portions of the upper story, I had to use a small aperture of f/16. And being concerned about noise I shot at ISO 200. In the dark. Right. So one reason that I think I neglected to work with this file was that it seemed underexposed – OK, it was underexposed, even given the very dark subject of the scene. However, when I began to work with the raw file I discovered that I could push it the equivalent of several stops and the image would still hold good quality without obtrusive noise. I like the odd combination of shapes and angles, and in the end I think the very dark interpretation is actually the right one for this subject.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Industry Noir

Leave a comment
Industry Noir - A night scene in an artificially-lit industrial area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.
A night scene in an artificially-lit industrial area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Industry Noir. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. March 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A night scene in an artificially-lit industrial area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Given some of the other iconic and impressive things that may be photographed at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, this is sort of a normal looking scene. However, as one who has photographed there quite a bit at night, somehow it seems to capture – for me, anyway – something about the way the place feels. Wandering about among very old, very abandoned, and very dilapidated old structures in the quiet of the night, sometimes things can feel just a bit strange, and a glow from inside a window on the second story of a building or the reflection of a soft interior light can sort of make you wonder just a bit.

To be honest, I’m rarely scared or nervous when shooting there. For the most part the experience is a very quiet, slow, and contemplative one. But I recall one night that was a bit different. I had arrived early – before the sun set – and had met up with a group of fellow night photographers. They had some plans to shoot in a particular area, but I really wanted to shoot something else at first. So I told them to go ahead and start and that I would find them a bit later after shooting my first subject. Finishing with that work a half hour or so later I headed off in the direction they had gone, stopping to make more photographs along the way. But I never saw them again. I continued shooting along, wandering along deserted old streets and up alleys behind abandoned buildings. Finally at one point I suddenly became aware of being very alone in a very dark place and, for the first and only time at MINSY, I became nervous – and quickly packed up, returned to my car, and left. This photograph reminds me of that just a bit…

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Photo Essay: Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary

6 Comments

Happy birthday to the San Francisco Bay Area’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge!

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay Panorama - Panorama of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and the San Francisco Bay in dramatic morning light.
Panorama of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and the San Francisco Bay in dramatic morning light.

Photographed from near the north end of the bridge, the sweep of the cables leading to the top of the north tower frames a panorama from Alcatraz Island at the far left, past beams of morning sun on the east end of the Bay Bridge, across the skyline of downtown San Francisco, with the Bay in the foreground.

Having lived and photographed in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades, the Golden Gate Bridge has been a central part of my experience of the area. I frequently photograph in San Francisco and across the bridge to the north, and even when the bridge itself is not my primary intended subject I almost always look in its direction to see what it will offer up as a new photographic opportunity. I have been fortunate to be close enough to see the bridge in an incredible range of conditions – at night, in winter storms, at sunrise, and more.

Since the 75th Anniversary of the opening of the bridge is being celebrated today, it seems like a good time to collect a few of my favorite Golden Gate Bridge photographs that feature, include, or are part of the experience of this icon. In keeping with the retrospective theme of such a birthday, I’ve chosen mostly black and white photographs. But first, a panorama…

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline
Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

Among the most famous views of the bridge are those looking back across the Golden Gate (which, technically, refers to the mouth of the bay) past the bridge toward the skyline of San Francisco.

 

North Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Night - Black and white night photograph of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.
Black and white night photograph of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.

The bridge and the city take on a completely different appearance at night. This photograph was made from the hills near the north end of the bridge, looking back through it towards San Francisco.

 

Ships, San Francisco Bay, Morning - Freighter departing San Francisco Bay on a foggy morning is seen through the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge with the San Francisco skyline in the background. Black and white photograph.
Freighter departing San Francisco Bay on a foggy morning is seen through the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge with the San Francisco skyline in the background. Black and white photograph. September 18, 2007.

I am especially fond of the very early morning views of the bridge and the bay, and I often stop here on my way to photograph other locations. While one can certainly end up completely socked in by fog here, at other times the range of effects of atmosphere and light is extraordinary. Here several ships pass under the bridge on a morning when the fog is just beginning to clear east of The City.

 

Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, Morning Haze - Black and white photograph of Golden Gate Bridge north tower, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the East Bay Hills in morning haze.
Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, Morning Haze - Black and white photograph of Golden Gate Bridge north tower, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the East Bay Hills in morning haze.

Seen from high in the Marin Headlands, the silhouette of the north tower of the bridge bisects the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a morning when low haze blanketed the Bay Area.

 

Clearing Fog, North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge - Clearing Fog, North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge - Morning fog clears from the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.
Clearing Fog, North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge - Morning fog clears from the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.

Classic Golden Gate Bridge fog passes fills the entrance to the Bay and rises up over the hills of the Marin Headlands, with the skyline of The City visible on the horizon.

 

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay, Morning Haze - Winter morning haze partially obstructs the view across San Francisco Bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Treasure Island, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the city of Oakland.
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay, Morning Haze

The Oakland area and the eastern section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge – both the old version and the new one under construction –  seem over one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Sutro Tower and Golden Gate Bridge South Tower, Morning - Morning traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge approaching the south tower with haze-shrouded San Francisco hills and Sutro Tower beyond.
Morning traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge approaching the south tower with haze-shrouded San Francisco hills and Sutro Tower beyond.

Looking south across the bridge toward the even taller structure of the Sutro Tower.

 

North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, Morning - The north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, with San Francisco Bay, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, a departing ship, and the East Bay hills beyond in morning fog and haze.
North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, Morning

The silhouette of a large outgoing freighter passes beneath the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the distance beyond the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands, San Francisco Bay, Foggy Morning Light - San Francisco Bay morning fog over begins to break up over Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.
San Francisco Bay morning fog over begins to break up over Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.

Alcatraz Island and the Bay, lit by golden early morning light.

 

San Francisco Skyline, Golden Gate Bridge Cables, Night - Photograph of the night skyline of San Francisco shot through the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge. Holiday lighting on downtown buildings.
Photograph of the night skyline of San Francisco shot through the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge. Holiday lighting on downtown buildings.

I’ll include one real night photograph of the bridge, though I’ll be sneaky about it and not show the whole bridge. (There are plenty of those photographs floating around and, yes, I have those, too!) Here I shot through the cables with a very long lens on a late autumn night when the holiday lights had been put up on the downtown San Francisco buildings – Look at the far left to see the Transamerica Building and the Embarcadero Center lights.

 

Golden Gate Bridge and Lunar Eclipse - The moon, in full lunar eclipse, passes behind the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The moon, in full lunar eclipse, passes behind the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I joined thousands of fellow Bay Area citizens to rise well before dawn and photograph this full lunar eclipse just before sunrise.

You can see many more of my San Francisco photographs in my gallery.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Street Light, Yellow Walls

Leave a comment
Street Light, Yellow Walls - A street light attached to the exterior of dilapidated industrial buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.
A street light attached to the exterior of dilapidated industrial buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Street Light, Yellow Walls. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. March 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A street light attached to the exterior of dilapidated industrial buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Given the number of times I have ended up photographing this building at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California, you might think that I’d almost be done with it by now. Apparently not. I was back at Mare Island in early March to do some photography with my friends from The Nocturnes (and to drag along photographer and friend David Hoffman). After shooting a newly-accessible area near the waterfront and not far from the Mare Island Museum, our wanderings took us past this building, also sometimes known as the UFO building. (I’ll leave the source of that name a mystery for now…)

These old buildings were part of a very active ship building facility until the mid-1990s when the area was decommissioned. Today many of the old buildings still stand, some kept maintained in their historical state and others now the homes of various industries. As far as I can tell, this weathered building is not occupied, and its exterior is a marvel of peeling paint, wild textures, boarded up windows, external electrical conduits, and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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.