portland saturday market

a few days ago, i was perusing meetup.com and found a group called women learning photography together... well, whaddya know?  i'm a woman learning photography!  so, i figured i should join these ladies on their photography field trips!

today was my first meetup with the group and we met at portland saturday market.  this was great for me because i'm in love with street photography, but i'm too chicken s#%t to actually approach people and ask if i can take their picture.  and i'm even more chicken s#%t to take their picture without asking them.  saturday market is nice because there are so many people around and so many tourists, a photographer kind of blends in (or at least, a photographer doesn't look awkward taking photos in places they shouldn't be).

this first photo was taken in an empty lot at 4th and burnside.  it really makes me wonder why there is a table and chair in an empty lot... and why is the window bricked up?

the next three were shot along the waterfront.  the first one (with the words) is of some steps that surround a fountain.  it seems to speak about the people who came to portland, where they came from and how they got here.  

i had to get some blossom shots... spring is here (although the temperature didn't feel like spring today at all!).

and now for the saturday market... 

this woman had the best stall of any merchant at the market (not to mention that her pottery is beautiful).  

hats galore!

this band was pretty awesome.  they were belting out some southern bluegrass for shoppers' listening pleasure.

the band wasn't the only person out there trying to make some money.  this guy was putting on a dance show while his friends played some percussion on 5-gallon buckets.

this woman was drawing some pretty awesome chalk art on the sidewalk.  not sure the point of it, though, since it later rained!!

after the market, i made my way back to my car via 4th street (china town).

there were definitely other people taking photos of this sign at the same time as i was.  they must have an adolescent mind like me - lol!  

photography field trip at omsi

my photography class met this morning at the oregon museum of science and industry (omsi) in portland for a field trip.  monday is our last class, so our goal today was to take 3 - 5 photos to share and explain why they are interesting.

i'm not sure why they're interesting, but here they are.  i must admit that i was feeling a bit uninspired at omsi, especially with such a broad assignment (pretty much anything i wanted to shoot).  that said, i tried panning for the first time and i liked how they came out.  another observation: i also really need to work on incorporating people into my photos and getting over my fear of asking to photograph them. photos with people in them are so much more interesting and dynamic.

count 'em: seven

chad and i had a GREAT day in sonoma county!  we visited seven wineries today: seghesio, rochioli, copain (I ♥), j vineyards, ridge, bella, and sbragia.

it was a little bit hit-and-miss, but our favorites by far were copain and sbragia.  ridge was a very close third.  the guy pouring at j vineyards wins the style award, though.  

tonight we're going out for a vietnamese dinner!  having so much fun and loving my husband!  i'm a lucky girl.  :)

eugene

chad and i just returned last night from eugene, oregon where we attended the oregon wine symposium.  here are a couple of shots i took while there.  the one of the guy on the computer was for my photography class assignment this week (to take a photo of someone i don't know).  i really like what's going on with the three guys in the background.

snow day!

i'm sure all my friends in the midwest are going to laugh at this, but i had a pretty slow commute this morning after snow fell overnight last night.  unlike the midwest, we do not have many snow plows, nor do they use salt here, so the roads (especially the country roads going to the winery) were very much covered in snow this morning and fairly slick.  add to that a 700 foot decline down a mountain and i was very glad to have had anti-lock brakes this morning that worked!

the benefit of all of this was getting to the winery before anyone else and taking pristine photos without car tracks in the driveway or footprints in the snow.  here is a selection for your viewing pleasure (these are unedited and i am still learning to meter for snow, so forgive me!):