Tag Archives: structure

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

Mare Island Power Plant, Dusk

September 29, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The power plant and surrounding buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, photographed at dusk as fog rolls in overhead.

While I mainly go to the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard to do night photography, I like to start before dark when the evening light is still present. I have photographed this old power plant, with its iconic and widely visible smoke stack, in the past – both at night and at dusk. This building faces to the west and is open to the late light.

Previously when I have photographed it in these circumstances I’ve tried to include more of the surroundings – the neighboring buildings, the road in front, the railroad tracks that pass by and head into the distance. This time I swapped out the wide lens for a telephoto and decided to work for images that are more tightly cropped and which focus more on details of the building.

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, ship, yard, decommissioned, abandoned, smoke, stack, industrial, government, historic, building, brick, wall, window, antenna, pipe, reflection, ladder, fog, evening, dusk, light, corrugated, metal, cement, concrete, structure, vallejo, california, usa, tree, street, light, stock

Photographs: Night

Dry Dock Detail, Night

September 28, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A portion of the wall of an old dry dock at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejoy, California is lit by garish artificial light.

Along the waterfront at historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California runs Nimitz Street. This is the area where, if I understand correctly, ships were constructed for over a century until the closure of the facility in the 1990s. There are several large dry docks here and I’ve been trying to figure out the most effective way to photograph them at night. It isn’t easy; they are blocked off by chain link fences, there is little light down in the dry docks, and there are a number of fairly bright lights above that are difficult to control.

I don’t think I’m there yet, but I thought this photograph of the tremendously complex and busy inside wall of the dry dock, illuminated by artificial light, was interesting. (I think it might hold up better in a large print than in this small jpg since there is some much detail in the shot.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Facade, Building 101

September 27, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The front wall of building 101 at the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California – photographed at night under variety artificial ambient artificial lighting.

Yes, another Mare Island photo… and another photography of Building 101! In this photograph I simply wanted to capture the garish lighting and the wild weathered and dilapidated detail of the front of this building: angular shadows, peeling paint on window frames, obscured and graffiti-scarred glass, the texture of the corrugated metal walls, and the odd bits of intruding fence and stacked barricades.

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: night, nocturnal, photography, artificial, sodium, vapor, tungsten, illumination, light, lamp, shadow, wall, front, facade, building, 101, architecture, historic, window, door, conduit, grafitti, fence, metal, corrugated, yellow, brown, dilapidated, run, down, frame, mare, island, naval, ship, yard, california, usa, structure, urban, industrial, decay, stock, minsy

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

Ship Yard Structure, Night

September 24, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A towering ship yard structure against fog lit by artificial lighting at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

An explanation of the colors in this photograph is probably in order. If you had been there next to me, looking up at the sky past this tall steel structure, you would not have seen colors that looked like this. It was, of course, dark out! You would have noticed a glow coming from the base of the fog clouds that were overhead, but it would not have seemed to have much of a color beyond a certain “warm” effect.

However, once I extend the exposure time so that I get a “normal” exposure in the camera (a bit more than three minutes in this case) light and color that are not visible to the human eye become visible to the camera. During RAW conversion I did not significantly alter the colors – these are what ACR refers to as “as shot” color balance. So we get this wild, luminous effect in the fog clouds and the brightness of the light on the structure becomes similar to that of daytime light… except the colors are different and many of the shadows come from sources that would be impossible in a daytime 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.

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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, structure, scaffold, steel, wire, industrial, equipment, beam, steps, ladder, rust, yellow, fog, sky, illumination, artificial, light, usa, tower, overhead, equpment, cage, platform, bolt, rivet, stock

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