How to Take Amazing Photos in Portland, Oregon Today

Are you ready to start taking some amazing photographs around the city of Portland? Portland, Oregon is an amazing place for photography, especially landscape photography. There’s so many Instagram worthy locations that it can be hard to keep track of all of them, let alone how to come away with amazing photos from each of them. In this post, I am going to share with you how I go about planning my photoshoots, where I like to go, and what I do once I get there. This will help you take some amazing photos in Portland, Oregon today if you want to. Some of my favorite locations around town are: The St. Johns Bridge. Sauvie Island, and The Eastbank Esplanade. In the next section I am going to walk through these locations and show you some great ways to photograph these locations.

1) Go to the St. John’s Bridge. Shown to the right (or below on mobile) t is one of my favorite images that I have taken of the bridge at sunset. Cathedral Park is a favorite spot of Portland Locals and Tourists alike, and for good reason. It sits below the St. John’s Bridge, which is one of the most photogenic locations around the city. The bridge has a clearance of 203’ and has a stunning aqua color. Go to the the park at sunset with your camera or smart phone and focus on trying to capture as much of the bridge as you can in your photograph. This bridge (and bridges in general) are great for photographs because the lines of the bridge lead the viewers eyes around the photograph.

The St. John’s Bridge in Portland, Oregon

2) Go to the Eastbank Esplanade The Eastbank Esplanade is a goldmine for stunning photographs of the Portland, Oregon Skyline. With a little bit of effort, you can make it down to the shore of the Willamette River which has an unobstructed view of the skyline of Portland. You can also utilize the Hawthorne Bridge (On the right side of this image covered by the caption) or the Morrison Bridge (not pictured) to create some amazing depth to your cityscape shots. It is also a perfect place to capture reflections, or make your own reflections in photoshop. .Make sure to go at or near sunset to catch the amazing golden hour colors over the city.

The Portland Skyline from the EastBank Esplanade

3) Go to Sauvie Island Located a bit North of Portland The Sauvie Island Bridge is a lesser photographed photogenic landmark in the City. It is the gateway to a favorite “beach” of locals and has an east/west orientation so it is a perfect location for sunrise and sunset photography. Around the bridge are some very beautiful houseboats which can help frame the bridge, or be photographed on their own. As an added bonus, you can see and photograph both Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. This is a must visit for landscape and portrait photographers in the area because of the above. Some of my favorite images in my portfolio have come from Sauvie Island.

The Sauvie Island Bridge in Portland, Oregon

4) Focus on Golden Hour Its called golden hour for a reason. For most types of photography (other than astrophotography, obviously) Golden hour is where photographers will want to focus. Portland, Oregon is set up in a great place to see some amazing golden hours, sunrises and sunsets. Basically all of my photography is focused on color. The best colors during the day are found during golden hour because the light from the sun passes through more air and molecules than at any other time of the day and these molecules scatter the blue light away from your eyes which is why you get so many purples, pinks, oranges, etc during golden hour. During golden hour, the light is also going to be a bit softer which means longer shadows and more even lighting on faces.

5) Get Low! One of the biggest mistakes in landscape and cityscape photography that I see many beginner photographers make is to take all their pictures from eye level. Taking all your photos from eye level misses a great opportunity to create depth in whatever scene you are capturing. It is important visually to create depth in your photos because you are placing a 3D scene on a 2D Medium (paper, phone screen, etc). Getting low will create this visually appealing depth as well as give you the opportunity to lead your viewers eyes to your subject with lines as seen here.

Here is a photo of me, getting low at the St. John’s Bridge

5) Have Fun! I go out and take photos because I love the process and I always have fun. However, during the early stages, sometimes I would get very frustrated during a shoot or after when I was editing because I was more focused on coming away with usable images than having fun. It isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get the shot you want, there is always another sunset and the St. John’s Bridge isn’t going anywhere .It is easy to get wrapped up in the quality of your photos, but why go out and photograph in amazing conditions if you don’t have a little fun along the way. If you loosen up a bit while you are in the field, try new things, and focus on capturing what you find beautiful, you are sure to come away with at least one or two images from a session that you are proud of.

Keep checking in on my blog for more Portland, Oregon Landscape Photography. I am going to be providing tips and tricks, location scouting advice, and on location stories. And, if you find that you are needing some extra help in coming away from a shoot with some amazing photos, book a photography lesson today and we will make sure you learn the skills you need together.