Tag Archives: tower

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

Nimitz Avenue, Tower and Buildings

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Nimitz Avenue, Tower and Buildings
Nimitz Avenue, Tower and Buildings

Nimitz Avenue, Tower and Buildings. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. February 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tower, buildings, and power plant smokestack along Nimitz Avenue, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

One more, and perhaps the last, in the current series of Mare Island night photographs made with The Nocturnes during the first weekend of February. This scene is one that is well-known to Mare Island night photographers – a row of industrial buildings in the “historic core” of the old shipbuilding facility where huge overhead steel structures run between the machine shops and the old docks. In this photograph I decided to more or less shoot through the base of one of these giant towers. The scene is illuminated by bright and colorful artificial light and the photograph required an exposure of about a minute and a half. (I cheated and shot the 5D2 at ISO 200.) Though they may be hard to see in the small jpg, some star trails are visible in the sky near the smokestack of the old power plant.

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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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, nocturnes, night, photography, structures, nimitz, avenue, street, railroad, track, puddle, water, reflection, tower, steel, yellow, ladder, industrial, rust, core, brick, wall, window, door, roof, asphalt, north america, sky, star, trails, cyclone, fence, smokestack, power, plant, stock

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.

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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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

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Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Pacific Coast, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter surf in a rocky bay with high clouds above as last sunset light strikes the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, California.

Another weekend. Another excuse to drive to San Francisco. Another excuse to come back the long way via the Coast Highway.

This time I actually had my sights set on a location a bit south of this. I’ve been to this iconic California lighthouse before (including the well-known November lighting of the original beacon) so I usually don’t stop. As I approached I thought the light looked pretty interesting and I liked the clouds I was seeing in the sky – it is more often either fogged in or perfectly clear. I actually drove right past the turnoff to the lighthouse, I was so intent on my original location. But, as I’ve written before, I’ve learned to not drive, walk, or otherwise propel myself past a good photographic opportunity, so I pulled out soon after this point and took a look back at the lighthouse and the rugged surf. From the vantage point where I stopped a bit south of the lighthouse the light was not good at all, but at least I was able to turn around and head back to where it was interesting.

Since the light was going fast, I quickly found a spot to park, grabbed my gear, and headed out toward the edge of the low bluff just north of the lighthouse – and on this side the warm evening light, softened by some fog and ocean spray, was very nice. I shot as the sun dropped to the horizon, then made a few other photographs of some very interesting sunset clouds – I’ll post them later – before getting back in the car and heading home.

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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keywords: california, usa, landscape, winter, stock, pacific, ocean, seascape, sea, shore, pigeon point, sky, water, rock, evening, sunset, rock, rugged, coast, beach, bluff, fence, foam, wave, spray, surf, sand, high, clouds, evening, light, building, tower, light, chimney, people, hostel, historic, san mateo county

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

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

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San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

The atmosphere above the Bay varies in astonishing ways throughout the year, and it never seems to be quite the same twice. While the summer often brings the familiar banks of ocean fog, winter brings the effects of fog from the other direction in the form of tule fog forming over the inland valleys. It can be completely clear – and, for the season, warm on the coast – yet a few miles inland the lower valleys may be filled with cold, wet, ground fog.

During these conditions, the moist air can move towards San Francisco and the Bay by way of the delta. That is more or less what was happening on this morning when the very most and hazy air from inland had created this soft atmosphere and light above The City, even as higher winter clouds in clear air moved far overhead, catching the morning sun light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.