Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: Night

Dry Dock Detail, Night

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Dry Dock Detail, Night

Dry Dock Detail, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

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Facade, Building 101

Facade, Building 101. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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

Windows and Shadows, Building 101

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Windows and Shadows, Building 101

Windows and Shadows, Building 101. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night black and white photograph of windows, corrugated metal, and shadows on the front of Building 101, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This photograph shows details of the facade of Building 101 at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California – mainly the large window at the lower left of the front of the building, but also including some shadows cast by various items attached to the building an nearby that caught the light from nearby security lights.

After looking at the gaudy coloration from the artificial lighting on this building I thought it might be interesting – or a relief! – to try a black and white version of the close-up view.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, minsy, vallejo, california, night, nocturnal, photography, historic, window, panes, frame, wood, corrugated, metal, wall, wire, broken, glass, pipe, conduit, shadow, fence, lamp, sign, front, artificial, light, illumination, asphalt, weeds, industrial, urban, black and white, usa, stock

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

Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

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Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night

Nimitz Street, High Fog, Night. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. August 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Nimitz Street with high fog and moonlight and ambient artificial lighting, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is probably one of the iconic scenes for night photographers at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California. This shot looks up Nimitz Street near the waterfront and across railway tracks toward some of the core old buildings and beyond to the smoke stack of the power plant. It includes some of the huge overhead structures that were, as I understand it, used to move large ship components such as engines from the shops in which they were assembled to the ships under construction.

As is typical at night at Mare Island, the photograph includes a wild range of types of lighting. The 3/4 moon is partially responsible for illuminating the high fog, but the fog also picks up a warmer glow from a variety of types of lighting on the ground at Mare Island and beyond. The buildings are lit by some of the same light sources, but also by local security lightning and some street lights including tungsten, sodium vapor and perhaps even florescent sources. (When composing such shots I have to be very careful to place the camera in a position where direct light from these many sources is blocked by buildings, towers, and so forth.)

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: minsy, mare, island, naval, shipyard, historic, abandoned, decommisioned, nimitz, street, avenue, tracks, scaffolding, structure, tower, industrial, brick, building, road, window, door, quonset, hut, truss, wall, room, smoke, stack, chimney, power, plant, fog, high, star, trails, glow, night, photography, nocturnal, reflection, dark, urban, stock