A landscape built by nature's fury...

A a beautiful clear day looking southwest past downtown Portland, Oregon toward Mt. Hood you can see the rolling landscape caused by the Boring Lava Fields over a million years ago and the Missoula Floods about 14,000 years ago.

I'm Surrounded....

A TriMet MAX Light Rail train waits for one Portland Streetcar to past while another Portland Streetcar is about to turn toward the riverfront area. The action is taking place in front of Portland State Universities Urban Center just outside of downtown Portland, Oregon.

Soccer Action

During a youth soccer game in Portland, Oregon 2015.

Forgotten Rails

Once busy rails that served the Portland, Oregon's Northwest Industrial District are now sit unused and cut through in several spots.

Forgotten Rails

Rails that once served Portland, Oregon's northwest industrial area.

A Great Intersection to Watch the action of drivers...

Trimet Green Line Train along SW 5th Avenue, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

When I eat out in downtown I will usually hit the food carts which have good food at reasonable prices. On my way back to the Portland State University campus I will usually come here and take a bus or MAX back to the school.

What is interesting is watching the action of drivers at this intersection. To the left of the photo is an entrance to the building behind the MAX train which is called "___ Bank Building" - the bank who shall not be named.

There is only one lane for cars in this section however cars often drive down the lanes that are supposed to be for transit only (where the MAX train is). In addition despite there being several no right turn signs people will often turn right from the auto lane to get into the bank who shall not be named.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen cars make illegal right hand turns without looking. I am surprised there hasn't been any accidents here between the MAX trains and the many hundreds of buses that use this street.

The Jupiter Hotel

Jupiter Hotel was ??, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

The Jupiter Hotel sits along Burnside in Portland's gritty east side area. The motel typical 1960's motel that has been turned into a motel for the hipster crowd.

Have to enjoy the the contrast between the modern and the classic motor court in this shot. To the left is the restaurant called the Doug Fir that also includes event space with the lobby/gallery located directly to the right of the picture.

Sometimes you just have to snap the picture...

The Coast Starlight leaving Portland with skateboarders along tracks., a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

There is times you just have to snap the picture even though you know it will not come out perfect.

In this case I was waiting to take pictures of Amtrak's Coast Starlight when I saw these two people walking down the tracks and then starting to skateboard down the crossing. I was already focused on the train so I went ahead and took the picture.

While the skateboarders were not perfectly focused it gets the point across. Hopefully these two learned their lesson about a five seconds after I snapped the picture and the engineer of the train blew the whistle. These two obviously not paying attention freaked out and then started running and started screaming "there was a train coming" over and over as they cross and started walking down the street.

What's your history?

Casa Del Sol formally Tastee Feeze??, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

I love looking at buildings and trying to figure out their history. I love trying to see if I can figure out how the building started out and what has happened to it over the years. What is really fun is when you find some small clue that tells you a story.

Now this building I am guessing could have been a Tastee Freeze at one time. It looks exactly like the one I grew up with in Pasadena, CA that has now something else just like this building.

New buildings just don't have a history or character that these old buildings do. Maybe in 30 years when today's buildings became scarce they will be looked at differently but right now its just hard for them to hold a candle so something that has a story to tell.

They don't race here anymore...

Multnomah Greyhound Park - Abandoned, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Multnomah Greyhound Park has sat abandoned since 2005. There has been a couple of proposals to tear down the track and build a casino but both failed. Last year a company tried to get voters to approve of private (non-native) casinos in the state but pulled out when it was clear their state wide ballot initiative was going to fail badly.

1913 Fire Station - Now Abandoned

1913 Fire Station - Now Abandoned, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Fire Station Number 2, for many years was an essential part of the old town part of Portland but today stands abandoned surrounded by roads and railroad tracks.

I am not sure when the fire station was last used but it is clear by looking at the old doors that the fire trucks once used that they are in no way equipped to handle today's multi purpose fire trucks.

Hopefully this building would be put to use as it has great architectural details but it will cost money to fix up since it would have to be seismically upgraded to handle the eventuality of a Cascadia Subduction Zone 9.0+ earthquake.

Portland Streetcar at Portland State

Portland Streetcar at Portland State, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

In my last posting I mentioned how it had been three years since I came to Portland for a conference that would lead to me actually moving here to Portland.

Here is another once of those photos that makes me think about that trip three years ago. The day after I arrived in Portland for the conference I had a free day so I planned to walk the city using walks created by Laura Foster in her books "Portland City Walks" and "Portland Hill Walks" both of which I highly recommend.

That day I walk to this very spot and took a picture of a streetcar approaching this very spot. Little did I know that I would become very familiar with this spot. Since a year ago June I have been attending Portland State and have had classes in the building to the right and left behind the streetcar. I have also spent time in the Park Blocks which are on either side of the streetcar.

Just goes to show that sometimes a picture is can be more than just a picture of something but can have meaning and possibly for things we don't think of when we take the picture.

MAX Train at Skidmore Fountain

MAX Red Line train in old town Portland, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

A MAX Red line train on its run from Beaverton to the Portland International Airport passes the Skidmore Fountain in old town Portland.

If this was a Saturday or Sunday except in the months of January and February this area would be jammed packed with people attending the Portland Saturday Market with trains crawling through to ensure no one gets hit. However because it is a weekday things are much quieter in the area and for the operator.

I love walking around Downtown Portland and the surrounding areas taking pictures. No matter how many times I walk the area I always find something new to take pictures of.

This picture also makes me realize that next month will mark 3 years since I boarded a Red Line train at the airport to attend a conference here in Portland and how much my life would change since. Little did I know when I rode the Red Line that day that I would be moving here to Portland in nine months and would make the frightening step to return to school.

Now three years later it seems like all a blur.

Lunch is now being served...

Lunch is now being served..., a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Are you hungry? Well if you like Chinese food you might just be after looking at this picture. A food cart has displays several of their dishes during the Portland Saturday Market.

There is Sweet and Sour Chicken and General Tso's which are my favorites plus several other tasty treats.

Mobile Artist Studio

Mobile Artist Studio, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

I decided to spend the first Saturday in March walking around downtown seeing what I could find to interest me to photograph.

I walk around for a little while till I saw people near the Portland Saturday Market. I thought the market didn't open until late March but as it turns out it opens the first Saturday in March.

This guy has a cool set up. He has turned his bicycle into a mobile studio and gallery. You can see he is painting on one side of the bike and has paintings available for sale on the other side. Talk about being creative.

Related articles

• 39th season of Portland Saturday Market opens this weekend (oregonlive.com)

Lovely home in Portland Heights

Home in Portland Heights,, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

This lovely home sits in the Portland Heights area of Portland. Many of the homes in this area are very lovely but I love the classic architecture of this particular home.

Hungry??

Voodoo Donuts Neon Sign, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Voodoo Donuts is a downtown Portland institution that is known for its long lines along with its donuts.

Lines can often be a block long to get in the place. Although I have never had them I have heard they are wonderful.

Today I passed by there and although the place was packed there was no line and it was so tempting to try some donuts out.

You also have the wonderful neon sign.

World Forestry Center train at night

World Forestry Center train at night, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

I have not done a lot of night time lapse photos but I am trying to take the opportunities when they come up.

I had pick someone up at Washington Park in Portland about 8:00pm last week so I took the opportunity to take some pictures. While driving around Washington Park I cam across the train on display in front of the World Forestry Center so I decided to take some pictures of it.

I put the camera on a tripod and took various shots and this was one of the results.

Neon Taxi and Bus Sign at Portland Union Station

Neon Taxi and Bus Sign at Portland Union Station, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Here is the final picture of neon at Portland Union Station.

Security Sign at Portalnd Union Station

Security Sign, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Here is another one of the lovely neon signs at Portland Union Station in Portland, Oregon.

I took this photo with a General Electric X5 camera. While the camera did good on these types of photos, it did horrible with anything that moved even if you tried to speed up the shutter speed.