Photo: "Not Just the Ascent"

I shot this image last month with my good friend +Brian Matiash (who now lives in the Bay Area after getting a job with Google!) while out at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. While not the most elaborate staircase, I loved the pastel colors and large windows in the lobby of this office-style building.

Processing:
I recently picked up a few of +Nicole S. Young's Lightroom presets and finished editing this image with a preset called 'Stormy Skies.' Though it was designed for landscapes, I felt the tones and clarity really helped this image pop.​

Photo: "Cerulean State of Consciousness"

On this particular evening a few weeks ago, I had plans to catch sunset at Sutro Baths, but when I left Twin Peaks, I could see the fog lurking over the beach. I continued north and made a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge lookout in San Francisco to check fog conditions at Fort Baker. All clear! 

While I was grabbing this exposure, the figure of a photographer began climbing down the rocks and then I recognized a familiar voice. Seems as though +

Larry Nienkark

 had the same idea. 

Sadly, we didn't get any amazing color, but it was still a gorgeous evening.

Photo: "2A34"

The former U.S. Marine Hospital in Tennessee was constructed in the 1937. At this time, the Marines operated eight hospitals within the United States. The patients at these facilities received excellent health care here and weren't nearly as crowded as the Navy facilities. 

Photo: "The Narthex"

St. Joseph's Church in San Francisco was originally constructed in 1865. Many years later, the complex was destroyed by fire during the earthquake of 1906. 

The building you see here was erected in 1913 and still stands today, but the church has been closed since 1989, when its structure was compromised during the Loma Prieta quake. 

(Read more: http://bit.ly/StJosephsChurch)

Photo: "Simmering in Light"

The Racetrack, Death Valley

I'm in the mood to continue posting night images, so here is another shot from a Death Valley trip in January. This was taken at the end of blue hour. Light painting was added to help accentuate the textures in the playa and give emphasis on the rock. 

Photo: "Leave Well Enough Alone"

Abandoned mine camp, Death Valley. 

Photo: "One Eye Open"

A few weeks ago, I got to experience an amazing fog morning from the Marin Headlands. Within moments of getting out of the car, I understood first hand why +Joe Azure spends so many mornings up here.

Not only was it incredibly beautiful, but it was also peaceful and quite surreal. An entire city exists under this fog blanket; a place where hundreds of people are commuting to work, taking their kids to school, going for a morning run, all unaware of the beautiful show that was taking place a few hundred feet above their heads. 

Photo: "Gaps In Time"

Babcock Building, South Carolina Lunatic Asylum

Much of this wing is in decent shape, but this particular restroom experienced years of decay and finally gave in. The ceiling was crumbling and the floor was collapsing between the beams. It was beautiful. 

Photo: "306"

Last night, I scanned images from the former Marine Hospital one last time before moving the folder onto another drive, the drive where images go once I'm done posting from a particular place.

I had previously felt as though I had processed all the images from this hospital that I found interesting, but another look revealed a few other photos I feel are worth sharing. 

Photo: "Which One Will Make You Grow Taller?"

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was in operation from 1854 until 1996, when the 'Base Realignment and Closure Program' shut down many military bases across the United States. It was the first west coast shipyard and was responsible for the construction of nearly one hundred ships and submarines during both World Wars.

Photo: "Merriment"

Woke up to a beautiful fog morning today. I didn't make it out for sunrise, but here's a shot from sunrise a few weeks ago at Hawk Hill.

Photo: "In Life, There Is Death"

Skull, likely that of a deer, found in the basement of a crumbling house in Sonoma, California. 

Photo: "Bunk Beds"

Patient mattresses piled in a day room of the Babcock Building at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum. 

Photo: "The Queen Of All Mines"

This is a mining cabin from a Death Valley Mine, which opened in 1917 and was was known to have the largest body of proved commercial-grade ore in the region. During the years of operation, this mine produced 16,000 tons of crude ore, which yielded 5 million lbs of lead, 100,000 ozs. silver, 1,500 ozs gold, and 146,000 lbs of copper. 

Photo: "The Patterns In My Head Never Subside"

Sunrise at the Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley

January 2013