Never mind that I took this photo last February, it perfectly portrays our current weather. Through the rainy Portland Streetcar window, the PICA building looks cool to me. PICA equals Portland Institute for Contemporary Art--it's located at 415 SW 10th Avenue in downtown Portland.
Showing posts with label Portland Streetcar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland Streetcar. Show all posts
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
A break from the Nature's Beauty series--rain has returned
Never mind that I took this photo last February, it perfectly portrays our current weather. Through the rainy Portland Streetcar window, the PICA building looks cool to me. PICA equals Portland Institute for Contemporary Art--it's located at 415 SW 10th Avenue in downtown Portland.
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Public Art - a vivid mural on the corner of NE Grand Avenue and NE Broadway Street
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I took this photo on Saturday, April 27, while waiting for the Portland Streetcar so that I could go to the Farmers Market at Portland State--I decided to take the scenic route on it instead of a couple of buses. I got off the streetcar for a quick stop at Walgreens, looking for a wristwatch. They don't sell wristwatches at Walgreens! Gosh! Anyway, while I waited for the next streetcar, I finally got to take a photo of this mural. Next time maybe I'll have enough time to walk across the street and try to get one without parked vehicles covering up a bit of the lower border.
Naturally I'm curious about the subject of the mural, so I went Googling.
Found on another photographer's Flickr: Sponsors of this mural are the Portland-Mutare Sister City Association and Africa Aids Response. It was hand painted by the people of Portland in 2007. It is located at NE 6th & Broadway.
Also found on the Internet:
I took this photo on Saturday, April 27, while waiting for the Portland Streetcar so that I could go to the Farmers Market at Portland State--I decided to take the scenic route on it instead of a couple of buses. I got off the streetcar for a quick stop at Walgreens, looking for a wristwatch. They don't sell wristwatches at Walgreens! Gosh! Anyway, while I waited for the next streetcar, I finally got to take a photo of this mural. Next time maybe I'll have enough time to walk across the street and try to get one without parked vehicles covering up a bit of the lower border.
Naturally I'm curious about the subject of the mural, so I went Googling.
Found on another photographer's Flickr: Sponsors of this mural are the Portland-Mutare Sister City Association and Africa Aids Response. It was hand painted by the people of Portland in 2007. It is located at NE 6th & Broadway.
Also found on the Internet:
- Hope is Vital, 2007 Artworks: Mural (painted)
- Artists Matt Bellingham, Heidi Schultz
- Collection City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council Materials
- Latex paint on concrete
- Dates: Installed, 2007
- Description: This mural's purpose is to create global solidarity and educate the Portland community about Portland's sister city, Mutare, Zimbabwe, and humanitarian efforts there. Underneath the inspiring message, "Hope is Vital," the sun shines on a yellow medical clinic Portland helped build for its sister city. In a show of support, persons from both Portland and Mutare hold hands, dance, and drum to celebrate life, above the text "it takes a planet to save a village."
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Seen on or from mass transit on Saturday, March 9, 2013
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Seen on the 12 TriMet bus: Usually I sit where this little girl sits, or across from her in the parallel row of seats beneath the windows on the passenger side of the bus. This particular morning the mother and daughter had spread out over these three seats, and across from them a couple of loud, out-of-the-ordinary women took up those three seats, so I sat here instead. I'm glad that I did, because I had the chance to snap this photo, not taking enough time to focus properly. To me, her face and hairstyle take me back to the 1950s. When the 12 stopped at the intersection of NE Couch and MLK, I got off and walked a block east, then a block south to wait for the streetcar. My goal, Memorial Coliseum and the Oregon FIRST Robotics competition, my free access to the building itself, as well as a chance to witness high-school-student-produced-Frisbee-flinging robots!
Seen from the Portland Streetcar CL Line: For a few minutes I watched this man who had stopped where I waited at the bus/streetcar stop on the corner of SE Grand Avenue and East Burnside, bus transfer grasped tightly in his left hand. All the while I hoped that I would get the chance to snap a photo. Finally, after I boarded the streetcar, I stood up as we slowly pulled away and got this one. I can't figure out what fascinates me the most--the two-tone shoes, the black-and-white striped socks, the Mr.-Green-Jeans cuffed just so below the knee, the matching-toned-plaid jacket with the black fur collar which looked too warm in the sunshine, the multi-pocketed mossy green satchel, the white-collared, long-sleeved dress shirt, or the burgundy and gold tie. To tell you the truth, I've decided that the well-thought-out components of his outfit fascinated me most of all, as they combined to create just the look he was after. Even more fascinating, every single item he wore appeared to be brand-spanking-new.
I love Portland 'cause you never know what you're going to see next!
Seen on the 12 TriMet bus: Usually I sit where this little girl sits, or across from her in the parallel row of seats beneath the windows on the passenger side of the bus. This particular morning the mother and daughter had spread out over these three seats, and across from them a couple of loud, out-of-the-ordinary women took up those three seats, so I sat here instead. I'm glad that I did, because I had the chance to snap this photo, not taking enough time to focus properly. To me, her face and hairstyle take me back to the 1950s. When the 12 stopped at the intersection of NE Couch and MLK, I got off and walked a block east, then a block south to wait for the streetcar. My goal, Memorial Coliseum and the Oregon FIRST Robotics competition, my free access to the building itself, as well as a chance to witness high-school-student-produced-Frisbee-flinging robots!
Seen from the Portland Streetcar CL Line: For a few minutes I watched this man who had stopped where I waited at the bus/streetcar stop on the corner of SE Grand Avenue and East Burnside, bus transfer grasped tightly in his left hand. All the while I hoped that I would get the chance to snap a photo. Finally, after I boarded the streetcar, I stood up as we slowly pulled away and got this one. I can't figure out what fascinates me the most--the two-tone shoes, the black-and-white striped socks, the Mr.-Green-Jeans cuffed just so below the knee, the matching-toned-plaid jacket with the black fur collar which looked too warm in the sunshine, the multi-pocketed mossy green satchel, the white-collared, long-sleeved dress shirt, or the burgundy and gold tie. To tell you the truth, I've decided that the well-thought-out components of his outfit fascinated me most of all, as they combined to create just the look he was after. Even more fascinating, every single item he wore appeared to be brand-spanking-new.
I love Portland 'cause you never know what you're going to see next!
Friday, 8 March 2013
Streets at Night, February 26, 2013, intersection of Burnside and 10th
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When I walked from Kenny & Zuke's back to West Burnside to wait for the bus, the Sizzle Pie lighted letters tempted me into stopping for a photo. Across West Burnside from it, you can see the Doc Martens, store. The tracks in the street, shining in the foreground of the photo, serve the Portland Streetcar. Since it wasn't cold or raining and I had 12 minutes to wait for the 20 bus just to get to the stop at SW 4th and West Burnside where I would need to transfer to the 12 or the 19, whichever arrived first, I decided to walk the six blocks. All of the books I'd bought earlier at Powell's Books fit into my backpack, so the walk was nothing but interesting--photography-wise. More coming soon.
When I walked from Kenny & Zuke's back to West Burnside to wait for the bus, the Sizzle Pie lighted letters tempted me into stopping for a photo. Across West Burnside from it, you can see the Doc Martens, store. The tracks in the street, shining in the foreground of the photo, serve the Portland Streetcar. Since it wasn't cold or raining and I had 12 minutes to wait for the 20 bus just to get to the stop at SW 4th and West Burnside where I would need to transfer to the 12 or the 19, whichever arrived first, I decided to walk the six blocks. All of the books I'd bought earlier at Powell's Books fit into my backpack, so the walk was nothing but interesting--photography-wise. More coming soon.
Friday, 1 March 2013
Seen outside the Oregon Rail Heritage Center
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Saturday, February 16, I enjoyed visiting the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, going in through the front door, a regular-sized-people-use-door, through the building with gigantic steam locomotives on each side of me (more photos soon), and out the back doors which are huge because the locomotives use them!
Out back I finally got a photo that I've been wanting to take since last September. Here's the Portland Streetcar crossing over the whole area on the bridge built especially for it. That streetcar was made at United Streetcar which is in Clackamas, Oregon, southeast of downtown. United Streetcar is a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works. On the tracks in front of me, the Nickel Plate Road 324 switcher, not operating at this moment, so I'm completely safe. To the left, those ramps are part of the Marquam Bridge, I-5 north and south. The buildings in the distance are in downtown Portland.
Saturday, February 16, I enjoyed visiting the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, going in through the front door, a regular-sized-people-use-door, through the building with gigantic steam locomotives on each side of me (more photos soon), and out the back doors which are huge because the locomotives use them!
Out back I finally got a photo that I've been wanting to take since last September. Here's the Portland Streetcar crossing over the whole area on the bridge built especially for it. That streetcar was made at United Streetcar which is in Clackamas, Oregon, southeast of downtown. United Streetcar is a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works. On the tracks in front of me, the Nickel Plate Road 324 switcher, not operating at this moment, so I'm completely safe. To the left, those ramps are part of the Marquam Bridge, I-5 north and south. The buildings in the distance are in downtown Portland.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
An intersection which I frequent
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Photos taken on Saturday, February 16, 2013, on my way home from a good Saturday out and about.
Top photo, a Portland Streetcar waits at the corner at a shelter/stop shared by it and the #6 TriMet bus. The streetcar is on SE Grand Avenue. When the traffic signal changes to green and it crosses the intersection, it will be on NE Grand Avenue. The street is crosses at the intersection is East Burnside, the thoroughfare that divides north from south in Portland. Those two young women are walking on the south side of East Burnside, heading west across SE Grand Avenue, toward the Burnside Bridge over the Willamette River--I didn't turn to watch them see where they were headed.
Of the two photos at the bottom of the collage, the one on the left is of a pedestrian whose red clutch bag, red poncho, and red socks caught my eye. She's waiting to cross East Burnside, walking south on the west side of SE Grand Avenue. Once the light changed and she started to walk, she stretched her legs out and stepped out with determination, but I didn't watch her to see where she was headed. The photo on the right is the empty bus shelter/stop, waiting for the next bus or streetcar, passengers for either one. The Plaid Pantry behind it is a convenience store--when I first moved here from Jackson, Mississippi, I found convenience stores without gas pumps to be quite strange. Back home, such a sight was few and far between.
Photos taken on Saturday, February 16, 2013, on my way home from a good Saturday out and about.
Top photo, a Portland Streetcar waits at the corner at a shelter/stop shared by it and the #6 TriMet bus. The streetcar is on SE Grand Avenue. When the traffic signal changes to green and it crosses the intersection, it will be on NE Grand Avenue. The street is crosses at the intersection is East Burnside, the thoroughfare that divides north from south in Portland. Those two young women are walking on the south side of East Burnside, heading west across SE Grand Avenue, toward the Burnside Bridge over the Willamette River--I didn't turn to watch them see where they were headed.
Of the two photos at the bottom of the collage, the one on the left is of a pedestrian whose red clutch bag, red poncho, and red socks caught my eye. She's waiting to cross East Burnside, walking south on the west side of SE Grand Avenue. Once the light changed and she started to walk, she stretched her legs out and stepped out with determination, but I didn't watch her to see where she was headed. The photo on the right is the empty bus shelter/stop, waiting for the next bus or streetcar, passengers for either one. The Plaid Pantry behind it is a convenience store--when I first moved here from Jackson, Mississippi, I found convenience stores without gas pumps to be quite strange. Back home, such a sight was few and far between.
Friday, 15 February 2013
Seen from the Portland Streetcar
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I'm in the streetcar on a bridge that goes over the railroad tracks, taking this photo through the huge window. The slanted-roof white building is the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. The orange vintage rail cars are part of its collection. Inside that building stand three gorgeous, huge, unbelievable, vintage steam locomotives--seems like there are other vintage railroad pieces in there, too, not as large but still impressive, but I can't remember exactly what they are or how many. Anyway, it's a great place to visit for anyone who loves trains and/or steam locomotives. Only thing was, on this particular day, I got there 45 minutes early and couldn't wait around--cold, brisk wind and no nearby public bathroom. Anyway, I'm ahead of myself in relating those two facts--more about what I did when I first got off the streetcar in an upcoming post or two.
I really like this photo, all of the lines and angles, the slightly curved bridge known as the MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Viaduct. I love how the oranges and reds on the vintage rail cars match the oranges and reds on the triangle flag barrier strung on a fence parallel with the vintage rail cars--it also has yellow triangle flags on it. Both the rail cars and the flag barrier match the word BETTER printed on a billboard there on the right edge of the photo. When I looked the image in its largest original size, I could see that those yellow letters spell BETTER BUTTER, so that means the ad is for a product I assume to be known as Better Butter Better--the yellow letters look like their top layer was the same red-orange as the last word, and that top layer has been peeled off those two words, all except for the bottom bit of the right leg of the R.
Taking photos and then checking them out thoroughly is so much fun! I altered this one at BeFunky with the enhance, sharpen, fill light, and HDR effects and at PicMonkey with the contrast and highlight effects.
I'm in the streetcar on a bridge that goes over the railroad tracks, taking this photo through the huge window. The slanted-roof white building is the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. The orange vintage rail cars are part of its collection. Inside that building stand three gorgeous, huge, unbelievable, vintage steam locomotives--seems like there are other vintage railroad pieces in there, too, not as large but still impressive, but I can't remember exactly what they are or how many. Anyway, it's a great place to visit for anyone who loves trains and/or steam locomotives. Only thing was, on this particular day, I got there 45 minutes early and couldn't wait around--cold, brisk wind and no nearby public bathroom. Anyway, I'm ahead of myself in relating those two facts--more about what I did when I first got off the streetcar in an upcoming post or two.
I really like this photo, all of the lines and angles, the slightly curved bridge known as the MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Viaduct. I love how the oranges and reds on the vintage rail cars match the oranges and reds on the triangle flag barrier strung on a fence parallel with the vintage rail cars--it also has yellow triangle flags on it. Both the rail cars and the flag barrier match the word BETTER printed on a billboard there on the right edge of the photo. When I looked the image in its largest original size, I could see that those yellow letters spell BETTER BUTTER, so that means the ad is for a product I assume to be known as Better Butter Better--the yellow letters look like their top layer was the same red-orange as the last word, and that top layer has been peeled off those two words, all except for the bottom bit of the right leg of the R.
Taking photos and then checking them out thoroughly is so much fun! I altered this one at BeFunky with the enhance, sharpen, fill light, and HDR effects and at PicMonkey with the contrast and highlight effects.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Seen from the Portland Streetcar
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Public art #1, wide shot from MLK, looking east at the recently installed public art on the corners of SE Grand and SE Hawthorne--to the right--and SE Grand and SE Madison--to the left. The art is the brown metal structures through which you can see the sky.
Public art #2, close up of public art at SE Grand and SE Hawthorne, seen from MLK. It's supposed to make the viewer think of a building which used to stand here.
Public art #3, close up of public art at SE Grand and SE Madison, seen from MLK. I have to admit that I find the public art in Portland rewarding, and this new one very near where I work has grown on me until I now enjoy looking at it from all sides. What you're seeing in these photos is the public art at Hawthorne Boulevard. See below what I found on the Internet about it.
Information found about this public art online:
Inversion: Plus Minus (below) is a set of towering site-specific sculptures created by artists/architects Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio. Using weathered steel angle iron, the artists are presenting “ghosts” of former buildings at two similar sites along SE Grand Avenue. One site, at Hawthorne Boulevard, will feature a matrix of metal that almost appears as a solid building. . . . In the artists’ words, “The sculptures reference the outer shells of ordinary industrial buildings found in the Central Eastside Industrial Area like those that once existed on the project sites.”
Public art #1, wide shot from MLK, looking east at the recently installed public art on the corners of SE Grand and SE Hawthorne--to the right--and SE Grand and SE Madison--to the left. The art is the brown metal structures through which you can see the sky.
Public art #2, close up of public art at SE Grand and SE Hawthorne, seen from MLK. It's supposed to make the viewer think of a building which used to stand here.
Public art #3, close up of public art at SE Grand and SE Madison, seen from MLK. I have to admit that I find the public art in Portland rewarding, and this new one very near where I work has grown on me until I now enjoy looking at it from all sides. What you're seeing in these photos is the public art at Hawthorne Boulevard. See below what I found on the Internet about it.
Information found about this public art online:
Inversion: Plus Minus (below) is a set of towering site-specific sculptures created by artists/architects Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio. Using weathered steel angle iron, the artists are presenting “ghosts” of former buildings at two similar sites along SE Grand Avenue. One site, at Hawthorne Boulevard, will feature a matrix of metal that almost appears as a solid building. . . . In the artists’ words, “The sculptures reference the outer shells of ordinary industrial buildings found in the Central Eastside Industrial Area like those that once existed on the project sites.”
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
A shared mass transit stop on SE MLK
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January 26 after the lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center, I decided to ride the Portland Streetcar down to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center to visit the steam locomotives. As you can see from this photo, the streetcar and the TriMet bus share this stop. That's the Morrison Bridge westbound approach you see there above the streetcar.
I waited while this lady boarded the bus. I think it's fantastic how that little ramp automatically folds out of the bus floor once the driver activates it. Once the bus drove off, the streetcar moved into place beside the yellow strip of ADA truncated domes which serve as a detectable safety zone, a system of textured ground surface indicators which assist blind and vision impaired pedestrians. Personally, I find them helpful, too, especially when it's been raining. I feel like they're less slick than a wet sidewalk. Anyway, the doors on the streetcar slid open and I walked on, took a seat and looked out the huge windows as we continued southward are MLK, going underneath the eastbound exit ramp of the Morrison Bridge. I love mass transit!
January 26 after the lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center, I decided to ride the Portland Streetcar down to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center to visit the steam locomotives. As you can see from this photo, the streetcar and the TriMet bus share this stop. That's the Morrison Bridge westbound approach you see there above the streetcar.
I waited while this lady boarded the bus. I think it's fantastic how that little ramp automatically folds out of the bus floor once the driver activates it. Once the bus drove off, the streetcar moved into place beside the yellow strip of ADA truncated domes which serve as a detectable safety zone, a system of textured ground surface indicators which assist blind and vision impaired pedestrians. Personally, I find them helpful, too, especially when it's been raining. I feel like they're less slick than a wet sidewalk. Anyway, the doors on the streetcar slid open and I walked on, took a seat and looked out the huge windows as we continued southward are MLK, going underneath the eastbound exit ramp of the Morrison Bridge. I love mass transit!
Monday, 7 January 2013
Seen from the Portland Streetcar
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Since the streetcar has a dedicated lane for its tracks right beside the sidewalk, taking photos through its windows can result in some good shots, unless the reflection overpowers what you're trying to photograph. Luck was with me when I took this photo on Saturday, September 29, 2012, while riding east over the Broadway Bridge on the Portland Streetcar's Central Line.
Notice the bicyclist in the lower left? Many Portlanders commute across Portland's bridges, the ones which have bicycle lanes and/or sidewalks and are open to more than vehicles. Lots of folks ride on the weekends, too. And don't think they only ride in blue sky weather. Nope. I see them riding in the rainy, cold days throughout winter.
For me, a highlight of this photo is the 1896 Union Station and its recently renovated roof--an article in The Oregonian identified the work as an upgrade, pointing out that it was the first one since the 1930s and that it was needed because of the roof's condition which meant that buckets could be found here and there inside the station, filling up with dripping rain.
The Big Pink, the tall building to the right of center, stands within walking distance of the railroad station--seven blocks--or a short ride on the MAX Yellow Line which is the MAX line that I take from downtown to the Portland Trail Blazer home NBA basketball games at the Rose Garden Arena--the MAX Yellow Line crosses the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge which is south of the Broadway Bridge and just out of sight to the left of this photo.
The curving street is NW Broadway, until it crosses West Burnside at about the vanishing point of the pavement in this photo, then it becomes SW Broadway. Burnside divides Portland into north and south, while the Willamette divides it into east and west.
On the right edge of the photo, the building you see a portion of is the main US Post Office for Portland.
Since the streetcar has a dedicated lane for its tracks right beside the sidewalk, taking photos through its windows can result in some good shots, unless the reflection overpowers what you're trying to photograph. Luck was with me when I took this photo on Saturday, September 29, 2012, while riding east over the Broadway Bridge on the Portland Streetcar's Central Line.
Notice the bicyclist in the lower left? Many Portlanders commute across Portland's bridges, the ones which have bicycle lanes and/or sidewalks and are open to more than vehicles. Lots of folks ride on the weekends, too. And don't think they only ride in blue sky weather. Nope. I see them riding in the rainy, cold days throughout winter.
For me, a highlight of this photo is the 1896 Union Station and its recently renovated roof--an article in The Oregonian identified the work as an upgrade, pointing out that it was the first one since the 1930s and that it was needed because of the roof's condition which meant that buckets could be found here and there inside the station, filling up with dripping rain.
The Big Pink, the tall building to the right of center, stands within walking distance of the railroad station--seven blocks--or a short ride on the MAX Yellow Line which is the MAX line that I take from downtown to the Portland Trail Blazer home NBA basketball games at the Rose Garden Arena--the MAX Yellow Line crosses the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge which is south of the Broadway Bridge and just out of sight to the left of this photo.
The curving street is NW Broadway, until it crosses West Burnside at about the vanishing point of the pavement in this photo, then it becomes SW Broadway. Burnside divides Portland into north and south, while the Willamette divides it into east and west.
On the right edge of the photo, the building you see a portion of is the main US Post Office for Portland.
Thursday, 3 January 2013
Seen either on or from a TriMet vehicle, be it bus or MAX, or maybe even the Portland Streetcar, which is not TriMet
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From the Portland Streetcar, headed to work, south on MLK, on November 21, 2012. As we made our way through the intersection with Burnside, I liked the way the streetlights along the sidewalks on the Burnside Bridge disappeared in the distance, as well as the shimmer of light on the Big Pink.
I took three photos--this is the second one. I've put it here because the Big Pink is more in focus in it than in the other two. In the photo, the wide blur at the base of the Big Pink is a vehicle stopped at the traffic signal.
I wonder if the driver thought I would get his/her face in the photo? No chance of that, not enough light. And, as you can tell by the blur, the streetcar was bookin' on down the street. I know that the blurry image is not driving along beside the streetcar because the streetcar tracks are adjacent to the curb without any sort of lane between them and the curb.
Oh, before I forget, in this photo you get an idea where the Portland Oregon sign is located, the sign that is the image used as the header for my blog. It's on top of a building and only looks closer to the street because of perspective and distance.
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