Tag Archives: industrial

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

Alley, Night

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

Alley, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Interior lights spill into an alley between two industrial buildings

As I photographed the night industrial landscape of Mare Island Naval Ship Yard once again this past week, I revisited familiar scenes and went looking for new ones. As I worked on into the evening I gradually worked my way across a chunk of the core of the place, eventually heading south from where I began my work. I had photographed the other side of the building to the right, which contained a large open interior space which had many windows to allow me to see in and to allow light to escape into the surrounding environment. When I came around this other side of the building and looked up the alley I was surprised by the complex pattern of light spilling into the alley 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 — were noticing and lamenting some of the changes that are coming to the place. It lay almost dormant for many 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.

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: 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.

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

D8 Crane, Night

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D8 Crane, Night
The D8 crane at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

D8 Crane, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. March 11, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The D8 crane at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

As all who photographer there know, these huge crane are among the primary iconic elements of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. Their size makes them visible from many places including the opposite shore in the town of Vallejo across the harbor. Their appearance is striking, especially at night, when their organic forms are usually lit from below, especially now that they are once again in use as part of a project to dismantle the ships of the old “ghost fleet” that was long moored near the Carquinez Bridge.

Their reactivation has created some photographic opportunities that were rarely available when I first began photographing at Mare Island a dozen or more years ago. Back then the cranes, which can be moved around the dry docks along a system or railway tracks, were often parked in inaccessible locations and seldom well-lit. But on this visit we found two of them had been moved out from behind the security fences and along a closed roadway. We were able to photograph them close-up and from a range of positions and angles. Each has a sort of personality. The closest one is bright yellow in the artificial light, while the further crane has a dark and weathered appearance.

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.

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

D4 — Do It Safe

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D4 — Do It Safe
Two shipyard cranes, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

D4 — Do It Safe. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. March 11, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two shipyard cranes, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

This past weekend I joined my friends from The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group for a night photographing at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. (Despite the similar names, this is a different group than Studio Nocturne SF, a group of photographers with whom I exhibit.) The location is a bit of a Mecca for night photography around here, and I’ve been photographing in this place for something like a dozen years, virtually always at night.

On this shoot I focused on a combination of some less obvious things that I’ve learned to see over many years of working this subject and some of the classic, iconic subjects at Mare Island. This photograph is in the latter category. These huge cranes, set on a system of tracks surrounding dry docks, are perhaps the most characteristic visual feature of Mare Island, especially since they tower high above the old historic buildings. My night photographs of this subject don’t exactly strive for an accurate image. To be honest, that would be an incredibly boring thing, since there is so little light that the subject is often barely visible on the scene. So my idea is to focus on “what the camera sees,” and I typically make very long exposures that collect enough of that faint light to make the subject more clearly visible.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.