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The best laid plans…

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… sometimes fail. :-)

A number of things needed to fall into place today so that I could arrive at Cathedral Lakes in the Yosemite back-country this evening to meet a group of photographers. Reading the previous sentence you might think that I’m somehow posting from my tent after enjoying a nice backpacker dinner.

Not quite.

I teach. Classes started this week. Today I met my Friday-only class for the first time. My plan was to have everything packed for the weekend last night – check rather late by headlamp – check. To get up at the slightly-later hour and load the car for the trip – check. To leave for the college with enough time to stop for gas, get ready for my class, etc. – oops!

When I went to the car – after loading it, of course – I discovered a flat tire. By this time it was too late to deal with a repair and still make it to the college on time – I didn’t even have time to unload the car – so I simply had to take the other car, teach my class, and then come home to unpack and get the tire repaired. So, I’m not at Cathedral Lake tonight… where I’m sure it is quite beautiful and my friends are now enjoying the post-evening photography conversation.

At least I’m reasonably confident that the Sierra will still be there when I do make it up to Cathedral… soon.

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

Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

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Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Nimitz Street with high fog and moonlight and ambient artificial lighting, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is probably one of the iconic scenes for night photographers at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. This shot looks up Nimitz Street near the waterfront and across railway tracks toward some of the core old buildings and beyond to the smoke stack of the power plant. It includes some of the huge overhead structures that were, as I understand it, used to move large ship components such as engines from the shops in which they were assembled to the ships under construction.

As is typical at night at Mare Island, the photograph includes a wild range of types of lighting. The 3/4 moon is partially responsible for illuminating the high fog, but the fog also picks up a warmer glow from a variety of types of lighting on the ground at Mare Island and beyond. The buildings are lit by some of the same light sources, but also by local security lightning and some street lights including tungsten, sodium vapor and perhaps even florescent sources. (When composing such shots I have to be very careful to place the camera in a position where direct light from these many sources is blocked by buildings, towers, and so forth.)

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: minsy, mare, island, naval, shipyard, historic, abandoned, decommisioned, nimitz, street, avenue, tracks, scaffolding, structure, tower, industrial, brick, building, road, window, door, quonset, hut, truss, wall, room, smoke, stack, chimney, power, plant, fog, high, star, trails, glow, night, photography, nocturnal, reflection, dark, urban, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Pine Trees, Edge of the Forest

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Pine Trees, Edge of the Forest

Pine Trees, Edge of the Forest. Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park, California. July 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lodgepole pines stand at the edge of the forest next to Tioga Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California.

I have photographed these trees before. They are found at the edge of the meadow along the left side of the road after you leave the forest near the Mono Trail parking lot and enter the meadow at Tioga Pass and approach the entrance station. Several things intrigue me about the trees in this area: they mark the edge of dense forest into which it is difficult to see, few people stop to look at them, they border the meadows, and they sometimes are illuminated late in the day by light reflecting from Mount Dana’s lower slopes to the east.

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
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: pine, lodgepole, tamarack, tree, forest, grove, trunk, branch, needle, meadow, tioga, alpine, thick, dense, grass, flora, pass, road, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, range, mountains, summit, crest, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock, green, edge, dark

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Weathered White House, Pescadero

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Weathered White House, Pescadero

Weathered White House, Pescadero. Pescadero, California. June 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A weathered old house along the main road in Pescadero, California.

I know I’m not the only photographer who is a sucker for old, weathered rural buildings. I had been over at the coast trying to photograph seascapes, and I decided to stop in at this town just inland before heading home. I drove past this place once. I turned around and drove past it a second time. I finally gave in, turned back and pulled over, and made a few exposures before starting my return drive. (Note to JW – this is one of the photos that I did think of as a black and white image at the time I made the exposure.)

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.

keywords: old, weathered, house, home, building, white, peeling, paint, shingles, window, lace, curtain, porch, entry, walkway, door, pattio, 1581, sky, lawn, street, full, sun, shadow, roadside, road, pescadero, california, usa, pacific, ocean, coast, architecture, stock