Tag Archives: roof

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

People on MUNI Platform

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People on MUNI Platform

People on MUNI Platform. San Francisco, California. May 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene from an overhead perspective of several people waiting for the train on a MUNI platform in San Francisco.

There is a good chance that this photograph isn’t going to make a lot of sense to some of my friends who enjoy my landscape work – but it is actually one of my personal favorite recent photographs. There are several things that I like about it. For one, I actually like the mostly muted color palette of grays and blues, but with the warmer yellow stripes on the platform and the two odd “international orange” pylon bases. I also like the combination of a strong symmetry with a bunch of elements that are anything but perfect and symmetrical: the positions of the five figures, the paving stones with squares of dirt, the slightly off-angle barricades. I can also look at this as an abstract image of shapes, most of which are related in some way to rectangles. And then there is the interesting (to me, at least) arrangement of the people into three groups: the two guys on the right who seem to be looking up towards my camera position, the couple who appear to be gazing at each other, and the girl on the left who is facing the other direction and seemingly oblivious to her surroundings as she talks on the phone. I also like the transparent curving wall beyond the four figures at the right and the position of the two trash cans (trash cans!) between them and the girl.

You certainly don’t have to share my enthusiasm for this photograph, but perhaps you’ll understand a bit of what I think I see in it.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

keywords: man, woman, people, cell, phone, couple, gaze, trash, can, barricade, curve, roof, platform, cement, concrete, aggregate, tile, rail, track, muni, trail, transit, station, fence, curb, city, downtown, urban, street, paving, san francisco, california, usa, travel, stock, king, barrier, transparent, curve

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

Brick Building Near AT&T Park

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Brick Building Near AT&T Park

Brick Building Near AT&T Park. San Francisco, California. May 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brick building viewed from the upper reachs of AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.

Continuing with my habit of shooting near sunset from AT&T Park when I go to SF Giants games, this photograph concentrates on some brick buildings and rooftops across the street from the stadium – I think of this as an urban landscape photograph.

A challenge of these photographs is that I must work hand held and at very low shutter speeds, and I can really only bring a single lens – the ballpark apparently doesn’t look kindly on people bringing professional-looking gear into the park, and I’m certain that a tripod would be out of the question. So I shoot with a full-frame body and a 24-105 image-stabilized lens, often going to ISO 400 or ISO 800. Some photographs are shot with exposures as long as 1/6 second.

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: att, at&t, park, stadium, ball, baseball, giants, sf, san francisco, california, usa, travel, brick, building, roof, window, stairs, fire escape, ventilation, vent, window, light, steps, old, urban, landscape, weathered, downtown, city, 2nd, street, king, perspective, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows

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Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows

Mare Island Buildings With Moon Shadows. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. February 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from moonlight passing through shipyard structures fall across walls on historic buildings at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

I have shot almost this precise scene previously, and under similar circumstances – on a night photography shoot with The Nocturnes, the SF Bay Area night photography group led by Tim Baskerville. Last night we were back at Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) again, this time with perhaps 40 photographers.

After meeting up with everyone and getting organized, I wandered over near the MINSY museum to shoot some brick walls, shipyard structures, and – especially – the shadows cast by the nearly full moon on the ground and the building walls. It was to be a short shoot…

I composed this one with interest in the paired shadows on the walls – one on the green section and the other higher on the brick section – and the contrast between the brick colors and the green wall at the right. I also wanted to include the metal roof beyond and the power plant smokestack in the distance – and, of course, a few star trails above – and I was (and am) intrigued by the combinations of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal forms. I made this first exposure – nearly five minutes – and then set up a second shot while waiting for the dark frame exposure to finish.

After getting the second shot I framed another that included a different section of the brick wall and shadows plus the base of a huge steel shipyard structure. With everything ready I pressed the shutter… and something didn’t sound right. The camera didn’t make an exposure. I tried again – still nothing. At this point I checked the display and found the Canon “err 99” message that can crop up from time to time. The usual solution is to remove the battery, the lens, and perhaps the CF card and then try again – it almost always works. This time it didn’t. I tried a different lens. A different battery. I finally determined that something had gone very wrong with the shutter mechanism, which simply wasn’t opening. Argghhh. So, after making two exposures I packed up, walked back to my car and did the 90 minute drive back home.

Today I put the 5D a box and shipped it off to Canon. We’ll see what happens. I’m sort of inclined to get a 5D II and keep this body for backup after it is repaired. But wouldn’t you know it… while bodies were available last week from several vendors for about $2700, they all seem to be gone now. Double argghhh…

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: mare island, naval shipyard, historic, navy, building, structure, wall, roof, window, ladder, smoke stack, chimney, boarded up, covered, drain, downspout, wire, sidewalk, shadow, full, moon, moonlight, moonshadow, star, sky, trails, night, photography, light, urban, architecture, california, usa, vallejo, green

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Borch’s Iron Works and Machine Shop

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BorchsIronWorks20090104.jpg

Borch’s Iron Works and Machine Shop. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Borch’s Iron Works and Machine Shop – old metal shop building in the downtown area of San Jose, California.

This spare old metal-sided shop building is in a light industrial area in downtown San Jose, near the arena. In early January I wandered past here while on foot photographing city subjects. I liked the very simple shape and yellow color of this building, and the contrast with the intense blue of the late afternoon sky.

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: afternoon, building, california, city, county, downtown, evening, san jose, santa clara, urban, structure, industrail, street, shop, metal, corrugated, roof, trees, blue, yellow, sky, clouds, parking lot, asphalt, sign, borches, iron works, machine shop, wires, sun, light, usa, stock