Portland Photo Walk - July 24, 2010

Oh, this day brings a new adventure in photography. My friend Brian has invited me to join him and others on a Worldwide Photo Walk. Today's adventure brings us into the City of Portland. I have never been on a photo walk so this should be very interesting. What sights will I see? What people will I meet? Oh what fun!

With my backpack and camera all packed, I am ready to head to Portland before the 9:00 a.m. start time. However, I do have to stop at Slates Bakery for some provisions along the way. As I am driving along I-295, I am excited at this opportunity to try something different. As you know, I have been going to the state parks this summer so this brings me into a whole new arena. After parking my car in the Maine State Pier parking garage, I walk to find the compass and the other participants in this walk.

Our leader today is Suzanne Simmons who teaches photography to high school students and who photographs weddings. As we gather to hear our instructions, we learn about the route we can take either together or separately but we do not have to stay on the designated route. You can feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. I am thrilled to start and head off with the others when it is time to go.

Our designated route takes us from the Maine State Pier on Commercial Street up to Monument Square then back down to Commercial Street to meet at RiRas around 11:00 a.m. As I am walking, I have to concentrate and block out the urban noise around me so that I can focus on what is before me. I get in the zone and continue walking up to Fore Street.

My first shot is actually just a shot of a building and car that I just randomly shot to make sure I was actually on the start of the film. Anyway, my first actual shot shows a granite/stone structure with an elaborate railing along the street. I just love old buildings so this fits in with the things that I admire greatly. It is always amazing to me how they built these buildings. I do not know how old this building is but it is impressive to say the least. A close-up is then needed of one of the windows with its wired screens and a reflection of one of the buildings in back of me. These are Photographs 2 and 3. My fourth photograph is then a close-up of the cobble stones.

One of my fellow photographers tells me that I could get some great views from the top of the parking garage just up ahead. Oh what a great idea to be able to see the city and the harbor from up above. As I take the elevator up to the top of the parking structure, I wonder what I will see as I gaze upon this magnificent city that could have been our state capital. What I see are buildings and more buildings plus the beautiful harbor before me. Photographs 5, 7 through 10 show all the brick structures in my camera's pathway. My most interesting one is captured in Photograph 9 as I capture a seagull either sunning himself or looking for something to do on this brilliant day. He allows me to capture him with the city in the background. The harbor is captured in Photograph 6 as I linger for awhile taking in this view.

As I make my way up to Congress Street, I spot a dog tied to a parking meter. He looks very content waiting for his owner to come back. I capture him in Photograph 11. My next images are of what else I see along the way - Chairs chained together waiting to be unleashed to provide relaxation for whomever comes along (Photographs 12 and 13) as well as a bench outside a storefront waiting with an imaginary "vacancy" sign waiting for its next occupant to rest during their shopping excursion (Photograph 14). My eye then spots some interesting reflections of the buildings on the opposite side of the road in the windows of one of the establishments along this route. I meander over to the steel railing that goes up and take Photographs 15 through 17. I wonder what these will really look like after they are developed. It is another experiment.

As I wonder down Middle Street, I spot two elegant white dresses in one of the storefronts. This becomes Photograph 18. It seems like this is an experiment in advertising. My next sightings deal with fire escapes on one of the streets off of Middle Street on my way to Congress Street as depicted in Photographs 19, 20 and 22. I love the hard angles of these structures and wonder where they go as they are suspended in the air with no passage from below. Along the way, I do see people sitting on benches either taking a rest from shopping or just enjoying the sunshine on this beautiful day. Photograph 21 shows an unoccupied bench in the tree-lined park just waiting for someone to sit and allow it to do its purpose in life. There are so many elegant brick structures along the way and I wonder how you can capture any of these to do it justice as to how magnificient they really are in real life. Some of these structures have some ornate fixtures attached to the outside of the window frame. This is depicted in Photograph 23.

As I finally come to Congress Street, I spot a guy on a bicycle that I have seen around the statehouse. I stop and chat for a few minutes, then I am on my way down Congress Street towards Monument Square. There is so much traffic and noise. People are everywhere and are going somewhere. I wonder if they are paying attention to what is around them or if they are in a zone and on a mission for the day. A wonderful stone structure with a clock is in my view. I capture the time at 10:50 a.m. as shown in Photograph 24. A little ways down the street, my eyes fall upon this out of place structure that has these huge windows with a bluish tint that shows really high ceilings and lighting suspended from above. I love the feel of this photograph as depicted in Photograph 25.

My next two shots are of the stones that lead up to the monument in Monument Square with one being a long view as I am seated on the ground and one being a close-up as shown in Photographs 26 and 27. I always wonder what reflections you will see in windows so I take another stab at getting a reflection in a expanse of windows in another structure as I head back down to Middle Street towards Commercial Street as shown in Photograph 28. As I am walking, I notice wiry steel sculptures in some flower boxes in front of a storefront. There is a lot of texture going on here as well as some reflections of the monument in the background. These are depicted in Photographs 29 and 30 as I am seated on the ground. I love views taken from the seated position.

My wanderings take me along so many more storefronts so these next group of shots are more adventures in advertising with the various displays in windows that are supposed to capture people's imaginations and try to make them come into your store. These are shown in Photographs 31, 33 through 38. Many people ride their bicycles around this city as it makes it easier to get around and also saves on gasoline in your car. I am sure there are some people who do not own cars as it can be hard to find parking unless you have a parking spot at your residence. One lone bicycle is chained to a steel structure waiting for its owner to come back to take it on its next adventure. This is shown in Photograph 32. There are many restaurants in this city. I have been to a few but there are so many I have not ventured into yet. I need to make a note to try other places. Vignola's has an inviting entrance with greenery attached to its structure as shown in Photograph 39.

As I finally make my way to Commercial Street, I wander closer to the pier and everything that I love to capture. My first stop is the ghostly water surrounding one of the piers with just support posts standing in this water. Photograph 40 depicts one of my most favorite shots of the day. Two other shots also show what is in the water below. These always fascinate me and are shown in Photographs 41 and 43. People are along these docks getting their boats ready to be taken out. One gentleman is just hanging out in his chair on the dock smoking his cigar and waiting for his next adventure. He is depicted with his back to me in Photograph 42.

After I leave the pier, I make my way to RiRas. I wonder what else I will find along the way. There is so much going on that it is hard to pick what I want to capture. On one of the side streets, I find these decks that are attached to one of buildings that look out into the harbor. I would love to live somewhere with a water view. A deck is a must so I capture as many as I can in Photograph 44. My next walking excursion is down some of the side streets to the water next to and beyond J's Oyster Bar that is my favorite place to go when I am in Portland. There are so many sights and smells along these streets that it pushes me forward to see what I can see. There are people working these waterfront jobs. I am not sure how they do it but they do it. Photographs 45 and 47 depict two of these structures (one is brick and one has peeling blue paint) along the way down one of these side streets. These buildings have a great feel to them. One of my last shots of the day is a photograph of more working boats and barrels of supplies that are needed for any working fisherman. This is shown in Photograph 46.

As it is way past the witching hour to meet at RiRas, I find myself outside a locked door at this establishment. It looks like they were not open yet so I wonder where everyone went to meet. As I am walking away, one of my other fellow photographers tells me that people decided to meet at the Dry Dock since RiRas is not open yet. I make my way down to the Dry Dock and several of the participants and our leader are chatting around a long table upstairs. I was so happy to see everyone and to get out of the hot sun. Oh what a day, what a day!

After much conversation revolving around photography and a great plate of nachos, I head north back to home. I was excited to see what I captured in two rolls of film. Besides our leader, I believe that I was the only one using film. I will have one week to have them developed and upload only one entry to be considered to move forward in this competition. I am hopeful that I will be able to decide on one photograph. Since photographing in a city is new for me, I am thinking that help from others may be needed.

Today was certainly a great adventure in moving forward and thinking outside the box for me. I know that my heart lies in anything dealing with the ocean but it is good to stray from that once in awhile. Let us see what my next adventure will be in the future. Stay tuned.