Looking for Paintings - Part 19

The Steel Bridge

Okay, bridge buffs, here are some shots of my favorite bridge. There are 16 bridges in the Portland area, seven of them in or near downtown Portland, all of them beautiful in their own way. But my absolute favorite is the Steel Bridge, accessed at the eastern end of Everett Street, carrying cars, buses, trolleys, trains and pedestrians eastward over the Willamette River to the Oregon Convention Center, the Rose Garden Arena, the Lloyd Center and the northeast area of Portland. Westbound traffic flows into Oldtown, Chinatown and the wonderful Pearl District. The Steel Bridge has been photographed a lot by other photographers with greater skills and equipment than I have, but we all share an appreciation for this wonderful bridge.

The bridge was built in 1912.

For more information and images, go to these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Bridge

http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,0,28,0,1,1-portland-oregon.html

Here are my images:


















The evening of December 9, I went to the Steel Bridge looking for a good vantage point for the Willamette River Christmas Boat Parade, but the turnout was small and downriver from where I was, so I didn't get any pictures of the parade. But then I discovered the extended exposure option on my camera and started photographing the Steel Bridge at night.






This is a wonderful bridge with tons of character and history. The texture and color of the steel and the massive beauty of this bridge evoke an emotional response that pays tribute to its stature as a grand old lady who holds her 94 years very well. Check out the information on the Wikipedia link above.

Earlier in the day I was around Amtrak's Union Station. Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Portland)

I got this shot of The Amtrak Cascades train sitting in the station.

Later, as I was taking those night shots of the Steel Bridge, along comes the Amtrak Cascades. Another thrilling thing about the Steel Bridge is how much it moves as a train goes over it. Very exciting. I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

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