Photowalking and Stairs

[olivermoss]

I think I went up the 115 stair staircase and down the 85 or something one? I've done all 8 Alameda Ridge staircases in a single hike before, but that's a bit beyond me right now... especially in a mask.





Birb:



Sadly birb flew away while I was adjusting camera settings.

Interesting lawn alternative:



Moss:



Clinging to a bit of dirt:



Couldn't quite get what I wanted from those shots shooting handheld, but was good practice.



Some Portland yard art isn't creepy it's ... clothespins?



I went to Fernhill Park which is surrounded by these BLM memorials:





My last picture is not one I'd normally post here, but I want to talk about it a bit. I am very pleases with it. Part of why I get so many things while out walking in Portland is that there is a lot to get. Another reason is that my brain is very good at taking in lots of details while I walk down streets and glance down side streets. My brain is constantly sifting through all I see and going 'nope, nope, nope, meh, boring, nope ... ohh, there is something shiny in that tree and since trees are not metal, let's cross the street for a look!'

When I get back from a few hours of photowalking I am beat. Brain is tired.

Slap tagging is huge in Portland. On main streets every signpost, fence post, side of a building has them. It's a lot. I was talking down a street and out of all that noise my brain picked this out immediately:



The lower image is a faded Orville Peck, from one of his photoshoots in dresses. I am pretty happy that I was able to pick that out of all of the noise.

If there is one thing I am good at, it's picking out details and finding compositions or interesting shapes while walking or hiking.

Anyway, that pic is doing very well in an Orville Peck FB group, but it isn't one I'd normally post here. I am just pleased that my brain zero'd in on it from a distance.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

That's a lot of stairs!

I love the moss. (We've got moss up in the mountains and near rivers, but we're way too dry in CO to get moss the way Oregon gets it!)

I really like those mandala rocks. They look extremely similar to some model painting that someone in a couple mutual FB groups does, though I don't imagine they're related beyond the style. (But seriously, I keep scrolling back to look at it again - it's a great picture of a really cool bit of art.)

The memorials are lovely, even if I wish they weren't needed.

And I LOVE when I spot something like that at a distance, and my brain filters it out of the "noise" around it. For me it's usually... bugs. Even as bad as my eyesight is, I can pick out the particular way something moves and find some kind of interesting little critter. (That might be a... weird... comparison, sorry. But it strikes me as at least a similar feeling.)

[olivermoss]

Oregon gets very, very mossy. I need some good pics of it. And also ferns growing in trees.

I also need to shoot some more of the BLM signs and art projects up in that part of town. I really need to get to a spot in St. Johns, but that is far.

Yeah, when I spot pride flags or certain shapes it's a lot like that. I also just try to find anything out of place or any interesting shapes. I also shoot a lot of pride flags and other things I don't always post.

[mistressofmuses]

I LOVE ferns growing in trees, haha. The one thing I wish Colorado had more of was *green.* Lush forests and thick undergrowth and ferns and moss and the like are my favorite things. We have lovely coniferous forests, and nice green areas and wildflowers along rivers in the spring and early summer, but mostly we are a desert, and it shows.

Yes! I love spotting pride flags, and they certainly do draw my eye.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, the green is one of the details I am trying to nail down for one of my galleries. Also, to see a lot of the details I usually filter out. Try to see the city as if I haven't been here forever.

[mistressofmuses]

That's definitely a worthwhile thing... trying to see things with fresh eyes. There are so many interesting things that you grow kind of numb to, when they're just part of your everyday background.