Tag Archives: landscape

Four Surf Fisherman

Four Surf Fishermen
Four Surf Fishermen. Gazos Creek, California. March 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

This is one of those landscape photographs in which appearances can be deceiving. I suppose it looks fairly calm and quiet, but getting this shot was the result of working very quickly and spontaneously with a very long lens as the subjects moved quickly through the scene. I had just gotten out of my car with a plan to observe and then photograph the seascape when I noticed the group of fisherman heading across the sand toward a rocky headland to the south.

keywords: four, fishing, fish, fishermen, surf, pacific, ocean, coast, sea, seascape, coastline, headland, waves, sand, beach, reflections, pole, sky, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, seascape, people, gazos, creek, big basin, state, park

Shop Buildings at Night

Mare Island Shops at Night
Mare Island Shops at Night. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. March 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

At least once a year I join The Nocturnes (the San Francisco Bay Area night photographers’ group led by Tim Baskerville) to photograph the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. This amazing historical site near Vallejo, California was the first US Navy shipyard on the west coast and dates to the mid-1800s. It was active until the late 1990s. It is a night photographer’s paradise with wonderful old buildings ranging form officers’ homes to dry docks to huge cranes to wonderful old brick factory buildings

keywords: night, nocturnes, mare island, naval shipyard, vallejo, california, usa, stars, artificial, lights, brick, quonset, door, road, street, fence, windows, smoke, stack, blue, yellow, brown, shadow, urban, landscape, travel, historic, stock

Abandoned Structures, Seattle Gasworks Park

Abandoned Structures, Gasworks Park
Abandoned Structures, Gasworks Park. Seattle, Washington, August 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

These abandoned tanks and related equipment dominate this historic Seattle park. I return here almost every time when I visit Seattle and I especially like the cloudy conditions like those on the day I made this photograph.

keywords: black and white, seattle, gas, works, gasworks, park, industrial, equipment, structures, tanks, ladders, railings, pipes, valves, steel, rust, tower, urban, landscape, travel, historic, washington, stock, railing

Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake

Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake

Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake. Ansel Adams Wilderness, California. July 27, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I spent a few hours on this cold, clear July evening photographing the light of the full moon, star trails, and reflections on the surface of Thousand Island Lake.

When using a digital camera to make such long exposures one must adopt a very patient attitude. First, find the spot for your photograph and set everything up in the dark. Then make an exposure of perhaps 15 minutes. Because DSLRs are subject to noise on these long exposures, you then wait another 15 minutes while the camera completes a “dark frame” exposure to determine how to compensate for the noise in the original exposure. Yes, it takes 30 minutes (and lots of battery power!) to make a 15 minute exposure.

You could become impatient. Or you could, as I do, sit back and enjoy the peace and quite of a beautiful moonlit Sierra night.

keywords: thousand, island, lake, cove, shore, surface, reflections, ritter, banner, peak, mount, mountains, alpine, night, black and white, photography, backpacking, john muir, trail, backpacking, landscape, scenic, california, usa, outdoor, stock, ansel adams, wilderness