Tag Archives: industrial

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

Building 259

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Building 259
Building 239, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Building 259. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Building 239, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

In mid-March I returned to the old Mare Island Naval Ship Yard to do night photography with some of my nocturnal friends, a group of photographers with connections through Bay Area night photography guru Tim Baskerville who has been photographing, teaching, and generally promoting night photography for decades. We assembled well before dark, and as I arrived I kept my eyes out for structures on the old ship yard that might be interesting to photograph after sunset. About a half hour before the sun went down we began to head out to start out night’s work.

I planned to photograph around the “historic core” of the facility, but I decided first to drive back along my arrival route to where I had seen these buildings and few others that caught my attention. I started with a building that I have photographed in the past, and the sun set as I worked that scene. The soft, blue early twilight changed the appearance of the buildings, giving the foreground building 259 a blue cast and altering the color of the further building. I’m intrigued by these “round” buildings (what I grew up calling Quonset huts), and here I wanted to contrast its shape and color with the squared and pinkish background building.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Night

Windows, Brick Building, Night

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Windows, Brick Building, Night
“Windows, Brick Building, Night” — Light from the interior of an industrial building spills through windows and into an alley

This building was a surprise to me. As I recall from past visits, I’m pretty sure that it had been more or less abandoned at one point, and I typically found it completely dark when I photographed there at night. I specifically recall photographing around it and having to content with a very dark environment, the sort where exposures of many minutes were necessary. But on this visit I found it, instead, to be a source of light. The interior was clear and well-lit, and large expanses of windows allowed the light to spread from the building onto the surroundings.

On a slightly technical level a few things seemed notable about photographing this structure. First, it is an example of how well current photographic technology can handle some very challenging light situations. The subjects in this photograph ranged from a bare lightbulb inside the building (visible as the brightest area in the central window) to virtually black shadows on the close side of the building wall. Yet a single exposure was sufficient to capture enough image data to protect the highlights and retain some detail in even the darkest areas. The second observation has to do with the inevitable changes that time brings to places like this. I have photographed here for about fifteen years, and on this visit I saw many changes. I lamented many of them, especially the places now off limits, knocked down, or modified almost beyond recognition. But at the same time, the re-opening of some of the old structures has made them more photographically interesting — as in the case of this building where there is now sufficient light for photography.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Alley, Night

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Alley, Night
“Alley, Night” — Interior lights spill into an alley between two industrial buildings

I photographed both familiar and new subjects at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard again this past week. During the evening I gradually worked my way across the core of the place,eventually heading south from where I began. I had photographed the other side of the building on the right, which contained a large open interior space with many windows. When I came around the other side of the building I was surprised by the complex pattern of light between the two receding buildings. I had photographed here in the past when the building to the right was abandoned, and this alley had been a very dark place.

On this evening those of us who have photographed at Mare Island for a long time — some for several decades — lamented some of the changes that are coming to the place. It lay almost dormant for years, but now many of the old buildings are being refitted for modern users. On one hand this changes the lonely and forlorn character of the island. On the other hand, it means that once the buildings are rehabilitated they will likely stand for a long time. But right now construction is going on everywhere, some interesting places now are off-limits, and fences have been erected around the construction work. That posed a problem for this photograph. In the past I could walk right up this alley, but now a portable cyclone fence cuts off access. I solved the problem by extending my tripod as high as it would go — well above my head! — and photographing over the top of the fence.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Red Door

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Red Door
Weathered red door and wall, Lower Manhattan

Red Door. G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered red door and wall, Lower Manhattan

Yes, I’m a sucker for doors, weathered stuff, and bright colors. During the last week of 2017 we were in New York City, staying in Lower Manhattan and traveling all over from there, at times getting to Brooklyn and Queens. While those longer forays involved subway and cars, we also walked… a lot. New York City is, or at least can be, quite a walking city. I recall the first time I visited as an adult, and being surprised to find that people walked much more there than in California where I live. Having said that, walking there in winter can be a bit daunting, though it didn’t stop us. For most of our visit New York was in the grip of a cold spell, with daytime temperatures only making it into the lower 20 degree range, and on some days not “warming” up even that much. We found that we could bundle up, try to avoid windy spots, walk briskly, and when we got too cold… duck into a coffee shop or restaurant to warm back up.

I made this photograph on one of these walks. The specific location seems unimportant, but it wasn’t too far from Wall Street — though this scene hardly looks like it comes from a financial center! We headed north on a meandering path that took us east of Wall Street and away from the main, busy area. I was in street photographer mode, working a small camera with a single small prime lens, so I made the photograph more or less “on the move,” likely pausing only a few seconds to squeeze off a couple of frames before continuing to walk.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.