Tag Archives: waterfront

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Gated Pier

Leave a comment
Gated Pier
Gated Pier

Gated Pier. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A metal gate blocks the entrance to a pier along San Francisco Bay

This is another in the recent series of photographs made along the San Francisco waterfront, walking along various less-visited areas and occasionally poking my head into places that are more industrial than tourism oriented. I’d have to review more closely to remember for certain, but I believe this one was in the China Basin waterfront area.

As I walked slowly along this section of the waterfront I paused frequently to photograph buildings and other features of the area. This is an area in transition, and taken as a whole this part of the waterfront ranges from old and dilapidated, through working piers, and right on up to remodeled and updated areas reoriented towards business or tourism. By comparison to some of the older working piers, this one seems awfully neat and clean, with the exception of some fabric pushed up against the wall at the far left. The stark lines and stark morning light, open to the vast sky above the bay caught my attention.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Decaying Shoreline Docks

Leave a comment
Decaying Shoreline Docks
Decaying Shoreline Docks

Decaying Shoreline Docks. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Decaying docks along the San Francisco Bay waterfront

Early on a late-spring morning I arrived in San Francisco on the train, reaching the waterfront area not too long after sunrise and then exploring on foot. I wandered over into the China Basin area, which is currently a hotbed of construction projects. This formerly almost abandoned area is now the location of many new buildings and projects.

I passed through those areas and soon arrived at the waterfront, which so far does not show much of the newness that is found a bit further from the shoreline. Here a rocky breakwater runs along the edge of the water, and old broken down piers sag above and sometimes into the water. Out on the bay there are tankers moored on the horizon, and the brilliant morning sun was rising above a thin fog back on the east side of the bay. For some odd reason, an old lawn chair sets near one end of this rickety dock.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

Leave a comment
Abandoned Piers, San Francisco
Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Abandoned piers along the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay

I found this wonderful dilapidated and weathered structure while walking along a somewhat out-of-the-way section of the San Francisco Bay waterfront. Technically, it isn’t all that obscure, as there is a lot of new development going in not far from here, yet this specific spot and a few others in this area seem like they have not been touched in quite a while.

I’m a fan of photographing the Bay Shoreline early in the morning, when I can shoot into the rising sun, often with backlit fog and morning haze and occasionally with distant objects on the bay or along its far shore making faint appearances in the photograph. In this shot there are several very large tankers anchored far out in the bay along the horizon line, and beyond that the thinning fog still sits over the east bay shoreline. There are other surprises in this photograph, too. Among them are the odd lawn chair sitting precariously on the wreck of this old pier. Also in the frame are a nearly submerged collapsed pier a bit further off, a small row boat with several people in it, and one of the ship yard cranes that are found along the waterfront.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor

Leave a comment
Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor
Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor

Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor. Newport, Oregon. August 20, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boats at anchor at the docks along the old waterfront in Yaquina Bay, Oregon

During our return from Seattle, Washington in late August (2013) we stopped on Portland and then headed over to the coast and took the long, slow, and scenic route back to California. We spent the first day of this drive along the Oregon coast, more or less driving though but stopping frequently anywhere we saw something interesting. For those who don’t know, the Oregon coast might in some ways remind one of portions of the California coast, especially in northern California, but the ocean seems a bit wilder up here and the towns perhaps even further apart.

The town of Newport is one of the larger ones along this route, and it sits next to the large Yaquina Bay, which is crossed by an impressive and old-school steel bridge consisting of a series of arches. We stopped to photograph the bridge and noticed that the old port was nearby, so we detoured down there to see what we could see. Being familiar with ports more devoted to pleasure and tourist pursuits (Monterey Bay, anyone?), it seemed to me that this little area was still more of a working port. We spent enough time here to walk along the waterfront and make a few photographs, mostly of the densely packed boats tied up at the docks alongside the bay.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.