Tag Archives: sheet

Thunderstorm Over Barney Lake

Thunderstorm Over Barney Lake
Thunderstorm Over Barney Lake

Thunderstorm Over Barney Lake. Near Mammoth Lakes, California. August 5, 2005. © Copyright 2005 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rain from an afternoon thunderstorm begins to fall above Barney Lake, in the eastern Sierra Nevada near Mammoth Lakes, California.

This is yet another older photograph that I found again while reviewing nearly a decade of raw files recently. I actually have previously posted another similar photograph of this scene in the past, but I think this one is also effective and is somewhat different.

I came to this lake when I had to leave a group of friends with whom I was about four days into a 14-day backpacking trip in the central Sierra back in 2005. On day four I woke up feeling less that great and thought I might be coming down with some sort of “bug” that I didn’t want to deal with in the back-country, partly because we were about to enter a section of trail with no quick and easy way out, and also because I didn’t want to take a chance on slowing down or halting the rest of my party. So I bailed out on the morning of day five. The rest of the gang went south on the John Muir Trail while I backtracked to the north and exited over Duck Pass.

I recall the day fairly well – perhaps because I travelled the trail twice in two days! It was easy hiking back along the JMT to the turnoff to the pass, where I paused to enjoy the view of Duck Lake. As I began the ascent to the pass above the lake, thunderstorms quickly developed, and I recall being surprised when the rain started much more quickly and much sooner than I had predicted. I believe I had to duck (no pun intended) beneath a nearby tree and quickly take out rain gear and pack cover before moving on in the rain. After I crossed the pass and started the descent towards Mammoth Lakes, the storm moved elsewhere and rays of light broke over Barney Lake below the pass where I paused to make a few photographs of this light against the backdrop of more distant peaks and falling rain.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Bunker Walls, Mare Island

Bunker Walls, Mare Island
Bunker Walls, Mare Island

Bunker Walls, Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. May 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Concrete bunker walls with painted sheet metal panels in evening light – Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

I think I’ll go ahead and classify this as a night photograph, though it is on the margin of what qualifies. If you notice from the technical data that it is a 30 second exposure, you may be more convinced. Almost every time I do night photography at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard across the water from Vallejo, California I start near this collection of concrete bunkers near the so-called “historic core” of the ship yard. I’ve long been intrigued by these mysterious looking structures and the foliage that now is beginning to grow around and top of them, but it has been difficult to figure out the right light for shooting them. On this visit we gathered at about 8:00 p.m. which happened to be a few minutes before sunset. As twilight came on it seemed like I might get an interesting combination of fading light from the dusk sky and some artificial light, so I wandered off among the bunkers and shot for a while. The painted-out grafitti was something that I hadn’t see here previously, but the paint patterns in tones of blue – augmented by the blue-ish evening light – seemed to make an interesting contrast with the rough and weathered texture of the concrete walls.

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 at 65mm
ISO 200, f/16, 30 seconds

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, vallejo, california, usa, north america, historic, night, photography, minsy, bunker, wall, concrete, cement, metal, plate, sheet, paint, blue, gray, texture, weathered, dilapidated, worn, old, historic, panorama, grafitti, evening, light, stock, industrial, urban, stock

Plastic Covered Window

Plastic Covered Window

Plastic Covered Window. San Jose, California. January 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Plastic covers the window of a stucco house being remodeled in San Jose, California.

This photograph was taken literally within walking distance of my home – I know this because I walked there! At first the slanting shadows dropping from right to left across the wall caught my attention. Then the interplay between the shadows and the deep textures of the stucco wall caught my eye. Eventually, I began to like the plastic sheet (obviously put there to protect the glass from paint) and the way it obscures the interior of the building. In the end I can’t make up my mind whether the photo is simply a geometric/texture study or perhaps something a little more mysterious.

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: plastic, sheet, tape, mask, masking, window. curve, white, frame, curve, glass, frame, brick, arch, wall, stucco, texture, shadow, paint, scraped, peeling, construction, remodel, willow glen, san jose, california, usa, urban, street, structure, building, house, home, stock