Tag Archives: metal

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

Building 101, Night

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Building 101, Night

Building 101, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph under artificial light of a portion of the front of Building 101 near the core of the historic shipyard at Mare Island, Vallejo, California.

I’ve been intrigued by the windows, doors, peeling paint, grafitti, and general appearance of Building 101 at Mare Island in the past, but this was the first time that I set about to photograph it apart from the surrounding buildings. Rather that try to place it in its surroundings in this shot, I decided to just shoot it straight on with a prime lens and simply “show” the front surface of the structure as it is.

Believe it or not, the color balance of this image is “as shot” – the front of building is starkly lit by sodium vapor lamps and the right side is even more strongly lit by the same sort of lighting. The “sky” is fog covered, and the fog is illuminated by a lot of artificial light, coming for the most part here from the town of Vallejo across the water. (As I worked on this image I thought about how different it would have been had the light at the upper right corner of the building been operating!)

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

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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, industrial, old, historic, dilapidated, run down, defaced, grafitti, peeling, paint, metal, corrugated, window, door, frame, pipe, conduit, fence, chain, link, lamp, light, shadow, asphalt, sign, yellow, sky, peach, orange, brown, dark, pane, usa, stock, broken, glass

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

Pipes at Base of Ship Yard Tower, Night

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Pipes at Base of Ship Yard Tower, Night

Pipes at Base of Ship Yard Tower, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photography of a convoluted assemblage of pipes at the base of a ship yard construction tower at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

This is a closer view of some of the old and somewhat mysterious industrial equipment and structures at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California – again shot at night during my visit to this historic location on August 30. This mass of pipes and valves and wires and what not is at the base of one of the tall structures that cross the roadways around the center of the shipyard along Nimitz Avenue.

When I made this exposure I was not sure whether it would end up as black and white or color, but when I saw the intensely yellow color of the light on the painted surfaces of the metal it was, well, too much – so I have gone with the black and white rendition.

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

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, night, nocturnal, photography, black and white, monochrome, pipe, valve, wire, hose, bolt, nut, steel, tower, support, cement, concrete, block, metal, corrugated, building, wall, roof, vent, truss, base, tower, mechanical, industrial, historic, old, usa, shadwo, door, stock

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

Shipbuilding Yard Towers, Night

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Shipbuilding Yard Towers, Night

Shipbuilding Yard Towers, Night. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. August 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High fog across the night sky above towers at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

I’ve had the good fortune to be able to do night photography at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California on a number of occasions over the past few years – largely because I discovered The Nocturnes, the SF Bay Area night photography group run by Tim Baskerville. (If you are looking for night photography events, workshops, and general information – you would do well to visit their web site.) The Nocturnes photograph regularly at Mare Island (also known as “MINSY”) and I got my first, ahem, exposure to night photography via one of their events.

This visit, on the final night of August, was the first time I’ve shot there when it wasn’t an event sponsored by The Nocturnes, and it seemed a bit odd to be the person most experienced at shooting here. This event was more or less organized by SF Bay Area photographer Ivan Makarov who contacted me ahead of time for some information about shooting at MINSY and invited me to join his group if I could. I could, so I did.

After shooting there a half dozen times or so, it starts to seem a bit too easy to keep shooting the same Mare Island icons in the same way, so this time I decided to try to shoot a few things that I had not shot before and to shoot some of the familiar subjects in somewhat different ways. One decision I made was to – for the most part – avoid the usual super-wide-angle shots that seem so obvious in this environment. I started out using a 70-200mm zoom instead and later moved to shooting with normal to slightly long primes. (I did fall back on the UWA approach for a few shots – heck, if it works I’m going to do it!) Another factor was that we did not have the totally clear full-moon skies that I’m more familiar with from previous MINSY shoots. We had a softer but earlier 3/4 moon, and at times there was quite dense high fog. The fog obviously obscures the sky and reduces/eliminates the star trail photographs, but it also picks up and then spreads a wonderful diffuse light from the many natural and artificial light sources found at MINSY.

The photograph shown here was made with the long zoom and includes nearly complete fog coverage of the sky. The lighting is a crazy combination of light from nearby Vallejo reflected in the clouds, garish sodium vapor lighting coming from beyond the scaffolding, and some “natural” light from the moon on the front of the metal building. (One of the things I enjoy about night photography in a location like this is that with so many wildly different light sources there is no correct color balance – so I get to pick!

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

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: minsy, mare, island, naval, ship, yard, historic, vallejo, california, tower, steel, truss, equipment, industrial, bridge, star, trail, fog, light, building, shack, loading, dock, door, window, stairs, steps, asphalt, wire, rust, worn, abandoned, stock, tall, shadow, night, photography, nocturnal, metal, concrete, cement, glow, yellow

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

Painted Brick Wall

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Painted Brick Wall

Painted Brick Wall. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A painted brick wall with a grated alcove near Chinatown, San Francisco, California.

This is the person-less version of this scene that I was shooting when the man walked into it and I created the photo I posted earlier. I suspect that this interesting pattern is the result of someone painting out the rampant graffiti found all over Chinatown, but the color choice seems a bit odd for something so prosaic. The wall is just a few yards down a side street off of Grant.

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

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, scenic, urban, city, sidewalk, wall, brick, painted, orange, beige, green, olive, red, white, window, arch, alcove, grate, metal, fan, texture, structure, urban, city, street, chinatown, downtown, travel, landscape, detail, stock, building