Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tuolumne Meadows – Flooding River and Spring Snow

June 10, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Spring snow covers Tuolumne Meadows and the Tuolumne River overflows its banks withLembert Dome, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, and Kuna Crest on the skyline.

These were special conditions that I encountered in Tuolumne on the evening of June 5, the day that Tioga Pass opened for the 2010 season. Tuolumne Meadows was still almost completely covered in snow, except that the river was so full with meltwater that large sections of the meadow were flooded, making parts of it look more like a lake than a meadow. The watercourse in the foreground of this photograph will simply be a grass-covered meadow a few weeks from now, and soon after that will be a great place to look for wildflowers – but on this night it was a fast flowing and cold body of water containing floating bits of slushy ice.

The peaks on the horizon are “old friends” to those who frequently visit Tuolumne – from left to right they are Lembert Dome, Mount Dana, Mount Gibbs, and the end of Kuna Crest where it terminates at Mammoth Peak.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 105mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, tuolumne, meadows, river, snow, pack, overflow, flood, flow, lembert, dome, mount, dana, gibbs, kuna, crest, ridge, peak, forest, sunset, evening, light, reflection, landscape, nature, california, usa, north america, sky, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bunker Walls, Mare Island

June 3, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Concrete bunker walls with painted sheet metal panels in evening light – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I think I’ll go ahead and classify this as a night photograph, though it is on the margin of what qualifies. If you notice from the technical data that it is a 30 second exposure, you may be more convinced. Almost every time I do night photography at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard across the water from Vallejo, California I start near this collection of concrete bunkers near the so-called “historic core” of the ship yard. I’ve long been intrigued by these mysterious looking structures and the foliage that now is beginning to grow around and top of them, but it has been difficult to figure out the right light for shooting them. On this visit we gathered at about 8:00 p.m. which happened to be a few minutes before sunset. As twilight came on it seemed like I might get an interesting combination of fading light from the dusk sky and some artificial light, so I wandered off among the bunkers and shot for a while. The painted-out grafitti was something that I hadn’t see here previously, but the paint patterns in tones of blue – augmented by the blue-ish evening light – seemed to make an interesting contrast with the rough and weathered texture of the concrete walls.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 65mm
ISO 200, f/16, 30 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, bunker, wall, concrete, cement, metal, plate, sheet, paint, blue, gray, texture, weathered, dilapidated, worn, old, historic, panorama, grafitti, evening, light, stock, industrial, urban, stock

Commentary, Photographs: Night

Yellow Wall with Door and Numbers

June 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The wall of an abandoned building with a metal door and painted numbers and text at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Illuminated by gaudy yellow sodium vapor lamps.

It may be difficult (if not impossible) to make sense out of this image without some explanation. In a side alley off of Nimitz Street at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard I previously found a large abandoned building that is lit at night by bright and garish sodium vapor lamps. When I photographed the building the first time I shot at the end nearest to the main street, and I ended up toning down the intense yellow tones that this type of artificial lighting produces when it shines on a subject like this building. This time I went further back into the alley and near the back of the building found a strange area around an old metal door where the weathered wall and window had been covered by strange marking apparently made with spray paint – numbered squares along the lower part of the wall and, above and out of this frame, seemingly random bits of numbers and text – with all of this interrupted by crossing pipes, conduit, boards, and general decay. With nothing in the frame but the wall, here shot straight on, the bizarrely lit surface seems to me like an almost complete abstraction.

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.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Night Scene, Mare Island

June 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Night photograph of pipes, barricades, trash receptacles, and wall with alarm – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

I suppose this more or less qualifies as a photograph of nothing. What we have here are: a couple of barricade posts, part of a dumpster, some pipes and valves, a trash can, a textured concrete wall lit from above by a single lamp, a fire alarm, and shadows from various of these objects. I saw this as I walked along Nimitz street along the waterfront at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard and, for some reason, just felt that it was a picture waiting to be recorded.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 40mm
ISO 200, f/16, 13 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, pipes, valves, barricades, pole, trash, can, receptacle, dumpster, wall, fire, alarm, light, artificial, glow, asphalt, concrete, cement, industrial, urban, nocturne, stock

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.