After a strenuous travel (Nuremberg-Amsterdam-Seattle-Drive to Portland) I went direct to the office for a first set of meetings. When I got into the hotel I was on a 26 hour day, minus two and a half of sleep I caught on the plane. This happens regularly and it doesn’t kill me as long as it doesn’t happen every week. Weather was gruesome and as feared, my super tight schedule didn’t allow me to see much of Portland during this visit at all. At least I stayed in downtown this time, in the very nice boutique hotel “The Heathman”, a Portland landmark (opened 1923) and recently the set for a few scenes in the movie “50 Shades of Grey”. An complementary upgrade to a suite really made my evening after this super long day. The hotel is beautiful with a stunning library and plenty art work. I plan to do a separate post about it in the future. To learn more about a cooking event I participated in and see photos of two of the PNW’s stunning volcanos continue reading after the jump…
As team building event at the start of the project we took everyone cooking to the “Kitchen at Middleground Farms” near Wilsonville. Divided into six groups and under tutoring by experienced chefs we created a buffet full of tasty food, having a blast doing so. Some example of the food you can see below. I also had some excellent Oregon Red Wine to go with it. I never realized that Oregon produces great wines in the Portland area. I snapped the images below (plus many more that are censored 😉 ) with the PEN-F and the mZuiko 12mm F/2.0. A great cam/lens combo for unobtrusive event photography, because you don’t need flash as this lens lets in a lot of light.
So after two intense days of meetings and a bit of evening fun I headed back to Seattle for my flight home on Saturday around noon. While the drive to Portland was completely washed out through torrential rain, the Friday afternoon drive back to Seattle was in great weather. And I finally got to see my mountains, as between Portland and Seattle on Interstate 5 you drive along the Cascade Range and are able to see the giant volcanos Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens (the one with the top blown of on May 18th 1980, one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in the 20th century) and Mount Rainier. Mount Hood (you can see photo with an areal view of it that I took on my last flight into Portland here) is the one closest to Portland. With 11,239 feet (3,426 m) it is the highest peak in Oregon.
Can you believe I took this while driving by myself on the Interstate over a bridge crossing the Columbia River. Image specs was 1/500 sec @ f/7.1 and ISO 200. Please don’t try this at home. I converted the photo to monochrome because I was not that happy with the colors, that had a very bluish cast that probably came because of the tinted car windows. But in monochrome it looks ok.
The sight of Mt. Rainier, the highest mountain of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest and the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington was one of the highlights of this trip. This large active volcano located 54 miles southeast of Seattle has a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m). On a free weekend in the summer I definitely plan a visit to the mountain and its National Park.
Also this photo I took while driving on Interstate 5 towards Seattle. Image specs where 1/200 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 200. Camera for both mountain photos was the PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-150mm Travel Zoom.
As I write this I’m having a coffee in a Barnes & Noble bookstore and enjoying the free WiFi there. The internet in the Holiday Inn Express Seattle North I was staying the night was unusuable. The original idea was to do some shooting in downtown Seattle, but the weather is just to gruesome once more. I’ll save this for one of my next trips. But now I’m looking forward to a week back home before returning to the PNW. Will head to the airport now.
Have a great weekend!
Marcus
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When my husband interviewed with his current company, he was given a room at the Heathman and he raved about it. Now, we live in an apartment just down the street and although I’ve not had the pleasure of staying at the Heathman, we enjoy the chocolate store on a regular basis. Please tell me you pop in and tried the melted chocolate drink? It’s heaven!
Thanks so much for commenting! Just returned from another trip to Portland and a stay at the Heathman. I saw the choc store but as I left for work at 6 and returned late in the eve I never made it in there. But will be back in PDX the week after next and will definitely give it a try! Thanks for pointing it out! Marcus
Relished all your beautiful pictures in this post and others. Specially love the Mt. Rainier one – sucks you into another dimension. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your beautiful comment! Means a lot! Marcus
Glad you got to see the mountains / volcanoes and it’s such a beautiful sight. Love the black and white shot and the drama it displays.
Thanks for your kind words. It is not the same as being in the middle of the Sierra, and for sure I will get much closer to those magnificent mountains in the summer. But seeing them on my return drive already meant much!
A little teaser of what is to come 😉
Wow! Das sind ja beeindruckende Aufnahmen!! Extrem stimmungsvoll und wohl durchdacht! Ich liebe die USA (abgesehen von deren Oberhaupt) und will unbedingt wieder hin! Die Aufnahmen wecken ne ganze Menge Sehnsucht und ich weiß nicht ob ich Dir dafür dankbar sein soll ;-))) An einem Montagmorgen…. 😉
Danke – jeder braucht seine Sehnsüchte, man muss ja schließlich wissen wofür man malocht 😉 Hab’ eine gute Woche! Marcus
the reflection on the car is just awesome… and that food, omg…
travels must be exhausting sometimes, but at least are great photo opportunities 🙂
have a great week ahead, Marcus!
Thank you, Alexandra, much appreciated! And to you also a great week! Marcus
Great collection of shots! The food looks great!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! The food also tasted yummie 🙂 !!
Marcus, welcome back!!! You images are just delightful. Did you like Seattle? Was it rainy and cold there?
I couldn’t take my eyes from mountains. They are amazingly beautiful. And food looks very delicious. I hope you are going to have plenty of rest soon:)
Thank you so much for your kind words, Kaya, they really mean a lot to me! Seattle was rainy and cold!!! So instead shooting in the rain I got some shopping done 😉 ! I have a full week without travel (apart from a drive down to Munich on Tuesday) before I head back to Portland on the 27th. Have a great week! Marcus
Ha I thought I was the only snap n drive bad person 😂(Yes only when safe). One day I really want to see mountains like that! Got to thru a window for about 10 minutes in Colorado and love them too! 26 hour day – ouch!
Thanks so much for commenting!
So pleased you were able to see the mountains. We loved the dramatic scenery of Mt. Rainer and Cascades N Parks when we visited so hope you get an opportunity to visit later in the year.
I’m sure this will work out, Marion. Did you a post about the Cascades? Need to check 😉 ! Have a great week! Marcus
Hi Marcus, we visited the Cascades about 15 years ago in the good old pre digital photograph days so I’ll wait until we make a return visit before posting about them. We then took a car ferry across to Victoria Island and that was so beautiful too! Marion.
Thanks for letting me know!
Too bad you’re not getting good weather. Seattle is such a photogenic city!
Thanks for commenting 🙏😊! I’ll have my next chance a week from Monday 😉👍
Great shots and post, Marcus. Portland is wonderful and that drive is incredible. You are very lucky to have gotten that shot of Mt. Hood… and survived. What we do for our art… Glad you had a great trip.
Thanks, Jane, really appreciate your kind words. Traffic was very slow and I was in the right lane, so shooting one handed with the Olympus through the LCD screen was quite doable, from my continuous burst 10 frames one got the mountain all right.
Good work, Marcus!
Great shots Marcus! The mountains look awesome and I do like the monochrome very much. Be careful!! Hands on the wheel. 😉 I love the hotel shot too and like someone above said, the reflection in the car is beautiful. The food looks good too. Going to eat now. 🙂 Stay dry!
Thanks, Janet, really appreciate it. I guess when I comeback from a trip with 3 or 4 decent pics I need to count this as success, photographically 😉. It’s pouring in the Emerald City, but I’m dry in front of my Delta plane ready to board for Paris.
Success indeed. Have a safe flight! 🙂
Thanks 🙂
ALl great shots, but amazing driving shot!
Thanks, Vicki, much appreciated.
Marcus, love the reflection off the wet car.
Thanks Tim for your kind words! Marcus
Marcus you’re welcome.
You took them while driving? Wow. They look great. The area is beautiful, so if you ever get to spend more time there do it 🙂
Thanks, will do! Visiting the Cascades has been on my bucket list forever. Having a project up here helps finally exploring these awesome mountains. And yes, I drove 😉 , but always had a hand on the wheel!
I really envy you having such a steady hand 🙂
Or having a camera with good image stabilization 😉