Springtime in Portland

4/1/2025

Last Tuesday it was supposed to rain all day. I debated working from home, but I ended up going into the office anyway. I don't always carry a camera around, but knowing it's spring, I brought my Hasselblad just in case.

And I'm glad I did! The rain broke and the clouds parted during the workday. I wandered down to the waterfront park where the cherry blossoms were finally blooming.

The atmosphere on the first sunny day of spring is always magical, and Tuesday was especially so. I ran into an old friend! I chatted with a few people who asked about my camera, even made a few new instagram mutuals.

I love this city. It's a place with so much beauty, and so much joy.

I will admit I am especially fond of cherry blossoms, so here's a few more from the waterfront and around town from previous years.

When I left Arizona, my plan was to move around a couple times, try a few cities and see what sticks. Well, I landed here and haven't moved yet. It's probably impossible to live somewhere for 3 years and not be changed by it, but I never imagined Portland would come to feel like home so quickly.

You know, I don't think I would've ever even tried film photography if I hadn't moved here. Nowadays film is like My Thing so I think a lot of people assume I started with it, but my first camera was digital, and I shot exclusively digital for like a decade. My first experience with film was with a friend in Seattle, and I only fell in love with analog after I visited Blue Moon and picked up a Crown Graphic.

These aren't the first photos I ever took with that camera, but they're the first ones that kinda turned out.

It was a warm, beautiful day. I was hanging out with a friend after work on the waterfront.

The ghost bridge in the sky is because I had a pinhole in my lens board, which acted like a second lens. This artifact is actually what allowed me to diagnose the issue.

On the same day I took those bridge photos, I also took this photo in the office.

The office... it feels strange to admit that I've grown attached to a place of work, but now that it's going away, it's becoming clear how much it matters to me.

Honestly, though, it's hard to say how much. I struggle to disentangle my feelings about the place from my feelings about the situation. These things do not exist in a vacuum.

Allow me to tell you a few things that I love about my office.

I love the tall trees that surround it. In the fall, they light up magnificently.

I love the view of Mount Hood we get through the big east facing windows. In the winter we get some truly breathtaking sunrises (that always seem to evade photographing). I love all the delicious local food in walking distance. I love that sometimes the building's lobby gets amazing light in the afternoon

I love the people that it brought together. My team have been a dream to work with, and my gateway to meeting people locally. No matter who stays and who moves, I'm going to miss the group.

They say spring is a time of change, but I don't know if I'm ready.

Farewell, Portland office.