The Streets of Portland – Finally

Here it is, my first real photo of the Streets of Portland, literally. Last night after work I drove up the South Portland’s Marquam Hill (aka Pill Hill), where the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU)  and the Portland VA Medical Center operate large hospitals, whose modern architecture is quite fascinating of its own. But my real target was the upper station of the Portland Aerial Tram, from which you have a stunning view across downtown, the Willamette River with its many bridges and on clear days onwards to Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. I found free parking behind the Doernbechers Children’s Hospital and walked over to the Tram Station.

I knew that from the station there is this great view of Interstates 405 and 5 merging and crossing the Willamette River on the Marquam Bridge. And this is the photo I really wanted to take. So I brought the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the mZuiko 40-150mm F/2.8 Pro Zoom and my Rollei travel tripod. Temperatures last night where just above freezing and there was a nasty rainfall. Camera and lens are waterproof, so that was more of a problem for me with my thin and not waterproof jacket. The good thing was that inside the Tram Station I was protected by the roof. I put the tripod on the railing at the far end that is open towards city and river, and snapped away. The photo came out just as I had hoped for. Image specs were 8 seconds (to capture the light trails of the traffic crossing the bridge), f/10 and ISO 200. Focal length was the far end of my zoom at 150mm (equals 300mm in full frame) and I used the 2sec self timer of the camera to avoid any shake after pressing the shutter.

This is a good example of a planned shot, where you have in mind what you want to do and then just execute.

I took a few more photos on Marquam Hill, but need time to process and edit, A post will follow. And then of course I need to really hit the Streets of Portland. But due to a full business agenda this might have to wait until my next trip.

Have a great day!

Marcus

Update 3/15: Entering this shot in the WP Weekly Photo Challenge “Atop”

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