Portland
September 28, 2024
Tags: Travel, Film Photography, Photography
More as a spur-of-the-moment thing than not, my wife and I drove to Portland earlier this week for a two-night getaway. The occasion? My internal odometer ticked up a notch: yet another birthday has come and gone. Needing a change of scene, I thought it would be fun to visit a bigger city, do some shopping, and have a few nice dinners out.
As usual, I put a fair amount of mental energy into how I was going to document the trip photographically before we left home. I had three rolls of Kodak ColorPlus 200 that I originally intented to use during our time in Los Angeles this past summer. Since I ultimately decided to shoot that trip digitally, those three rolls were still sitting around. A few days in Portland felt like the perfect opportunity to use them up.
Over time, I’ve come to realize that I am not a fan of color film. Whether it was for this reason or whether I simply didn’t feel like it, I didn’t write down any of my exposure settings like I do 99% of the time. All I was after were easygoing vacation shots. I gave myself permission to take leave from the encumberance of detailed notetaking.
Rather than lug around a ton of gear, all I grabbed were my Nikon FM10 and the 50mm f/2 lens I use with it.
We spent a few nights at the Moxy in downtown Portland, one of Marriott’s series of hotels that cater to the hip and stylish. Even though I may be turning into a crabby 40-something, having a bit of exposure to younger folks was a nice change of pace. I was probably one of the few individuals in the whole joint without any tattoos. No matter, though. I like experiencing things that are a little different. And I’ve reached the point in life where I feel comfortable enough with myself not to be bothered by being the odd one out.
In Portland, my wife and I did a bit of shopping. We stopped into Powell’s City of Books, where I stocked up on several photography books featuring the work of Saul Leiter and Fred Herzog, two photographers who I have come to admire. I am taking to heart advice I heard some time ago: invest not in photography gear but instead in books.
Even if you’re not a bookworm, Powell’s is a must-see place if you are ever visiting Portland.
I also made a stop into Pro Photo Supply, where all serious photographers in Portland go. I gushed about how awesome it is to shoot film, and the guy behind the counter completely understood. I topped off my supply of black and white film and got a few rolls of Ilford FP4 Plus and Kodak Tri-X 400. I also bought a roll of Ilford XP2 Super, a chromogenic film processed in C41 chemistry that I’ve been meaning to try for a while.
Apart from doing a bit of shopping, we just wandered around and took the city in.
The pandemic years weren’t kind to Portland. But I have to say that, at least insofar as I could see over the course of two days there, the city has cleaned itself up quite a bit. There is still a seedy vagrancy, but that’s always been there. What was missing were the multitude of homeless encampments that I remember seeing during prior recent visits to Portland. This time around, I didn’t see one tent pitched on the street. There’s still a lot to be done, but I was very glad to see the progress being made there.