11 posts tagged “city”

Though Portland has a great many beautiful brick buildings, there are of course many that are far more prosaic.  This is one of them:

I took this picture probably a month ago... I just haven't shared it yet.  This is a wall next to a playground in downtown Portland:

Ever felt the urge to jazz up your photos beyond a simple levels adjustment?  I know I have.  I don't have the know-how to do awesome effects in Photoshop Elements, though, and I don't have any of those cool novelty cameras (e.g. Lomo or Holga) that do them for you.  That's why I was so happy to learn about Picnik, a website that mimics their effects.  And it's free!  (Well, there is a "Premium" option with even MORE cool stuff, but the free part is certainly good enough for my purposes.)  Here's an example of what it does:

It's a photo of the Clapp House, the former MECA admissions building recently donated to the Portland Museum of Art (to which it is adjacent).  The original of this photo was very blue.  I altered it using a mix of Picnik's "1960's" and "Cross Process" functions.  In the future, I'll tag any Picnik-edited photos with "picnik."  If it doesn't have the tag, it was most likely edited in Photoshop, if at all.

No, not the movie (though it was excellent)... I mean the building material.  Boring ol' brick, in use for over nine thousand years.  Brick buildings became common in New England around the time of the Industrial Revolution, and the region still contains many beautiful old mills, factories, and warehouses.  Portland has an extremely high number of brick buildings, due to an 1866 fire that destroyed most of the city.  Here are a couple:

Today I discovered a strange tradition that happens in Portland (dating to the late 1970's, according to the Phoenix).  On Valentine's Day, these red hearts show up everywhere:

My art history class (actually, all the AH 101 classes) went to the Boston MFA on Friday.  I stayed after to hang out with my friend Miriam!  Here's a snapshot just to illustrate how different Portland and Boston are:

This looks like a nice place to have lunch... unless there's a fire!

Even though it's midterms week, and I'm really, really busy, I've had an excellent few days.  Here's why:
+ I got my camera batteries in the mail today (thanks, Mu)!
+ My hours at the library were upped from 5/week to 10/week... better yet, the extra 5 will be Saturdays, meaning I get paid extra.
+ I grabbed a couple huge pieces of plywood from the scrap bin in the print studio.  One is 18.5"x25" and the other is roughly 22"x25".  Both completely free (almost makes up for the $85 of printing paper I just ordered online).
+ It's my birthday on Thursday.  I'll be 20.
+ Red Sox.  Yesss!

And now, a photo:

Portland is a pretty old city, as far as US cities go.  It's also very well-maintained, but a bit of grunge sneaks in around the edges... and I do love to take pictures of things that look like they've been around a while.  I won't have any new photos until I either borrow a camera or get a new battery, but here is a promise of things to come:

I can finally update again!  I have lots of photos, but the updates may be a bit sporadic until I have a chance to coordinate my schedule.  You see, the internet connection in my apartment is too slow to upload pictures, so I have to do it from the library or computer lab, both in this building:

The Porteous building was converted from a department store in the early 1990's.  It now houses all MECA departments except Photo, Graphic Design, and New Media (those are in the Baxter building, about three blocks away).  Many of the school's administrative offices are also in Porteous.

The building closes to the public at 8:00pm most nights, but is open to students 24 hours -- we have a key!