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

Towers and Brick Building, Full Moon Light

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Towers and Brick Building, Full Moon Light
Towers and Brick Building, Full Moon Light

Towers and Brick Building, Full Moon Light. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. February 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Industrial towers and brick building under the light of the full moon at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

On February 27, for the second time this month, I visited Mare Island Naval Shipyard to do night photography with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. (Anyone looking for great resources on night photography should visit their web site. They also offer classes and workshops on night photography.) This was a “Mare Islands Alumni” event, attended by quite a few folks who have done night photography at Mare Island. One of the highlights came before the actual photography began as we met in the museum building and had a chance to view work by participating photographers – the work gets better every time and there was some wonderful night photography on display.

One attraction on this night was the full moon, which appears just above and to the right of the frame in this photograph made near the intersection of 8th and Nimitz Streets, in the heart of the old ship construction area. The was the first subject I photographed – it was something of a “do over,” since I had overlooked some obvious composition problems with the shot earlier this month and wanted to get it right this time. When I originally mentioned that, Tim Baskerville pointed out that I might have a hard time getting the same reflective puddles in the scene, but as luck would have it a good sized storm was just departing and it left great puddles everywhere!

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 35mm f/2.0
ISO 100, f/11, 353 seconds

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

Eighth and Nimitz, Towers and Wall

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Eighth and Nimitz, Towers and Wall
Eighth and Nimitz, Towers and Wall

Eighth and Nimitz, Towers and Wall. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. February 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Towers and brick wall at the corner of Eight and Nimitz, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

One more take on the corner of Nimitz Avenue and Eighth Street in the “historic core” of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, as photographed after dark on my recent visit with The Nocturnes, the SF Bay Area night photography group. (Visit their web site for lots of great night photography resources.)

I thought I’d post this photograph as an example of several things that I think about a lot as I make photographs and post them at my blog and elsewhere on the web. Here goes:

  • While I post a number of photographs that I am very happy with, I also post quite a few that are part of the learning and development process. In fact, posting daily is part of my dedication to practice, an idea that I learned from many years in music. Daily work with images – whether making photographs or working on photographs already made or thinking about how I might photograph subjects I encounter or looking at the photographs of others – sharpens my visual acuity and improves my ability to “see” photographs in subjects I encounter. This is one of those not-quite-right photographs that I learn from.
  • There is much that I like in this photograph, but there is also a significant compositional issue that I recognized as soon as I looked at it on the computer. See it yet? I’ll wait…
  • With a moment to look more closely you probably noticed some issues with the placement of the nearest steel beam on the right side of the frame. It almost, but not quite, covers one of the window frames in the brick wall in the background, but unfortunately a bit of that frame sticks out beyond the left side of the beam. In addition, and related to that, the right side of this beam partially blocks the upper right edge of one of the windows.
  • Of course, now that I’m sitting at my computer in a warm and well-lit room, I can easily see how I could have solved this problem when I made the exposure – most likely by moving a bit to the right and perhaps slightly forward. With that in mind, I’ve filed two things in the “photographic memory bank.” First, the next time I shoot this scene I’ll probably resolve this issue! Second, I’ve added one more data point to the experience that I draw on when I make a shot, and this increases the chances that I won’t miss things like this quite so often in the future.

Live and learn! :-)

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

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, construction, industrial, tower, track, railroad, street, avenue, brick, wall, window, structure, tower, eighth, nimitz, puddle, rain, water, reflection, structure, nocturnal, night, sky, photography, stop, sing, roof, asphalt, stock, north america

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

Museum Building, Reflection – Eighth and Nimitz

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Museum Building, Reflection - Eighth and Nimitz
Museum Building, Reflection - Eighth and Nimitz

Museum Building, Reflection – Eighth and Nimitz. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. February 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photography at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard – The museum building reflected in rainwater pools with shipbuilding equipment beyond.

One more in the series of night photographs made with The Nocturnes at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California during the first weekend of February. I made several photographs from this general location that feature the brick side wall of the museum building with the other ship yard structures in the background and the puddles from recent rain in the foreground.

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

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, nocturnes, night, photography, structures, eighth, nimitz, avenue, street, museum, core, brick, window, reflection, stop, sing, wall, roof, sidewalk, street, railroad, rain, water, pool, puddle, industrial, scaffold, equipment, sky, nocturnal, nocturnes, clouds, stock

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

Brick Wall and Windows, Reflection

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Brick Wall and Windows, Reflection
Brick Wall and Windows, Reflection

Brick Wall and Windows, Reflection. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. February 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photography of structures in the “historic core” of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard with reflection in a rain puddle – Vallejo, California.

A few times each year I have the pleasure of photographing at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group founded my Tim Baskerville and now an important resource for information about night photography, night photography workshops, and fine night photography. During the first weekend of February I joined a small group for a visit to “the dark side” at Mare Island. In contrast to typical shoots there, this time there was no moon. However, since it had rained earlier in the day the clearing clouds and left-over reflecting puddles provided special conditions that aren’t usually available.

This scene is probably familiar to almost anyone who has shot at Mare Island. The brick wall and windows belong to the museum located in the “historic core” of the facility at the corner of 8th and Nimitz, where the huge overhead structures were used to move heavy equipment and parts to the ship construction area along the waterfront.

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

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