Simple Doorway Arch

Grungy arched doorway from a small neighborhood church.

Looming Capitol

Looks like a wide angle view of the Oregon State Capitol Building, but it's actually five photos stitched together. (I've been on a photo stitching kick lately.) Click for larger view.

Vista Dome

25 photos stitched together for an interior shot of Vista House. Click for a larger view.

Had a few comments yesterday asking to see a shot of the Columbia River Gorge. Would you believe that I don't have a decent shot of the gorge? Sorry! Gives me an excuse to go back.

Vista House

Originally completed in 1918 (and since restored), Vista House is a public building providing a great view overlooking the Columbia River Gorge near Portland.

Andy's Inn

Painted sign on the side of Andy's Inn, a bar on Foster in Portland.

Yamhill Stroll

An elderly man takes a stroll along Yamhill and 2nd Ave in downtown Portland. Click for larger view.

Sky Tracks

Looking up the outside of a glass elevator shaft -- like train tracks to the sky.

Angled 6713

Odd angled doorway at 6713 SE Foster, Portland. Click for larger view.

Mohawk Windows

Looking up at windows of the Mohawk Building at 3rd Ave and Morrison in downtown Portland. Click for larger view.

Uruapan Taqueria

Freshly painted yellow door on 82nd and Reedway in Portland. Click for larger view.

Garaged

A garage door as a piece of art. Somehow, it works it my mind. Click for larger view.

Iron Chicken

Above a doorway in southeast Portland.

Corner Shop

Corner of a mini-shopping strip nearby.

Up the Sunny Wall

Outdoor light fixture on a sunny day.

Purple, Black and Yellow

City colors.

Gridwork Siding

Evening shadows of telephone wires across the gridwork siding of a Portland house. Click for larger view.

Ankeny Shadow

Long afternoon shadow on the wall at Ankeny Square in Old Town Portland.

Light Ball

Light fixture like a looming eyeball. At the Old Town / China Town MAX train stop in Portland.

Glass Mosaic

Stained glass window. Modern church buildings tend to be visually dull by comparison.

Pagoda Slope

Rooftop from the Chinese Classical Garden in Portland's China Town. Celebrated the Chinese New Year there today complete with traditional lion dancing.

History Lamp

Lamp outside the Gresham History Museum.

Rivet Riff

More rivets from the Steel Bridge across the Willamette River in Portland.

Sinister Arch

A spooky view of the "Arch Grid" building near Holgate and Foster. Click for larger view.

Juvenile Cupola

Pointy bit from the Multnomah County Juvenile Services Division building.

Other bits here and here.

Arch Grid

Criss-cross gridwork on an old building near Foster and Holgate in Portland. Click for a larger view.

Dental Motif

Toothy architectural detail of the Multnomah County Juvenile Services Division building. Another view here.

Juvenile Column

Looking up a column at the Multnomah County Juvenile Services Division building.

Carved Ceiling

Ornate ceiling detail from the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall in Portland.

House From Above

Seen from the Marblehead Lighthouse near Sandusky, Ohio. Found this one in the photo archives. See a close-up shot of the picket fence gate here.

Snow Sill

Snow on a window sill. A rare sight in Portland, but it does happen. Expecting to get dumped on with more snow and ice the next two days. Next week isn't looking any better. Could end up with a severe case of cabin fever.

Upstairs

Creakity stairs, squeakity door. Grungy, grungy.

Bit o' Work

A bit of architecture from the building where I work.

5512

Another angle of Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian, somewhat more imposing.

Chapel and the Tree

A tree still in color by Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church. Yes, in December.

Lefty Loosen

Detail from the an industrial building.

Reading Light

Sunlight through Portland Center Library's skylight.

Red Door at Dusk

Late-afternoon sun adds mystery to a house's red door.

Curves

What is it? A bit abstract, I admit. Curved metal from the ornamental piece atop a chain-link fence gate. They must have been all the rage of home fashion at one point. They're everywhere in our neighborhood.

Pumpkin Garage

In lieu of pumpkins, at Halloween I give you a festive orange garage from the neighborhood. Some people just aren't afraid to be noticed.

Sauvie Bridge

View of a new bridge leading to Sauvie Island north of Portland -- such a happy, scenic place full of farmland and open spaces.

Flag in the Sky

Looking up from Starbucks at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland.

Steel Sunset

Portland's Steel Bridge at dusk. Fun fact to know and tell: This is one of the few (the only?) bridges featuring two levels that can raise independently of each other to allow boats of various heights to pass. (Our family got to see it in action just before this photo was taken the other night.)

Pane

Broken window from an old train depot.

Shingled

Just an interesting pattern of shingles.

Riveted

Transfixed by patterns of rivets holding the Steel Bridge together across the Willamette River in Portland.

Import Plaza

Color or black-and-white?

Sign from an old Import Plaza retail store at the corner of NW Couch and 1st Avenue in Old Town Portland.

Four Chairs

An odd sign of hospitality on the front porch of an otherwise forlorn house.

Cross on a Dark Sky

From the top of a church around the corner.

Fleur

Architectural detail from Old Town Portland, a historical area that's gentrifying quickly.

Of Lines and Angles

Criss-crossed lines everywhere on a footbridge leading to the lower deck of the Steel Bridge across the Willamette River in Portland. Twin spires of the Convention Center in the background.

Forward Slash

Another interesting play of shadows and lines on the Woodstock Library in Portland. Taken the same day as this and this.

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We have a winner on the "Pop Art Contest" post! Check the comments for details.

Pop Art Contest

I'm still mesmerized by the contrast of red and white stripes on this building, like architectural pop art.

Care to guess what building it came from? I'm feeling benevolent enough to offer a free 5x7 of any Crossmark photo to the first person who guesses correctly. How generous of me!

Space Monkey

My tribute to the first coffee shop I visited after we moved to Portland. Holds a special place in my heart. And with a name like "Space Monkey Coffee", why shouldn't it?

Reed Battlement

Castle-like architecture built into the campus of Reed College in Portland.

Big words of the day: "crene" and "merlon" are the names of the alternating high and low segments on the top of the battlement. Who knew?

Boarded Window

A broken, boarded-up window. Like a lot of people who've given up hope.

Double Happiness

Actually, I have no idea if the carvings in this architectural detail have any meaning. I do remember that while we were in China, anytime we asked the meaning of some symbol, we were usually told "Double Happiness". This photo is from the Classical Chinese Garden in Portland.

Gothic Door

Gothic architecture abounds at Reed College here in Portland. We headed there last Saturday for a free concert of Beethoven's Prometheus complete with narration and multimedia show. Okay, so it was actually just the dress rehearsal, open to the public. And we were 20 minutes late. And we left after 10 minutes. But it was Culture.

Pagoda Peak

Intracacy of Chinese architecture. Another view from within the Chinese Classical Garden in downtown Portland.

There's just something naturally peaceful about traditional Asian architecture that I find soothing. Modern American buildings tend to be so stark and utilitarian, separated from beauty and nature. And I think we're the worse for it.

Tetris Window

A labyrinth-like window frame at the Chinese Classical Garden in Portland's China Town. The familiar shapes take me back to memories of playing Tetris on the ol' Nintendo. (I'm dating myself here. Dare I confess to the Atari?)

Domed White

A skylight dome on the third floor of the Central Library in downtown Portland. Perfect setting for the free public concerts we've enjoyed there on Sunday afternoons.

Organic Iron

Plant and floral motif preserved in iron. Funny how we take stark materials like stone and metal, then shape them to resemble living things. This column head can be found in Ankeny Square in Portland.

Guilded Ceiling

Painted ceiling from Renaissance Room in the Governor Hotel--a hundred year-old schmancy place in downtown Portland.

Library Stitch

A stitched panorama of the Portland Central Library facade. Click the image for a larger view.

Grid Light

Lines of light and shadow down the back wall of Woodstock Library on a sunny afternoon.

Gates of Knowledge

Doorway of the Central Library in downtown Portland. The library hosts FREE concerts on Sundays--and I do love FREE. This time it was a top-notch instrumental trio and a vocalist performing flamenco / mariachi / latin music.

Pipe Shadow

A rainwater drain pipe casts a long shadow at high noon.

Mossy Pillars

Simple row of columns lining the sidewalk outside the Portland Central Library downtown.

Crystal Spire

One of the twin glass spires of the Portland Convention Center in a winter sunset.

Courthouse Facade

Facade of the courthouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Arches and Ovals

Another view of the Central Library foyer in downtown Portland. (Parorama shot stitched from three separate photos. Click the photo to view a larger version.)

Fixturated

Guess I'm fixated on lighting fixtures.

This one comes from the ceiling of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland. Thanks to the Portland Library and the Oregon Symphony, we won FREE tickets to a children's concert there this afternoon. Had fantastic seats too! The concert was very well done and a delight we couldn't have afforded otherwise.

Let's hear it for FREE stuff!

Endless Columns

Okay, so they're not endless. These palacial adornments stand watch over, um--a food court and some small shops. Probably not what the masons who built it had in mind. (Ankeny Square, Portland)

Pachyderm Portrait

What do roses, elephants and the world have in common?

Beats me. This odd mural on the building at Burnside and 1st Avenue in Portland is being painted over, so I consider it my duty to archive it for future generations to puzzle over.

And if you can decipher its meaning--please, enlighten the rest of us.

Solar Luminary

Looking up at the massive chandelier in a lobby of the Central Library in downtown Portland where we enjoyed a free concert of American music--even had some by Aaron Copland, who ranks as one my favorite composers of all time. What a great afternoon!

Aging Shed

An old shed across the street from a new playground we were exploring on a warm February Saturday.

Brick and Blue

My entry into photography opened my eyes to so much visual interest around me, even around the back door of this school near Grant Park in Portland. Contrasts of color, light, shape, and texture--just waiting for someone to notice.

Iron Curls

Curly Q's from an iron door near Burnside and 1st Avenue in Portland.

When I'm out and about with my camera, I'll snap a picture of almost anything. It's not uncommon for me to return with 200-300 shots from just a brief outing. Then as I'm sorting back through photos weeks later, I'll re-discover a nice shot that I had forgotten about. This is one example.

Iron Glyphs

Detail from a cast iron column at Ankeny Square near Skidmore Fountain in downtown Portland. The square displays ornamental pieces taken from historic buildings that no longer exist.

Green Door

A forgotten door to a forgotten building.

Lace Curtains

Our neighborhood is lined with some wonderfully quaint houses that just seem to say "Portland" to me.

Hatch Lumber

All that's left of an abandoned lumber yard.

Ankeny Motif

A floral relief from Ankeny Square in Portland.

Blue Stripes

Out for a photo walk the other day and came across this architectural bit from a building around the corner. The metal is actually copper colored, but with a simple change of the camera's white balance, striking blue stripes pop out.

Narrow Passage

Another passage through the Folk Art Museum in Guangzhou, China. One of my favorite shots in the China series.

Forbidden City

Another view inside the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Garden Window

A shuttered window hides a lovely garden view at the Folk Art Museum in Guangzhou, China.

Pearl River Bridge

A shot from our dinner cruise in Guangzhou, China.

Moon Window

A circular window, a common architectural feature in China, displays garden area outside a tea shop.

Ornamental Wall

A decorative wall from the Folk Art Museum in Guangzhou, China.

Imperial Gate

An ornamental gate at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

Thoughtful Passage

One of many long meditative passages through a Folk Art Museum we visited while in China. I could have spent an entire day there strolling about in peaceful reflection.

Marble Boat

Big boat made of stone. Nope, it doesn't float. Just for decoration. Useful, huh? (Taken at the Summer Palace in Beijing.)

One Year Ago

Colorful rooflines from the sparse, yet elegant Forbidden City, the Emperor's expansive grounds in Beijing.

February marks an important milestone in our household. One year ago, my wife and I traveled to China for nearly three weeks to get our third child, a precious eight-month old girl. To celebrate, I'm featuring some of my China photos all throughout this month's blog posts. I'd love to go back to China, but this will have to suffice for now. (Anybody wanna send me to the Beijing Olympics this summer? I'll pack myself in your suitcase!)

Column

Contrasts of light on a column's lines and spheres. On 1st Avenue and Burnside in Portland by the (former) Saturday Market near Skidmore Fountain.

Smoke Stack

Like a monument to the industrial age, a brick smoke stack rises against a clean blue sky. Skies like that don't come every day in Portland, so ya gotta make the most of them when you can. For us, it was a beautiful January day to play in the park and take a stroll.

Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Does anything rhyme with "orange"? My wife says, "door hinge", but I think that's a stretch.

In the Sky with Diamonds

A stitched panorama of the Portland airport ceiling architecture, blended from three separate photos. (Click the image for a larger view.)

Foggy December

Festive green lights adorn the top floor of the office building where I work, peeking through the morning fog.

Farmhouse Window

Old houses make me wonder about the stories of the people who have lived in them over the years. If those walls could tell their tales...

Chipped and Cracked

Layers of weathered paint add character to the old train depot in Bryan, Ohio.