NW Portland

Lillies

Water lillies bloom at the Portland Chinese Garden

Biking

Biking across the Willamette River

Portland is a very bike-friendly town. Lots of bike trails and bike lanes means lots of people on two wheels! Except for that one time I saw a guy riding a unicycle to work. But that's Portland for ya.

PDX Essentials

Insider's Guide to Portland is a pretty good reference book to those looking to explore ol' Stumptown. Streetwise Guide Portland is a laminated street map that includes a map for the MAX Light Rail.

Behind is a job hunting skills book called What Color is Your Parachute?, which you may need to score a job in Portland' notoriusly bad job market.

And lastly, a manual so that you actually know how to use your $1500 DSLR to take glorius pictures about town.

May June Flowers

The warm weather hit us a bit later than usual, but boy did it hit! 100+ degrees two days in a row. Things will cool off to a much more tolerable 80 degrees tommorow.

Old Armor Yellow

The Union Pacific Railroad

Still running, after establishing the first transcontinental road in the US at Promontory Summit all the way back in 1869.

Bridge of Steel

Steel Bridge

First double lift railroad bridge built across the Willamette (1888) by Union Pacific. They still own it to this day and lease it to the Oregon Department Transportation, who subleases it to Trimet.

The bridge get its name from the fact that it was built out of steel. I know, I was hoping for something less obvious too.

All I wanna do is have some fun

Hawthorne District

Home to fun digs such as the Bagdad Theater (where patrons can watch a movie while enjoying beer and pizza) and an electic mix of local high-end fashion, Hawthorne Blvd is a favorite hangout for anyone looking for good eateries and shopping.

The street is also home to the Powell's Home & Garden bookstore. Sure, more ubiquitous and less conspicuous brands such as Aveda and Coldstone have also moved in -- but don't let them fool you, there's plenty of fun to be had in this neighborhood still.

The View

View outside the window

Includes view of Steel Bridge and the Rose Garden.

Haven't had a chance to do much exploring in the past week -- but fear not, forecasts call for lots of sun and temperatures in the 80's and 90's!

Also, I've pushed up the size of the photos from 500px wide to 700. Hopefully it provides a better view -- on my 24" monitor it looked too tiny. ;)

Duck Geese out of in water

A gaggle swimming in the Willamette River

Ever at a loss of how to describe a group of birds, such as "a murder of crows" or "a raft of ducks?" Here is a comprehensive list of names for groups of different birds.

A Bridge Too Far

Hawthorne Bridge

Portland is sometimes called "Bridgetown" due to the fact that it has so many bridges. Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, and Ross Island bridges are the main bridges that connect West and East Portland, which is separated by the Willamette River.

Woody Trails

Hoyt Arboretum

Hoyt Arboretum is 185 acres of lush greenery which includes over 1,100 different species of trees and 12 miles of hiking trails. For those who are dendro-challenged, many trees are accompanied with labels for easy identification.

Weekend Fun

Portland Saturday Market

Food, local artisans, and performances galore every Saturday and Sunday.

Downtown

Downtown Portland from across the Willamette River

Portland is reknowned for being a well-planned urban city. For example, the city blocks were purposely made small (200 ft x 200 ft) to encourage walking and increase valuable corner lots.

There is free public trasnportation within the immediate area of downtown (aka "Fareless Square") via the MAX Lightrail.

In this sweeping view of downtown (taken from across the river on the east bank), one can see the Oregon Convention Center to the left as well as the Rose Garden (home of the Portland Trailblazers) to the right.

Art of Zen

Portland Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden is tucked into a cusp in Portland's West Hills, situated at about five hundred feet above sea level. It is a haven of tranquil beauty that has been proclaimed one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

Foodstuffs

Green Papaya Sald with Duck

Portland offers an electic mix of cuisine for its denizens -- this particular restaurant, formerly called Pho Van is located in the trendy Pearl District and offers contemporary Vietnamese cuisine.

The review site claims that it is closed -- they have actually renovated and gone through a name and menu change. It remains a popular choic for many visitors of the Pearl after First Thursdays.

Polly want cracker juice

Lorikeet feeding at the Oregon Zoo

The zoo was officially established in 1888, starting with a Portland pharmacist by the name of Richard Knight who donated his collection of animals to the city.

Today, the zoo is home to 1,880 specimens on 64 acres.

The lorikeet feeding exhibit allows visitors to purchase nectar (fortified fruit juice) in a paper cup and feed the birds. Watch out though, you may get a line of hungry birds waiting for a sip!

Urban Paradise

Portland Classical Chinese Garden

Built in 2000 and nestled within downtown Portland, the garden is a tranquil contrast to the rapid movement of urban city life. The garden features an 8,000 sq ft man-made lake, tea house where one can sip tea and enjoy the view (pictured), and the culture and virtuous craftsmanship of Portland's Chinese sister city Suzhou.

Fair skies

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

The riverfront park is host to events such as the Waterfront Blues Festival (July), Oregon Brewers Festival (July), and Bite of Oregon (August). The park is also the host of many Rose Festival events.

Everything's coming up roses

Today, in light of the festive mood, a special triple-dose of PDP!


Portland Rose Festival - Grand Floral Parade

The Portland Rose Festival Organization has organized the Rose Festival every June since 1907. The Grand Floral Parade is the second largest of its kind in the United States (next to the Pasadena Rose Parade), and attracts over 500,000 visitors every year.


Spectators line up on the parade route

Spectators camp out as much as 18 hours before the actual parade for prime seats.


The One More Time Around Again Marching Band

The biggest marching band in the world and its 500+ members rock the streets of Portland!

Dragon Boat Race

Dragon Boat racing on the Willamette River

Dragon boat races are traditionally held to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, who was regarded as the greatest Chinese poet of all time. Dragonboating thus is the only sport to be celebrated as a national holiday. The Chinese lunar calendar date is 5/5 which usually corresponds to a date in June.

The boats themselves are 40' 6" long and 5' 4" wide, and weigh 1760 lbs. (800 kg). Four of the boats used in this race were donated by the city of Kaohsiung, Portland's sister city in Taiwan.

Portland has been the host of the Dragon Boat Race every year since 1989. This year's competition has a mammoth participant base of almost 100 teams hailing from all over the world.

Welcome to the City of Roses

Portland International Rose Garden

This site is an attempt to capture a small piece of the splendor and glory that the city of Portland, OR has to offer. I have just moved to Portland last month and thought this would be an excellent way to encourage myself to explore my new surroundings while enjoying and furthering my photography hobby.

Every single picture on this page will be taken by myself, using my Canon EOS 30D DSLR camera. I may also be using my backup cameras which include the Canon EOS Rebel XT or my Sony Ericsson W800i cameraphone. I do some post-processing of the pictures in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) and/or Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the view!

*Disclaimer: If you want to use any of these images for non-commercial purposes, please feel free -- all I ask is that you link back to this page as a reference source.