Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Building 65 and Alley, Night – Mare Island Naval Shipyard

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Building 65 and Alley, Night. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. March 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Building 65 lit by garish sodium vapor lamps, with a dark alley in the background and stars above.

This photo prompts me to post something about night photography and color that I’ve been thinking about for awhile. A scene like this one is lit by a variety of light sources – some natural light from moon and sky, tungsten lights, sodium vapor lights, and a gentle wash of mixed light sources from a nearby city. A question might be: “How do you accurately render the lighting of the scene?” My answer is, “You don’t.” Even if you could achieve an “accurate” rendering it would look nothing like what your night vision affected eyes “saw” since your eyes do not see the same way the camera does.

For me, one of the fun things about night photography – especially when artificial light sources are part of the scene – is that I can render to colors in whatever way makes the most sense for me.

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

Yellow Poles

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

A barrier of yellow metal poles around transformer boxes under garish artificial light at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

I thought I had finished photographing on the night of this shoot with a group of photographers from The Nocturnes. As I was about to pack up, on a whim I decided to wander around the other side of the Quonset building seen in the photograph, and I found this interesting arrangement of transformer boxes and poles illuminated by some of the most stark and garish light I had seen that night.

keywords: night, photography, nocturnal, yellow, poles, transformers, concrete, slab, block, building, structure, quonset, hut, shadows, blue, light, dark, mare island, naval shipyard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, industrial, urban, equipment, electrical

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

Mare Island Street, Dusk

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

A street and railroad tracks pass beneath shipyard structures and past old brick shop buildings at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in dusk light. The museum for this shipyard is housed in the brick building on the left side of the photograph – one of many interesting and historic structures still found at this location.

keywords: mare island, naval, shipyard, historic, road, street, railroad, tracks, brick, wooden, scaffold, equipment, industrial, shops, windows, dusk, evening, sunset, artificial, light, towers, cranes, smokestack, vallejo, california, usa, travel, urban, landscape, stock

Photographs: Central California

Two Oak Trees, Morning

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Two Oak Trees, Morning

Two Oak Trees, Morning. Pacheco State Park, California. March 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two oak trees and grassland in morning light. This scene was photographed at Pacheco State Park on the top of the mountain range between Santa Clara Valley and California’s Great Central Valley. This park is a great place to see spring wildflowers, though the persistent winds can make photography challenging.

I always think of one other connection when I pass by this area or, better yet, stop and visit. When John Muir first travelled to the Sierra he came through this pass, and he marveled (as Muir frequently did) at the carpet of wildflowers extending into and across the valley in front of him. While we no longer see the sight the he described, during a few weeks each spring the wildflowers are thick enough that you can almost imagine it.

keywords: oaks, trees, grass, hills, sun, light, morning, early, fence, ridge, sky, silhouette, pacheco, state park, california, pass, usa, travel, scenic, nature, plants, spring, landscape, stock