Tag Archives: night

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Southern California

Star Trails, The Manifold, Zabriskie Point

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Star Trails, The Manifold, Zabriskie Point
The Manifold, Star Trails – Zabriskie Point

Star Trails, The Manifold, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. March 29, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Star trails above the Manifold, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

One of my goals on my late-March trip to Death Valley was to do some night photography, in particular to take advantage of the nearly full moon near the end of my visit. Some of my plans did not quite work out – for example, on the night when I intended to do night photography of the moving rocks at the Racetrack Playa it was cloudy all night! However, on the final night of my visit the weather gods cooperated and I was able to make a few exposures from Zabriskie Point as the moon rose. As if to partially make up for messing up the intended Racetrack shots, the “cloud gods” were kind enough to provide me with a few high thin clouds at Zabriskie. This was one of those wonderful occasions when things actually did go as planned!

Anticipating the full moon at Zabriskie, I made a point of camping in the vicinity of Furnace Creek at the Texas Springs campground. (I expect that my habits mystified a few nearby campers. I drove in at about 2:00 p.m., grabbed a site and “marked” it by leaving a chair and a tarp, and almost immediately left – not returning until nearly 10:00 p.m. Then I was up and gone well before sunrise.) In any case, I headed down to the Badwater area in the late afternoon to photograph sunset light on the salt flats and evening clouds – following an impromptu “dinner” at the back of my car at the Badwater parking lot. It was getting fairly dark by the time I finished up at Badwater, so I headed straight up to Zabriskie. By the time I arrived the moon was just coming up over the mountain range to the east, with its light at times filtering through high clouds. During the hour I was there I made three exposures. With exposure times in the 8 to 12 minute range and followed by “dark frame exposures” of equal length, this was a slow and quiet process.

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.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM
ISO 200, f/8, 787 seconds (not a typo!)

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

Brick Building, Ferry Street

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Brick Building, Ferry Street
Brick Building, Ferry Street

Brick Building, Ferry Street. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. February 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The corner of a brick building at the intersection of Ferry and Nimitz Streets catches glow from nearby outdoor lights – Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is another photograph from my late-February night photography shoot a the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard with The Nocturnes. The panoramic format image shows the corner of one of the brick buildings along Nimitz Avenue near the waterfront at Ferry Street. I’m almost always a sucker for old brick buildings, especially when photographed at night, but a few other things in this scene caught my attention. The right side of the building fronts that “main” roadway of Nimitz Avenue and is more brightly lit by street lights and security lights, while the left side is more in shadow and here is lit mostly by the light of the full moon. I was also intrigued by the contrast between the angular vertical and horizontal forms of the brick wall and the odd curving shape of the cable snaking up the side of the building in the center of the frame. I also noticed the glowing windows along the dark side of the building – the interior walls are picking up light coming in through the windows facing Nimitz Avenue. I also like the tiny bit of contrasting green color in the “Ferry St” sign.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 291 seconds

keywords: night, photography, nocturnes, brick, wall, building, structure, architecture, ferry, nimitz, street, avenue, mare, island, naval, shipyard, minsy, vallejo, california, usa, north america, wire, pipe, window, pane, glass, artificial, light, historic, sign, conduit, screen, shadow, perspective, corner, interior, light, cable, stock, panorama, panocturnist

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

Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street

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Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street
Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street

Dilapidated Garage, Virgil Street. San Francisco, California. February 20, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very old and dilapidated garage with hand-painted sign along Virgil Street in the Mission District, San Francisco, California.

Believe it or not, this is street photography.

I know it looks more like scene from an old farm perhaps, featuring the worn doors of the barn or a storage shed. We can imagine that it sits along a pasture or near the farmhouse, and the bit of green might suggest unseen springtime growth nearby. But it was actually photographed in a narrow and very urban alley in San Francisco’s dense and busy Mission District. It was shot “street style” with a handheld camera equipped with only a 50mm prime as I wandered around on foot.

I had seen this garage and pair of doors many times before, and I had thought about photographing them. However the scene never quite seemed to work as a photograph. But on this day two things came together and provoked me to make a few images. First, the light was very interesting. It was a cloudy day, but occasionally the clouds would thin or almost part enough to let in brighter but still diffused light – and that is the light that I used to make this exposure. Second, the little bit of new plant growth (OK, it is a weed) lends a bit of color contrast and life to the scene.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/160 second

keywords: the, mission, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, city, district, garage, door, wall, paneling, hinge, rusty, window, brace, dilapidated, virgil, street, alley, plant, crack, parking, night, sign, peeling, paint, sidewalk, cement, geometric, form, structure, architecture, old, historic, worn, building, stock, gray

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

Moonlit Building, Windows and Stairs

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Moonlit Building, Windows and Stairs
Moonlit Building, Windows and Stairs

Moonlit Building, Windows and Stairs. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. February 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photography of an old moonlit building with windows and metal stairs at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

Late in the evening of this visit to Mare Island with The Nocturnes I decided on one last little project – to wander off from the places where I most often shoot around the “historic core” of the facility and find a few out of the way and more isolated subjects. As I walked down one street I saw a driveway leading back into an area between a bunch of old buildings so I decided to check it out. After photographing a much larger building covered with external pipes (photo still in progress) I turned around and saw the moonlight falling across the worn paneling, windows, stairway, and sharp angles of this wooden building.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 162 seconds

keywords: minsy, mare, island, naval, shipyard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, san francisco, bay area, night, photography, nocturnes, rust, paint, worn, weathered, peeling, paint, paneling, railing, stairs, stairway, shadow, moon, full, moonlit, angles, window, frame, door, room, industrial, urban, stock, historic, reflection