Going to Portland (Oregon)

The Columbia River Gorge runs along the river beginning just east of the city and has the best assortment of waterfalls per mile you'll find anywhere. You can shoot from the roadside if you so choose, or hike to more falls if you are so inclined and conditions permit. Do some searching and you will find a map showing where the falls are and which would require some hiking.

Assuming you have a rental car, go out I-84 to I-205 north. Cross the river into Washington state. Just after the bridge over the Columbia take Rte. 14 to the east. Go out the Gorge to the Bridge of the Gods, cross back into Oregon and head west. The Bonneville Dam is worth seeing and there is a fish Hatchery there, too, where you can see very big Sturgeons - 6'? Take the old highway (Crown Point Hwy) and you will pass all the waterfalls. After Bridal Veil, get back on I-84 to go back to Portland.

Some excellent landscape/seascape photographs of the Oregon coastline in Mr Simon Xenakis' portfolio, if you like this sort of long exposure work:

Columbia Gorge

Silver Falls State Park

Portland Japanese Garden

Mt. Hood area

Mt. St. Helens

For birds...the Portland Zoo open avairy.

To name a few areas.....

Downtown Waterfront



That should keep you busy in our fair city and surrounding areas.

Roman

If there's a high probability of gray/overcast skies, I'd take that into consideration. In this case, I think a place like the Japanese Gardens and, more generally, the Washington Park area would be good. The tall trees and enclosing vegetation could fill the frame, without the need for contrast with a more amenable sky.

Thanks everyone for all your input! I ended up having less time than I thought but I was able to head east along US-14 for a little ways. I did a bit of hiking along the trails at Cape Horn and saw the Bridge of the Gods and the nearby dam as well. Here are a couple of my shots. Certainly nothing outstanding but I had fun and tried to work with the lighting as best I could...

I spent a rainy 10 days in Oregon at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the rain really impacts the images. We had two days on the coast one surprisingly good, the other was a "I know the ocean is out there somewhere underneath that fog" type day.

We spent time in Portland and the weather was grey with periods of rain some very heavy. Same holds true for everywhere we went. Grey. rain, more rain.

The places we went include many good restaurants were you look outside and see it raining, relatives homes where you walk quickly inside as it was raining, drives to a few scenic spots where it was raining and very dim..... so basically very grey skies and constant rain really impacts what you may feel like doing. We still went to a few places but we also watched a bunch of football.

I think staying close to Portland is a good idea. You could visit the Japanese gardens. If you catch a good day I like the coast, but you have Mt. Hood, Hood River, Columbia River Falls, Silver Creek Falls, Astoria, The Coast Aquarium, and many other things. You could also enjoy a brewery tour rain or shine!

Have fun!

NOTE: I guess this was a bit late!

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RonFrank
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