Spring in Portland
I love spring in the northwest. Growing up in Florida, I didn’t really get to experience seasons, it’s either hot or really hot with an occasional cold front during the “winter” that would bring it down into the 40s. “Spring” means oak trees throwing yellow pollen on everything, it was wonderful for my allergies. Eyes watering, sneezing, runny nose, etc. Since moving to Portland, I have had much better luck with allergy attacks.
The thing with having diversity of seasons is that you learn to appreciate each one because of its brevity. This tree in my back yard will only look like this for a couple of weeks each spring; during the winter it’s just a bunch of empty branches, and after it blooms, it will fill with green leaves. Portland comes alive in the spring with flowers starting to bloom in March continuing into April and one of my favorites are the cherry blossoms on the waterfront.
Cherry Blossoms
Washington, DC probably has the most prominent cherry blossoms in the US, they have a whole festival for them and if you search for images of cherry blossoms on google, many of the photos you see are from the US Capital. For a long time, I dreamed of being able to catch the blooms at just the right moment and one year I was lucky enough to be in D.C. just in time to see the cherry blossoms at peak bloom; it is quite the spectacle. I was unaware of this when moving out here and was thrilled to learn that Portland has its own cherry blossoms. Where we may not have as many as the capital, they are absolutely beautiful when they bloom.
There are 100 Yoshino Cherry Trees located at the Japanese American Historical Plaza on Portland’s waterfront. They were gifted to the city of Portland from the Japanese Grain Importers Association and planted in 1990 to commemorate the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. During early spring, Portland is treated some fantastic photo opportunities if the weather cooperates, which it did on Sunday.
I have taken photos of these cherry blossoms for 3 years now, as well as the time I caught them in D.C., and every time I see the same scene. When I photograph scenes that are popular and photographed a lot, I try to look for things that aren’t the same photos as everyone else and often that is photos of the individuals taking photos. This scene of using a phone to take a close up of the cherry blossoms happens over and over again and I actually find it very photographic; I think maybe it’s because everyone has such great posture while doing it.
Don’t get me wrong, I still get the standard photos (and you should too), but I also like to just watch other everyone else there as well. If you walk up on steel bridge, you can get a great view looking down on the trees but also just hang out on the waterfront and watch the light as it changes constantly. While I didn’t bring a flash with me this time, it is probably a good idea to carry one to add some fill light, especially if you are doing any portrait photography.
Dogs
Have any large gathering in Portland and you are going to have a plethora of dogs and my visit to the cherry blossoms was no exception. Portland is one of the most dog friendly cities I have every been; every where you go people have their dogs with them. I love dogs and have two of my own so naturally I like taking photos of dogs as well. I got a couple of decent shots of the many dogs that were there you can view in the photo gallery.
If you plan on getting up close and personal with the blooming cherry blossoms, there is a smart park parking garage right across the street (with a heliport on top no less). It can be rather crowed but still worth checking out but the best time to visit is sunrise (I went close to sunset for these photos however). conveniently, the Portland Saturday Market is just on the other side of Burnside so hit that up as well.
