View allAll Photos Tagged Portland
Reference: ARBARELLO-170211-140935-8855
©2017 Fernando Lopez Arbarello - All Rights Reserved
Fine Art Photography by Fernando Lopez Arbarello
(more details later, as time permits)
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Virtually everyone in America, as well as millions of other people around the world, know that Thanksgiving is one of the main occasions for organizing a huge parade.
It’s especially true in New York City, where I live — hundreds of parade workers converge on a one-block stretch between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West on 77th Street on the night before Thanksgiving to assemble the floats, and pump the huge balloons full of helium, so they’ll be ready to go the next morning. The parade itself lasts for hours, and stretches all the way down Central Park West and Broadway, and ultimately through Herald Square and past the main entrance to Macy’s on 34th Street. The whole thing is televised for the benefit of viewers all around the world, with TV commentators and an endless procession of marching bands, baton-twirlers, singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, Broadway actors, and other forms of entertainment…
While New York City may be the only example of a Thanksgiving-Day parade that people around the world actually see on their TV screen, it’s definitely not the only such parade that takes place in this country. I’m sure that every big city has its own version of the turkey-day parade, as do most of the medium-size cities, and quite a few smaller towns and villages, too. They may not be visible on television, but a lot of local citizens and visitors turn out to watch such parades, if only because their sons and daughters are typically marching in the high-school bands that form a big part of the event.
On this particular occasion — in November of 2013 — I happened to be in one such medium-size city, where the parade took place on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It was in Portland, Oregon where we were spending the holiday period with one of our sons and his family; the parade took place in the “Pearl District” of downtown Portland … and, to our amazement, we were able to park our car about a block from the parade route, and walk right up to the corner (at Davis St and NW Park, if you want to track it down on Google Maps) where all of the bands and floats and costumed marchers walked by. In fact, I was able to take the “parade experience” even one step further: the people were friendly enough, and the security was light enough, that I was able to walk right out into the middle of the street with my camera, to photograph the floats and bands and marchers as they approached me … scampering out of the way only at the last moment.
Admittedly, Portland is a much bigger city than a tiny village of a thousand people somewhere in the midwest … but it still felt like “small town America” to me, and it was a great spectacle to watch. I got the impression that many of the visitors and observers standing along the street actually knew the people marching past them … and in any case, the marchers laughed and smiled and walked right up to us, handing out little pieces of candy to all of the children. Maybe next year I’ll go looking for a really small Thanksgiving parade in one of those tiny midwest-America villages, before retreating back to the Big Apple to watch the spectacle of thousands of marchers parading past millions of observers, and a TV audience of tens of millions …
I wish that I had taken some video clips of the parade, because the sounds and the music and the motion were a big part of what we experienced. But for better or worse, all I took was a bunch of traditional still photos. Actually, I took a LOT of still photos — nearly a thousand, altogether — but I’ve winnowed the collection down to 50 “keepers” that I hope will give you a sense of what Thanksgiving is all about…
Actually, if you live anywhere besides New York City here in the U S of A, you already know what Thanksgiving is all about, at least to the extent that it’s symbolized by the parade. But for those of us who spend most our time in New York City, it was a very pleasant experience indeed. After an hour, it was all over; we walked back to our car a block away, and drove back to our son’s house … and a day later, we were back in New York City. And thus ended another Thanksgiving holiday, at least until 2014.
A Y class switcher trundles a short rake of grain wagons and a vintage-looking brake van along the short branch from the harbour to the small marshalling yard. Portland, Victoria, Australia, August 1979.
More minstrels playing for change and cigarettes at "The Living Room of Portland". I was told that the homeless get more $$ if they have a pet in their midst (note the chihuahuas)
A long exposure taken about 6pm along the coast at Portland Bill. I used a £10 filter set which is horribly scratched and marked which shows in the image to extend this image to around one second catching the water falling off the rocks. The cheap filters cause orange colours to appear when stacked so I have done my best to transform the sky without losing too much colour.
The top of this trestle is just visible from the freeway. We finally took the time to get off the road and explore the trail that this is a part of.
I continue to enjoy using the Hipstamatic app with my iPhone.
Right after the entry to the Chinese Garden in Portland. Note the great paving, stones put in 'vertically' in patterns resembling the doors. This paving 'grid' constantly shifts in your perspective as you move to make lines or squares or sort of random patterns.
ISO 100 - 17mm - f/10 - 60 Sec - Canon T1i - Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Yesterday was an awesome MLK day. Made lunch and explored downtown with family, hung out at Powell's Books for 3 hours reading photography books and magazines, shared a gyro with my girlfriend, then a friend picked us up in downtown Portland and we went exploring for some fun night shots of Portland. This is the first place we stopped. Sitting above the tunnel on HW 26 before it connects with 405. Super cool. I found this spot from a fellow flickrite who shared with me how to get to this stunning local.
Pretty much straight off my camera. Just a slight crop & rotation to level out the horizon and some .1 color changes in saturation.
Taken at the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine this morning, my camera & lens were completely encased in ice when I left!
Over a thousand people, including a large march of mothers, demonstrated for racial justice and against Donald Trump’s insertion of Federal officers in Portland,
Thousands of activists rally outside the Hatfield Federal Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. The activists were protesting the presence of federal officers in the city, and continuing the Black Lives Matter protests that started after the murder of George Floyd.
Portland has been roiled by nightly protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. President Donald Trump said he sent federal agents to Oregon’s largest city to halt the unrest but state and local officials say they are making the situation worse.
The clashes in Portland have further inflamed the nation’s political tensions and triggered a crisis over the limits of federal power as Trump moves to send U.S. officers to other Democratic-led cities he says are violent.
The fine bay of Portland and nearby Cape Bridgewater were indirectly named by Captain Grant in 1800 on the Brig the Lady Nelson when he explored this part of the coast a year or so before Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin. James Grant was receiving his orders from the Duke of Portland and so Governor King in Sydney named the bay Portland after looking at Grant’s maps. Nicholas Baudin, the French explorer also named the area and called it Terra Bonaparte. After Major Thomas Mitchell’s explorations in 1836 his Australia Felix region became known as the Western Districts (of NSW). From 1803 some American whalers established summer whaling camps along Portland Bay but there was no permanent white settlement until Edward Henty arrived here from Launceston in November 1834. His brother Francis arrived to settle in December 1834. Thus began the white settlement of Victoria almost a year before Fawkner and Batman settled on Port Phillip Bay. (John Fawkner and John Batman also moved from Launceston because of the land shortages there with Fawkner settling in August 1835 near Hobsons Bay and Batman in June 1835 near the Yarra although he personally did not settle until April 1836.)
Edward Henty landed with 13 cattle, 4 bullocks, 5 pigs, 2 turkeys, vines, plants, seed, apple and pear trees. Francis arrived with dairy cows and Merino sheep. In 1836 Major Mitchell called in to the Henty’s property where Portland now stands. Henty had already explored inland by then and he had discovered Darlots Creek and Lake Condah. Three of Henty’s pastoral runs were at what became the town of Merino. The Hentys also earnt income from whaling but Edward did not even begin any whaling until 1836. Edward built his first house on what is not Bentinck Street. This was swept away when the town was surveyed in 1840 by Charles Tyers the government surveyor. By this time Edward and Francis had been joined by their other brothers Richard and John. It as a Henty son (Richard) who was the first white male born in Victoria and Edward Henty was the first to move inland in Victoria when he moved to near Merino in 1837. But many now assert that the first white settlement (not permanent or farming or pastoral settlement) in Victoria was by William Dutton with his fishery (sealing) and whaling station near Portland in 1833. Dutton had camped here in a temporary house for summer months since 1828. He also had whaling camps on Kangaroo Island. She still did not spent all the year at Portland but his whaling camp was a permanent structure. Dutton also had early whaling camps at Port Fairy. When Edward Henty arrived in November 1834 Dutton was already there and assisted Henty to get established. But does this Dutton claim really detract from Edward Henty’s claim to be the first permanent white settler on the land in Victoria?
The Henty brothers had illegally squatted on land and despite having 60 acres under crop, sheep grazing at Merino, two houses in both Portland and at Merino and 53 whites living on the land (46 males including employees and 7 females) Governor Gipps of Sydney was not impressed. The Henty brothers claimed compensation for their development of the land and a grant of some of the land. Thus began many years of legal battles with the government and the Henty brothers. Gipps sent Police to Portland to remove Henty from the land but this never happened. In 1843 the government softened and gave a grant of 83 acres at £2 per acre; town acres at £100 per acre; and compensation of £118 for their buildings, including the house which was destroyed to create Bentinck Street. The Henty brothers declined this offer and the dispute continued. Eventually the Henty brothers did get legal leases and they purchased more freehold land. Merino Downs station is still in the hands of Henty descendants.
Government land in Portland was sold in 1840 with 70 town blocks begin purchased immediately and many surrounding “suburban” blocks. Pastoral leases for inland areas were authorised from 1839. By 1842 the town had a temporary Presbyterian, Anglican and Wesleyan Methodist churches, a cemetery, a newspaper, a school house, hotels ( the Commercial Inn, the Portland Hotel, the Portland Inn and the Steam Packet Inn), a jetty and commercial enterprises. Customs duties were taken on the port trade. The main street along the foreshore Bentinck Street was named after the family name of the Dukes of Portland. The Customs House was completed in 1850; the Court House was built 1845; the Catholic Church 1848; the Presbyterian Church 1849; the Botanical Gardens began 1854; the Anglican Church 1856; a tramway to Heywood opened 1860; the Town Hall opened 1865 and a new Wesleyan Church opened 1865. In terms of population Portland grew quickly with around 1,200 residents in 1851 and around 3,000 by 1854. Today Portland has 10,700 residents.