Tag Archives: island

Dock Facilities, Staten Island Ferry

Dock Facilities, Staten Island Ferry - Pilings, piers, and other docking facilities for the Staten Island Ferry
Pilings, piers, and other docking facilities for the Staten Island Ferry

Dock Facilities, Staten Island Ferry. New York, New York. August 19, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pilings, piers, and other docking facilities for the Staten Island Ferry.

This is another of my Staten Island Ferry photographs from last summer. Although it may be a bit hard to see in this small jpg, I was impressed by the extensive wooden structures at the Staten Island end of the route at the ferry terminal. Pilings are placed about as close together as possible, and in densely packed rows. Beyond them, a walkway and wooden fence rises, and beyond that more similar structures. In front of all of that are several very dilapidated looking wooden structures that seem to me falling apart and almost useless… for whatever it is that they were designed for.

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.
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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.

Detail, Staten Island Ferry

Detail, Staten Island Ferry - Detail of Staten Island Ferry as it approaches the dock.
Detail of Staten Island Ferry as it approaches the dock.

Detail, Staten Island Ferry. New York, New York. August 19, 2011. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of Staten Island Ferry as it approaches the dock.

I’m afraid that there isn’t a lot to write about this photograph. It is an orange fence. On a boat! I was wandering around on the Staten Island Ferry looking for subjects other than the New York skyline here I photographed the railing as the vessel was very close to the terminal at the Staten Island end of the run.

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.
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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.

Mendocino Coast, Evening

Mendocino Coast, Evening - Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.
Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.

Mendocino Coast, Evening. Mendocino, California. August 28, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.

The little village of Mendocino, now largely a somewhat rural vacation spot, has a lot going for it: connections to a number of historical traditions, lots of quaint old buildings with that weathered look of coastal communities, tons of places to stay, great food, and California’ Pacific Ocean coastline. Though the chamber of commerce might disagree, it seems to be just far enough from major population centers to escape the over-running crowds and rampant souvenir-ism of places like Carmel that once had this same sort of charm. The village sits on a wide peninsula that just out into the Pacific and gradually angles down toward the water, ending in relatively low coastal bluffs and shoreline rocks.

It is often foggy in the part of California, but on our late-August visit we had just enough fog to add a bit of atmosphere – but mostly it hovered off-shore and at times disappeared completely. On our final evening there, we had a bit of time before dinner – and who wants to eat when there is golden hour light! – so we walked out along the bluffs on the south side of town and made a few photographs as the day ended.

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.
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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.

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore - A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County
A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore. Mendocino County Coastline, California. August 29, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County.

The last time I passed by this section of the California coast highway in Mendocino County, I also stopped to photograph this scene – but was less happy with the result. This section of the coastline, like much of the meeting between California and the Pacific Ocean, consists largely of high coastal bluffs, interspersed with the steep canyons where creeks and rivers meet the ocean, with many rocky islands ranging from tiny to huge. The two-peaked island in this large cove fits more into the huge category and it is backed by two fingers of land where the high bluffs extend toward the ocean. In the far distance, a section of curving coastline is barely visible through the haze.

Recently someone asked me about how I decide whether a photograph will be black and white rather than color. I admitted – and it turns out that many feel the same – that often I am not certain when I make the exposure. Roughly speaking, the black and white photographs come about in perhaps three ways. Sometimes I like the subject but the color rendition just isn’t working the way I had hoped, so I try it in black and white and “discover” that I like it that way in post. On other occasions, at the time of exposure I sort of wonder if it might work in black and white and I make mental note to try it that way in post. In the third case, I “know” (with only a small amount of doubt) that the image is going to end up in black and white and I shoot the scene with that in mind. This is one of those photographs – I was almost certain that it would end up in black and white as I stood high on a bluff next to highway 1 making the exposure.

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 | FacebookGoogle+ | 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.