"This Is Local?"

There's an episode of "Portlandia" that my dear friend Mike Gladstone turned me onto. In it, a couple is in a restaurant learning all about the life of the chicken they were about to eat for lunch. Not only is it kinda' funny, but it's pretty dead-on in its depiction of what some Portland locals are like. The restaurant where it takes place, The Gilt Club, is an actual place, located in Northwest Portland:

This past Sunday, I was going to be shooting an event at a restaurant in Northeast Portland, but I found myself with a couple hours to kill before the shoot, so I decide to wander over the Broadway Bridge into Northwest Portland, not far from what's known as the Pearl District. I've driven over the Broadway Bridge countless times, and have always wanted to shoot Union Station, which serves Amtrak here in Portland. I figured that a walk back across the Broadway Bridge could offer up some nice photo ops, as well.

I figured, for a change, that I would stay "local".

Okay, so that was a pretty lame set-up. But the show is funny and you should watch it.

Anywho, I found my way over to Union Station, parked the truck and gathered up my gear. Unlike other outings, and despite the pleas of some well-respected photographer friends, I made the conscious decision to shoot HDR this time out. For me, HDR isn't only about light, but about texture, as well. I've been seeing the textures in the train station and Portland's bridges for months, so I was eager to shoot them.

I don't really have a great deal to write about any of this, I just wanted to share some of the HDR stuff I shot this past Sunday, and to tell you to watch Portlandia. It's funny.

 
The first thing to catch my eye was this old Mini. It was just parked off to the side of the lot, all by its lonesome. For some reason, I find the "NO CAMPING, NO FIRES, NO DUMPING" sign kinda' funny. This shot's not HDR, but I like it:

 

After shooting the Mini, I walked over to Union Station. Unfortunately, I was only able to get exterior shots. I don't know if my shooting inside would've been frowned upon, but what I do know is that it was ridiculously crowded inside, and I just didn't want to deal with the crowds. When I have more time on my hands maybe I'll do that, but it wasn't happening this time out:

Two different views (processed with two different presets) of Union Station...

As trying to shoot inside was proving to be a pipe dream, I decided to try to get some more shots from the foot of Broadway Bridge:

I imagine that, providing I don't run afoul of security or law enforcement, I could shoot in and around Union Station all day. While it doesn't enjoy the grandeur of, say, New York's Grand Central Station does, it's certainly one of the more interesting places, from a photography perspective, that I've found in Portland.

Union Station was only part of what I was here to check out and shoot, though.

Broadway Bridge spans over the Willamette River, with "Northeast" on one side and the Pearl District on the other. I decided to hoof it to mid span and take some photos:

Looking east from the west end of Broadway Bridge...

Broadway Bridge...

Condos along the Willamette...

Steel Bridge, looking south from Broadway bridge...

The Albers Brothers Milling Co. Building...

Looking east along the north side of the bridge...

The eastern bank of the Willamette River...

The tower at Union Station, as seen from mid-span on Broadway Bridge...

I'm not entirely sure that I'm diggin' how the clouds look in these photos, but I guess I can work on that next time around. All in all, I'm mildly satisfied with how things turned out. I also learned that I can get a first class seat on a train to Seattle for $51.00, so I may have to give that a shot before too long.

With having just a couple two hours to shoot, I'm happy with what I came away with, and it reminded me that, when I get the jones to do some shooting, I don't necessarily have to gas up the truck and drive to the mountains or some waterfalls in some gorge somewhere.

Sometimes it's enough when someone looks at your photos and says "So, this is local?"