Tag Archives: island

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastline Near Klamath River

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Coastline Near Klamath River
Late-day light on the rugged coastline just south of the Klamath River

Coastline Near Klamath River. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-day light on the rugged coastline just south of the Klamath River

I had passed by the great Klamath River on my way north to the Redwood National and State Parks, crossing it on the long bridge just upstream from where it meets the Pacific. On that late afternoon I took a quick detour up onto a small dead-end road from which I could look back down at the river and the sandbar between it and the ocean, and I made a few photographs before moving on — I still wanted to photograph redwoods before the day ended, and I had a bit of a drive beyond that to get to my motel.

Late the next day I found myself with a bit of unscheduled time, so I returned to the Klamath, again as the end of the day approached — but this time I was not in a hurry to leave. When I had visited the day before I had looked across the river to the hills and coastal bluffs to the south, and this time I decided to explore that area a bit. A drive took me to an overlook from which there was an unobstructed view along the coastline to the south as the evening golden hour light began.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Structures and Objects

Metal Building, Distressed Paint

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Metal Building, Distressed Paint
Metal industrial building with marks from patched paint

Metal Building, Distressed Paint. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Metal industrial building with marks from patched paint

This is another of the pre-dark twilight photographs I made on my recent visit to the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard to do night photography. A group of us assembled bit by bit, some starting close to the middle of the day and others, like me, arriving shortly before dark. About a half hour before sunset I headed out, beginning with some daylight photograph around some industrial buildings I had noticed on my way to the meet-up. By the time I got there and got set up I was only able to make a few photographers before the sun set far to the west over San Francisco, but the twilight light is also interesting to work with.

In this photograph I was interested in the objective qualities of the old building with its weathered and patched metal walls, especially in the random nature of the patched paint along with the juxtaposition of the warmer colors on the walls and the cool, blue tones on the roof, with all of the colors altered in the blue twilight. At the same time, I went with the wide and narrow landscape orientation of this photograph in an attempt to treat the colors and forms as abstract elements, too.

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: Structures and Objects

Alley, Arrow, Windows

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Alley, Arrow, Windows
A directional arrow in a narrow alley outside of a windowed industrial building

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

A directional arrow in a narrow alley outside of a windowed industrial building

Night photography is, perhaps ironically, truly all about the light. There isn’t that much of it in most cases, so we resort to very long exposures (or perhaps very high ISO values) and we seek out places where there is just enough of it to make photographs. Night illumination is often from artificial sources, and frequently it comes at least partially from inside the subject rather than falling on its exterior. Subjects that may be mundane in normal daylight can take on new qualities in the light of the night — they may stand isolated from their backgrounds, take on unusual colors, and even become mysterious and moody.

This building is one of those subjects that glows from within. When I first saw it my initial idea was to get very close to some of the windows and simply photograph the interior of the empty building. For various reasons, ranging from practical to aesthetic, I gave up on that idea. Instead I stepped back a bit, included the windows and building interior, but also worked with the light spilling out into this alley, where a variety of patterns are produced on the pavement.

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: 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.
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.