LF'ers in the Pacific Northwest... [Archive] - Large Format Photography Forum

View Full Version : LF'ers in the Pacific Northwest...

Scott Rosenberg

3-Aug-2006, 11:59

Christopher Perez

3-Aug-2006, 12:55

Scott, you made a great decision to move to Portland. But don't tell anyone else. We don't want the whole of the US moving here just because it's nice, or anything. OK? :)

When you get settled, send me an email. There are at least two groups of folks you might be interested in hanging out with.

Eric Brody

3-Aug-2006, 13:24

Welcome to the currently sunny Pacific Northwest. There are lots of excellent photographers of all types here, though we seem to have a lot of "ARAT" folks (Another Rock, Another Tree).

I would encourage you to check out the Portland Photographers Forum http://www.portlandphotoforum.org/. We have a great group, friendly people, superb workshops, and meet monthly during the school year at Wilson High School, in the west hills of Portland. I hope you saw the notice from Robert Brummit about the Photographers Faire in November. This group has existed in a couple of forms for over 20 years. Message me if you have any specific questions.

Eric

Scott Knowles

3-Aug-2006, 13:35

What? You don't like Seattle-Tacoma? We have better weather, better scenic area (we have Mt. Rainier), more stuff to photograph (Seattle, Puget Sound, Olympic and Cascade Mountains, etc.), some great photography resources (Glazer's), and .... Ok, we have worse traffic and sometimes more stupid drivers, higher home prices, and so on. And Portland probably has better LF clubs/groups.

Just kidding. Best wishes. You'll enjoy Portland, and you'll enjoy the Northwest more now. If you plan a trip to Mt. Rainier, you're welcome to send me your questions and/or experiences for my photo guide to the NP (http://www.wsrphoto.com/mtrainier.html) if you want.

Kerry L. Thalmann

3-Aug-2006, 14:23

What? You don't like Seattle-Tacoma? We have better weather, better scenic area (we have Mt. Rainier), more stuff to photograph (Seattle, Puget Sound, Olympic and Cascade Mountains, etc.), some great photography resources (Glazer's), and .... Ok, we have worse traffic and sometimes more stupid drivers, higher home prices, and so on. And Portland probably has better LF clubs/groups.

Hey Scott,

You know what I like best about Washington? It's right next to Oregon. So, all those great places you mention are within a few hours drive of Portland - as are all the great locations down this way, like the Gorge, the Oregon Coast, Mt. Hood, Central Oregon, etc. The entire PNW is really blessed with an abundance of scenic wonders - and the diversity of the PNW landscape never ceases to amaze me.

Kerry

Kerry L. Thalmann

3-Aug-2006, 14:26

Robert Brummitt

3-Aug-2006, 15:14

Let's not let the rest of the country know what we have here. Oregon is a gem and the people are friendly. We have great beer and wine and food. All three important factors for me. Everytime I take my camera out for some fun. I meet other fellow photographers or people who are fans of photography.
Like Eric Brody has said, Portland Photographers Forum is a great group of photographers. I would say about 60-70% are large format users and about 90% are black and white printers.
PPF next speaker in September will be a gentleman who has a rare FSA movie of Ansel Adams that he's going to show. Luckily he has a 35mm projector for us to use.
Give us a try.

Brian Ellis

3-Aug-2006, 16:02

Hi Scott - Congratulations on your move, I think you'll love it here - very nice people, minimal traffic (maybe not true of Portland but certainly true here in Bend), little congestion, great climate (at least in Central Oregon where I live), and more opportunities for photography than you can imagine. Just yesterday I drove about fifteen minutes from my house to a beautiful waterfall, then hiked up the mountain for about two miles photographing things in and around the river all the way up. If I had the time to continue another couple miles I would have ended up in a huge meadow surrounded by mountain views or so I'm told. In addition to the Oregon people you mentioned, Saulius lives in Bend and Doremus spends a lot of time in this area.

Scott Knowles

3-Aug-2006, 16:57

And we have dry, lots and lots of dry in the Eastern part of each state, both different from their geologic history. I loved the Warm Spring area when I worked there with the USGS for two weeks, and saw the Deschutes River canyon near Madras. And we have basalt canyons in eastern Washington. And if that's too much, we have the Rockies and Snake River plain in Idaho, the Blue and Wallowa Mountains in NE Oregon and SE Washington, the Steens Mountains area in SE Oregon, and the Okanogan Mountains in north-central Washington. I'm sure folks will add their favorites.

Scott R., you're in for many treats, and I don't think you'll miss Texas much. Our miles and miles have scenery along the way.

To Kerry, hopefully by the November workshop I'll have my Layton with some experience to ask a lot of questions.

Sheldon N

3-Aug-2006, 20:11

Welcome to the neighborhood! You'll really enjoy the Portland area and all the scenery within a couple hours drive. Send a PM when you get in town and settled, I'm always up for a hike/shoot.

Chris - when was it that the antique car/tractor event was going to take place down in Salem (same place as the Brooks Steamup)? Perhaps we could put together an outing.

Dominique Labrosse

3-Aug-2006, 23:43

Hey Scott,

...all the great locations down this way, like the Gorge...
Kerry

LF photography at the Gorge? Last time I was at the Columbia River Gorge it was blowing 30-35 kts. I was having a great time, but not with my LF gear. Seriously though, it's got to be a pretty frustrating place to try and shoot with LF gear on account of it being a very windy place.

Reagrs,
Dominique

Jim Jirka

4-Aug-2006, 06:16

Hi Scott,
Congrats on your move to Portland. Just remember you are now one of the non-gas pumpers. LOL

jdavis

4-Aug-2006, 08:43

[QUOTE=Eric Brody]Welcome to the currently sunny Pacific Northwest. There are lots of excellent photographers of all types here, though we seem to have a lot of "ARAT" folks (Another Rock, Another Tree).

What's wrong with pictures of rocks and trees? Having also made the move from Texas to Oregon - I must say that the trees here are amazing! Who wouldn't want to take a few pictures...

The volcanic rocks here in the cascades don't have the flair of some good Rocky Mountain granite - but it still beats the general malaise of Texas limestone...

- Jack

Kirk Keyes

4-Aug-2006, 09:21

There are at least two groups of folks you might be interested in hanging out with.

Chris - who's the other group of folks?

Kerry L. Thalmann

4-Aug-2006, 09:21

LF photography at the Gorge? Last time I was at the Columbia River Gorge it was blowing 30-35 kts. I was having a great time, but not with my LF gear. Seriously though, it's got to be a pretty frustrating place to try and shoot with LF gear on account of it being a very windy place.

You just need to go at the right time. Early morning in May and June or October and early November can be surprisingly calm. In sumer, when the inland plateau heats up, you get the constant high winds that makes Hood River one of the top windsurfing spots in the world.

Kerry

Kerry L. Thalmann

4-Aug-2006, 09:29

The volcanic rocks here in the cascades don't have the flair of some good Rocky Mountain granite - but it still beats the general malaise of Texas limestone...

If you don't mind a bit of a drive, there's some GREAT granite up in central Washington or NE Oregon. We also have the rhyolite of Smith Rock that makes it look more like sourthern Utah than the Pacific NW. And, there's lots of obsidian in Central Oregon. So, plenty of interesting rocks to photograph.

Kerry

Capocheny

4-Aug-2006, 10:33

Hi Scott,

Great to have you in this neck of the woods... welcome! You'll only be a hop, skip, and a jump away from our fine city, Vancouver, British Columbia. And, the US buckeroo goes a bit further up here too! :)

If you come up for a visit... pm me and we'll tee up, ok?

BTW... you'd be more than welcome to come on up for our "workshop" in September with Per Volquartz. :)

Good luck on the move... :)

Cheers

Christopher Perez

4-Aug-2006, 10:42

I was thinking of the aforementioned PPF.

Then there are local camera clubs, depending upon where he moves (downtown or out in the dead/silent 'burbs). :-)

Chris - who's the other group of folks?

Scott Knowles

4-Aug-2006, 14:25

in just a little over a week (9 days to be exact), i will be moving from sunny texas to scenic Portland, Oregon. i know we have some forum members (kirk, chris, brian, kerry, henry(nearly), jack, mike, etc) that live in the area and was wondering if there was any sort of LF club i could check out. with so much to see and shoot, meeting up with like-minded folks would certainly help me learn a bit about my new home.

You realize, of course, we're not letting you in on the depressing winters, long periods of overcast days with rain, and more rain, with occasional snow which either freezes into really bad traffic messes (Portland's great for these, Seattle get artic blasts) or melts to make wonderful flooding conditions (sorry, being a hydrologist they're good stuff). You'll be experiencing it first hand so we'll avoid mentioning it lasts from October to March. But, hey, look on the bright side, (yes, there is one), you get to spend time planning, reviewing previous work, waiting, and then finally saying, "What the hell!", and going anyway.

My first purchase recommendation? A first-rate rain suit and good waterproof or water-resistant (oiled) boots. Don't skimp, it won't pay to be out there and find your rain suit fails to keep you warm and/or dry, or your boots leak.

Saulius

4-Aug-2006, 18:52

Welcome to the neighborhood Scott! As you already know and as others have mentioned there are a lot of things to see and photograph in the PNW, especially if you are into landscape type photography. As others have mentioned Portland Photographers Forum is a good place to start. http://www.portlandphotoforum.org/ I never was a part of the group but have attended some of their events in the past and it was well worth it. I don’t know of any groups specific to LF. Some years back some of us tried making such a group called the PNWLF group. Someone created a group on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pnwlfg/
Unfortunately it didn’t really go anywhere although there was a lot of interest originally. Maybe it’s an idea that can be tried again. I did meet up once with two photographers, Kirk Keyes and Bob ??(his last name escapes me now) in the Gorge. It was fun and if there are enough people interested we might try it again someday.

Scott, don’t let what some say about the winters in Portland scare ya. Yes, there is rain, and on rare occasion you might get a tad bit of snow or even freezing rain that usually shuts the city down for the day, but I had no problems adjusting to the climate when I first moved there from Chicago in 1996. My experience was during the rainy season on a typical day, it might rain for a bit, usually a drizzle, stop for a while, start up again later, sun might peek out for a bit, and then overcast again. In my six years living in the Portland area I recall just one time where it rained and rained day in and day out. That was when we first moved there in 1996. Seemed to rain daily for a month, a hard rain too. After surviving that the winters were always a piece of cake. I especially enjoyed the fact that I never needed to wear winter gloves, hat, scarves etc. while in Portland. Can’t say that about Chicago winters where I lived for my first 29 years! What I love most about Oregon is the sheer diversity in the type of landscapes you can find. As others have mentioned, you have the coastal area with it’s miles and miles of public beaches, the coastal mountains, the Columbia River Gorge, the cascade mountain regions, the high desert environments east of the cascades, and lots of special places in eastern Oregon like the Wallawas, Steens Mountain, Leslie Gulch area, and much, much more. I know I don’t need to sell you on this place, but as others have also done I can’t help bragging about this wonderful place. Originally moved here on a whim and a hunch and haven’t left since. If you ever come out to central Oregon around Bend give me an email, same goes for anyone else out there, and if time permits I’d be willing to hook up with you. As someone else already mentioned you could check out a workshop with Per Volquartz. I did a workshop with him and some other great folks a few years ago in the CA Redwoods and it was both fun and informative. It used to be free but I think he is now starting to charge a fee. Check out his web site at http://www.volquartz.com/pervolquartz/
Well, I’ve rambled wayyyy tooo much so I’ll again say welcome to Oregon and enjoy your stay, however long it may be.

Robert Brummitt

5-Aug-2006, 09:22

Hello Scott.
The photography galleries here are scares. I believe maybe only two but the Portland Art Museum here is top notch. I had the privilage to see the inventory list and its vast. Curator Terry Toedtemeier is doing a wonderful job of collecting and showing for the museum. It's worth a trip or two.
I believe that Photographer John Sexton will be speaking at the museum in December 5th 2006. I'm buying my ticket for that! Then of course there is PPF's "Photographers Fanfaire" That should draw lots of local LF users as well.
The Oregon coast is a treasure as well and so is the people.
PM me as well.

Scott Rosenberg

6-Aug-2006, 09:48

wow, thanks for all the great information and invites! from the looks of things based on the responses in this thread, the photography community, and opportunities, are broad in the pacific northwest. while somewhat sad by leaving behind our dallas family and friends, we are at the same time very excited to have to opportunity to explore an entirely new part of the country.

thanks again for all the invites... i'm looking forward to getting to know you guys and the PNW better.

scott