2014, Day 185 - Independence

Happy Independence Day!

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 60/f2.4R
60mm, f8, 1 sec @ 400 ISO

2013, Day 235 - Zipping

As the Hood to Coast runners were making their way through Portland I was taking pictures of another dramatic evening of clouds.  You can see their ghosts on the Hawthorne bridge and the trails of tail lights from passing cars.  I love long exposures, the capture the world in a different way and chaos evaporates.

Fuji X-E1, Fuji 18-55/f2.8-4
18mm, f11, 8 sec @ 200 ISO

2012, Day 259 - Under the bridge

Last night I got a text asking if I was up for a little urban adventuring.  It has been a while since I've gone out with photography as my purpose rather than an incidental activity so I quickly agreed.  One of the sure signs of summer's impending demise is the shorter days but the early sunset does not necessarily bring the evening chill just yet.  Brian and I headed to the industrial area and wandered, working the angles and the light with a single lens and a tripod.

This is underneath the Hawthorne Bridge.  I decided it looked best dark, moody and gritty because the eye is drawn to the intersecting lines and edges.  It was a great evening and one of my favorite things about the end of summer.

Canon 1D X, Canon 50/f1.2L
50mm, f2.8, 2 sec @ 320 ISO

2012, Day 186 - Flash of agony

The 4th of July is a holiday whose celebrations I cannot fathom.  I understand celebrating our independence but the way we do it is riddled with contradiction.  All week I've been reading stories about people losing fingers, being blinded, taking trips to the emergency room all to blow up a little bit of our country.  And then there are the people responsible for fighting to protect our interests.  It doesn't matter what your political beliefs are, there can be no doubt that we should honor the people who risk their lives to protect ours and some come back bearing emotional scars that are ripped open again by fireworks .  While I love the sight of fireworks I could live without them to protect the young, the scarred and the stupid.

Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
27mm, f5.6, 1.6 sec @ 250 ISO

2012, Day 162 - Reacquainted

Last night I had the pleasure of taking a photo walk with Garrison Hullinger, noted designer and friend of many years.  He has said on more than one occasion that he wanted to spend some time behind the lens and get reacquainted with photography.  Unfortunately his schedule is such that he has little free time but we managed a little waterfront walk last night.

It was a brisk evening and you could hear the sounds of the bands on the waterfront playing for the Rose Festival.  Why is it that music at these kinds of events always sound the same?  Kind of like at the state fair...  Anyway, I shot five bracketed shots knowing that some details would be easily lost.  I needed one exposure just for the freeway along the left side but decided to allow the reflection in the water to get blown out to serve as a visual anchor.  Then I had to recover some of the details in the sky and the water while keeping the rich contrast on the buildings and bridges.  The result is iconic Portland, I love this city!

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105/f4L IS
24mm, f5.6, merged layers of 8, 15, and 30 sec @ 200 ISO

2012, Day 150 - Par-tay!

It has been a long day and I felt like going out with a bang!  Woohoo!  What a terrible pun...

Another firework shot from Friday night.  I like the squiggly light trail in this one and the nice clean lines of the explosion.  I brought out the smoke a little bit, I think it gives it a little more atmosphere, a little industrial grunge.

Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
27mm, f5.6, 1.6 sec @ 250 ISO

2012, Day 94 - Sunset robbery

Tonight's photo was taken last night with Brian Matiash along Portland's scenic waterfront.  The skies were so rich and the colors vibrant but playing with the photos for a while I decided to see what it would look like in black and white.  I was so pleased with the results that I didn't mind losing the color in the sky because there is more than enough texture to make up for its absence.  In this case less is more and I am quite taken with the results.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Sigma 50/f1.4EX
50mm, f8, HDR of 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, and 1/15 sec @ 200 ISO

2012, Day 50 - Patience

I love long exposures, especially around water.  By leaving the shutter open longer water starts to look silky and clouds become blurs of motion.  The smallest light source becomes a little sun and the darkest night seems bright when you measure time in minutes rather than seconds or fractions of a second.  The key though is to be patient.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f4, 3 min 58 sec @ 500 ISO

2012, Day 49 - Stillness

This evening I went down to the waterfront to take a few long exposures and while I was there waiting for the minutes to go by I was kept company by a heron.  He stayed for about fifteen minutes, hardly moving and saying even less.  Ducks swam by and he just stood there so when I finished one of my seven minute exposures I changed lenses and took this picture.  The water in the background is reflecting the lights from downtown Portland but he didn't seem to mind the bright lights at all.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 70-200/f2.8L IS Mark II
165mm, f4, 2.5 sec @ 1000 ISO

2012, Day 15 - Bridges

What is now Portland was once three cities, Portland, East Portland, and Albina.  Their divisions were based on the geography of the area with the major border being the Willamette River.  As such a number of bridges have been constructed to keep the different parts of the city easily accessible and to minimize congestion.  There are ten primary spans and in this picture you can see the Hawthorne Bridge on the right and the Marquam Bridge on the left.

I took this photo on my way home last night.  It has been a long day and I was reluctant to make the stop to take pictures but these sunsets can't possibly last and I don't want to be kicking myself over a fifteen minute delay in getting home.  As it turns out it was absolutely worth the brief detour!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
23mm, f5.6, 1/30 sec @ 100 ISO

2011, Day 274 - Whisps

Some evening you can see a sunset coming and can't quite move fast enough.  The window of opportunity for a long exposure to capture a sunset is measured in minutes, the light changes so quickly that if you aren't ready you end up relying more on luck to get a good exposure; planning always helps but only when the conditions cooperate.

I took this earlier in the week, I had to pick up a friend to run an errand and even though we were set to be early I begged her indulgence to stop and take a few pictures of the skyline as the sun drifted lower and highlighted the amazing clouds.  I never get tired of looking at the Hawthorne Bridge and I like how this vantage point has the counter-weights for the drawbridge framing the office building in the distance.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
35mm, f16, 20 sec @ 200 ISO

2011, Day 267 - Silk skies

You Google+ people are keeping me on my toes.  I hope you will forgive my shoddy memory but it seems like everyone was posting sunsets today and while I have quite a few I wanted to share something new and Portland delivered!  Although there weren't the dramatic colors that we sometimes get the clouds tonight were exceptional and I decided to take a long exposure to smooth out the water.  I suppose I could have used clouds from a shorter exposure but I like their movement, it gives the city a different look.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f11, 120 sec @ 100 ISO

2011, Day 222 - Nocturnal adventures

I've been enjoying all the inspiration that Google+ has been providing and one of the things I've been dying to try is long exposures.  The silky water, the starbursts of light, the way that stray cars, people and other objects make little impact on the final image; these are the things that make long exposures so different.

So I picked up a remote release and, using my phone's stopwatch, I've been playing down by the river.  Fortunately I had Rachel with me to provide protection from all the scary people roaming Portland (actually I feel totally safe after dark).

I wasn't the only one with this idea, as Rachel and I were waiting out a long exposure a couple more folks with camera and tripods came along.  Company is always welcome, too bad we didn't exchange information, I would be interested to see what kind of images they took home.  Oh well, next time I will volunteer mine and see if they reciprocate...

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f13, 65 sec @ 200 ISO

2011, Day 160 - Counterbalanced

It is fleet week in Portland so I took a walk along the esplanade to see if the visiting ships were illuminated.  The short answer is no, they were not, but I did walk to the west side of the river and took this picture of the Hawthorne Bridge.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
18mm, f8, 15 sec @ 320 ISO

2010, Day 335 - Remembrance

Today was World AIDS Day and in honor of all those lost to the disease the City of Portland lit the Morrison Bridge in red rather than the normal blue. The rest of the photos are just opportunistic shots of the city during a pause in the rainfall.

The Morrison Bridge.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

29mm, f2.8, HDR of 1/15, 1/6, 0.4, 1 and 2.5 sec @ 400 ISO

Tracks in the east side industrial area.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

29mm, f2.8, HDR of 1/5, 1/2, 1.3, 3.2 and 8 sec @ 400 ISO

The Hawthorne Bridge with OHSU in the background.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

35mm, f5.6, HDR of 0.3, 0.8, 2, 5 and 13 sec @ 400 ISO

2010, Day 320 - Trolling

This evening's photos come from beneath the eastern end of the Hawthorne Bridge. While lurking in the shadows I felt a bit like the troll under the bridge in the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Anywho, I'm still playing with HDR and the urban landscape. Most of the year has been devoted to the natural landscapes in and around Portland that I thought maybe it is time I balance that with images of the city.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

16mm, f4, HDR of 0.8, 2, 5, 13 and 30 sec @ 200 ISO

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

19mm, f4, HDR of 1/15, 1/6, 0.4, 1 and 2.5 sec @ 320 ISO

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II

16mm, f5.6, HDR of 1.3, 3.2, 8, 20 and 30 sec @ 200 ISO