My Bentley

"1957 Bentley"

I am not a huge car buff. But I do like beautiful cars, particularly older ones that display class and style.

I was walking up Broadway in downtown Portland, OR one evening this April. The evening was just lovely; sun shining, warm air for Portland in April, and the streets were filled with people enjoying a rare moisture-free Oregon evening. I came across this 1957 Bentley parked curbside in front of a little boutique hotel that was holding a formal event. Of course, I talked to the driver and had to take a few photographs. The image above was my favorite.

The limousine company that owns this piece of art is English Classic Limousines (http://www.englishclassiclimos.com/). What an experience to tour the Oregon wine country in a car such as this. And then perhaps go to a dinner and show in downtown Portland. What a lovely date that would be!

What would be your ideal, romantic date? If you are in Portland, perhaps give a call to English Classic Limousines. I am sure they will fix you up.

Cheers,
Dale

Oregon Coast

I am going back to my Oregon theme today. I took heat for my previous blog post on Oregon (see "Five Truths About Oregon" posted on March 30th). While my previous post was written with "tongue in cheek" humor, I was poking a little fun at Oregon and Oregonians. However, those Oregonians take Oregon jokes very personally.

Today's blog post is to portray the beauty of Oregon. My photograph is an early evening capture at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. The sun was setting (though you can never actually see the sun setting in Oregon behind the clouds…..oppps, there I go again!) and there was a slight mist in the air (like there always is in Oregon……oh, slack my hand, I just can't help myself!). The natural colors were not very inviting or dramatic so I planned to put this into black and white when I took the image.

Most of my post-processing was done in Adobe Lightroom with some finishing touches in Adobe CS3 Photoshop. The key post-processing step I took with this capture was to run the "clarity" slider way down to give the image a very soft look. The softness really emphasized the evening light and ever-present mist in the air. I was really pleased with the final result.

I also printed this image on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Photo Rag Satin paper with my Epson R2400 printer. The final print looks spectacular and am looking forward to mounting, matting, and framing the image with a very professional, exhibition quality look.

A few more images like this one and I will need to find someone interested in sponsoring and providing a location for a photographic exhibition. Any offers?

Go visit Cannon Beach, OR. It is a spectacular place and the community is delightful.

Cheers,
Dale

Five Truths About Oregon

Only in Portland - A coffee cup stuck in a mirco-beer cup in a bicycle water bottle holder on a bike chained to a tree in downtown Portland.

There are five truths about Oregon. I was reminded of them in a recent trip to Portland and the Oregon coast in my RV.

Truth #1: Oregon is the definition of green.

As I drove down the Columbia Gorge going from the high plains of eastern Oregon into the mouth of the Gorge, the green begins to overwhelmingly emerge and swallows you as progress deeper into the green bowels of the state. It is so GREEN it makes you want to puke.

Truth #2: It always rains in Oregon.

Sometimes you cannot tell its raining, but trust me, it's raining. Then there are times when it is clearly raining. Rain, soggy, wet, moist and mud. Rain is ever-present in Oregon.

Truth #3: Oregonians cycle.

Oregonian cyclists are everywhere. On every street corner, on the shoulders of the roads, in the coffee shop, on MAX..........everywhere. And remember Truth #2.

Truth #4: Micro beer is king.

Oregonians make great micro beer. You will be thrown out of a beer-serving establishment if you say "I'll have a Bud." There are as many choices of micro beers in Oregon as there are combinations to order your latte at Starbucks. Oregonians are probably so good at brewing micro beers because of Truth #2.

Truth #5: Wine is queen.

If micro beer does not cover your alcoholic tastes, Oregon wine will. Oregon makes great wines, particularly pinot noirs. Take a trip down the highway 99W corridor through the Willamette Valley tasting wine and you will see what I mean. Again, this probably has something to do with Truth #2.

Cheers,

Dale