Tag Archives: monochrome

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

Pipes, Shadow, and Brick Wall

June 5, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white night photograph of pipes, shadow, and a brick wall at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California.

This is an example of the sort of thing I was looking for during my night photography shoot near the end of May at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. The place is well-known among night photographers for its interesting and impressive abandoned (mostly) structures, some of which are very old. The most striking subjects for most shooters involve the massive ship yard equipment that towers above old brick factory buildings. I’ve made my share of photographs of those wonderful subjects!

But on this visit I resolved to not shoot the familiar large buildings and structures, and to instead look for odd little vignettes of the place that I had overlooked in the past. This pipe standing against a brick was was actually hard to really see in the very dim artificial light in the alley where it is located, but I thought that the pipe and its shadow on the brick wall might be interesting. At the time I made the exposure I wasn’t certain if it would end up being black and white or color, but after working with it in post I’m happier with this monochrome version.

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 96mm
ISO 200, f/8, 96 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, nocturnes, brick, wall, weathered, worn, pipe, joint, shadow, old, black and white, monochrome, urban, street, landscape, detail, curb, stock

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

Bunker Entry Door, Mare Island

June 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Entry door to old bunkers at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I was surprised to find this bunker door open. Typically this area of old cement bunkers at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard seems to be sealed up tightly – in fact, most of the doors (or what I presume to be doors) have been covered with metal plates. Although this images has the look of soft daylight, perhaps that of an overcast day, the effect is the result of shooting during very late twilight when there was a combination of diffused light from the sky and some artificial light spilling into the scene from nearby.

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 73mm
ISO 200, f/16, 30 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, bunker, door, concrete, cement, entrance, sign, main, entry, point, authorized, personnel, only, frame, paint, worn, weathered, dilapidated, historic, structure, military, urban, industrial, stock, black and white, monochrome

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands Near Davenport

May 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Foggy sky along the coastal headlands near Davenport, California.

I stopped along the edge of the bluff at a spot on the California Coast Highway (highway 1) where I know that I can photograph seabirds as they cruise just feet away from the top of the cliff. Although my attention was first on the birds, I was also aware of the expansive views of the coastline from this high spot on the road, and I thought that the glowing fog-filled sky to the southwest might be worth photographing. I decided to place the horizon very low in the frame and expose so that the thin line of coastal bluffs extending into the frame from the left would be much darker than the water or the sky.

While I had a pretty good idea that this would end up as a black and white photograph – the colors in the foggy and gray conditions were not that special – I wasn’t certain when I made the exposure of just what I would do with it in post. As soon as I opened the file though I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. In the end, for an image that might seem so simple, this photograph required quite a bit of post-processing work.

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 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 100, f/11, 1/120 second

keywords: davenport, california, usa, north america, headlands, bluff, coast, shore, surf, wave, horizon, fog, clouds, cliff, rocky, ocean, sea, shoreline, highway, one, black and white, monochrome, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, nature, beach, shoal, minimal, sky, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Ferns, Muir Woods

May 16, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of spring ferns growing in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I barely caught this bunch of ferns alongside Redwood Creek as the morning sun was approaching them. As I set up and started to shoot the ferns were in shade but picking up some diffused light starting to come through the forest canopy. I probably got no more than a minute of shooting time before a beam of sun poked through and illuminated the right part of the scene… far too brightly!

I considered sharing this as a color image – it is full of rich green from the deep forest light on the spring leaves in this moist place. However, the more I worked with it the more I felt that the textures and patterns of the fern leaves and the gradations of light and shadow would be overpowered by the intense green of the color rendition.

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 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 149mm
ISO 400, f/16, .6 second

keywords: spring, fern, frond, plant, leaf, branch, nature, foliage, flora, muir, woods, national, monument, golden, gate, recreation, area, park, forest, grove, redwood, sequoia, sempervirens, coastal, black and white, monochrome, light, shadow, overlap, scenic, travel, marin, county, california, usa, north america, stock

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