Tag Archives: mare island

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Another Corner, Night

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Another Corner, Night
A meeting place between planes of concrete, night

Another Corner, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A meeting place between planes of concrete, night

The historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, especially at night, is a visually compelling location with a lot of large eye-catching features. This include the towering ship yard structures near the dry dock, the tower of the old power station, the huge factory buildings, old officers’ housing, and the ships that are sometimes tied up here or in dry dock. It is easy to spend a lot of time photographing these subjects with wonderful results.

On this visit I was, at least initially, less interested in those things. Instead I slowed down and went looking for hidden surprises — textures, pools of light, juxtapositions, color, and quiet places. Before long I found myself in a small area near the front of a dark building where concrete formations were lit by security lights and by the glow from the town of Vallejo across the water, and I stopped here for almost an hour to quietly make quiet photographs.

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: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Staircase, Window, and Shadows

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Staircase, Window, and Shadows
Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

Staircase, Window, and Shadows. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

I made this photograph in an area that was actually so dark that I could barely see the subject — a long exposure and a higher ISO made the photograph possible and allow the camera to see what I cannot. I could see well enough to know that there were some unusual and interesting shadow patterns, including the organic shaped shadows of nearby trees and the angular shadows duplicating the lines of the stairway railings.

With a dark subject like this the first challenge is to make a composition out of things I can barely see. The broad outlines are visible, but it was not easy to see details… and focusing can be a major issue. (I have a bag of tricks for this. One technique is to simply shine a brighter light into the scene and focus on the lit area. An alternative if the subject is further way is to place the light inside the frame, focus on it, and then remove it for the exposure.) This whole area was just a bit spooky. I got to it by ascending a dark stairway and then walking across what seemed like it may have been an abandoned parking terrace that was littered with construction (or destruction?) debris.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Yellow Building, Ventilation Towers

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Yellow Building, Ventilation Towers
Night photograph of a building in yellow light and ventilation towers, Mare Island

Yellow Building, Ventilation Towers. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of a building in yellow light and ventilation towers, Mare Island

This was one of the last photographs I made on a recent evening with The Nocturnes at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. After spending the first half of the shoot exploring some little hidden areas that aren’t quite so obvious, I made my way back towards the “historic core” of the ship yard near the dry docks. This area is well-lit these days, as it is being used to dismantle ships of the “ghost fleet” that have been anchored in the delta for years.

The nature of that light is part of the subject of this photograph. The foreground building, with its classic and well-worn military base construction, stands across a street from the work area. It is brightly lit by sodium vapor lamps whose light floods this entire area, and this kind of lighting has a very warm color cast, so warm that it can give a bright yellow appearances to buildings that are very drab in daylight. Off in the distance is another set of buildings, with some kind of ventilation or cooling towers standing above them. The color of the light on that structure is a mystery — aqua, faint purple, yellow, blue-green. Most likely it is due to a combination of multiple light sources including sodium vapor, industrial LED streetlights, and more. Above all of that is the sky, though it also has a somewhat odd coloration, much warmer that the sky tones in rural areas due to the city lights reflecting on clouds.

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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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

D4 Industrial Brownhoist

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D4 Industrial Brownhoist
A massive ship yard hoist at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

D4 Industrial Brownhoist. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A massive ship yard hoist at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Among the iconic structures at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, these huge, movable hoists are possibly the most visible and the best know. Seen from across the water in the town of Vallejo, they tower above the rest of the island, and they have strange forms that suggest something alive. There are a number of them surrounding the dry dock areas, where they were used in the manufacture of military ships. Today they are used to dismantle some of the same sorts of vessels.

During the dozen or so years that I’ve been photographing Mare Island at night, the hoists have always been behind security fences, and it wasn’t possible for me to get very close to them without hopping fences. (Most of us who photograph here eschew such illegal activities, and the result has been mostly very good relationship with the island and its residents.) So when I finally walked over towards the waterfront near the end of this evening’s shoot, I was very surprised to find that this hoist had been moved, rolled out on its tracks to a location where I could walk right up to it. After years of photographing them straight on from a distance, I was glad to have the opportunity to photograph this one from almost directly below, highlighting its immense height and bulk.

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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.