Small Cities in western Washington: Raymond

Raymond is one of the larger cities in Pacific County in the state of Washington. It was incorporated in 1907 and economically driven by logging, timber mills, commercial fishing, and oyster culture. Logging and fishing declined in the mid-20th century, as did the city's prosperity, but after 2012, marijuana cultivation and sales partly revived the city. As of 2025, the city still looks rough. 

Willapa River and unused railroad swing bridge

Raymond was built next to the Willapa River. This allowed lumber vessels to access Willapa Bay and hence the open Pacific Ocean. However, the mouth of Willapa Bay is once of the more treacherous openings along the Oregon and Washington coast because of waves and shifting shoals. I assume this may have somewhat limited Raymond's commercial growth compared to Aberdeen in Grays Harbor. 

Willapa Bay is still a major oyster harvesting area. Raymond calls itself "The Oyster Capital of the World." 

 I explored the streets near the west end of downtown.   

Commercial building on 1st. Street (Kodak Tri-X 400 film, Rolleiflex 3.5 E camera)

Apartments on 1st Street

Two wood houses remain at the corner of 2nd and Ellis Streets. The Weyerhauser wood mill beyond the buildings includes a log yard, sawmill, planer mill, kilns, and planer machines. 

 

Former department store, 2nd Street at Duryea Street

Rear of commercial building facing 3rd Street

Commercial building at 2nd and Duryea Streets

HAVA no-kill cat shelter for homeless, abandoned, or abused cats, 431 2nd Street

439 2nd Street

Golden Lion Inn, 524 3rd St.

 

These photographs look rather bleak. There were very few people about.  

The Golden Lion Inn is a modest establishment on 3rd Street. One of the building has a distinct 1960s motor court look with horizontal bricks and wide overhang roof line. I doubt I would stay there, but the property looked well-maintained.

I took most of the photographs on Dec. 29, 2025. The square frames are Kodak Tri-X 400 film from my Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. The rectangle frames are Ilford XP2 film from my Pentax MX camera and a 50mm ƒ/2 Rikenon lens. This Ricoh lens is a remarkably good plastic-bodied consumer lens sold with many Sears cameras in the 1980s. It is a standard 6-element double Gauss design, multi-coated. I am still deciding if I like XP2, which is a C-41 film (like color print film but monochrome only). It is easy to use and flexible with exposure.

More Exploring in Astoria, Oregon (2026)

 

Astoria is fun! This historic trade and fishing city is near the mouth of the Columbia River. Despite its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it largely protected from ocean swells by the Columbia jetties, the ebb tide shoal, and by sand bars in the river. The town has become trendy, with great restaurants, plenty of hotels, and other tourist paraphernalia. Winter must normally be gloomy and wet, but my last two visits were sunny. In January 2026, the sun was glorious - just for me? 

 

Astoria in Mono 

 

Astoria–Megler Bridge (opened 1966) (135mm Pentax-M lens, yellow filter, tripod-mounted)

11th Street view north (135mm Pentax-M lens)

The Columbia River flows majestically past the city. It dominates the scenery and the emotional feel of the community. Houses climb the hills and have spectacular views.

This was interesting, a Quonset Hut shed where a locomotive foundation is restoring a steam locomotive. No one was at the project the day I stopped. But I want to return and see how they are progressing with their locomotive. The tracks in the picture above run into a mound that supports a parking lot, so the train group will need to lay new rail out the back. 

 I wonder if this is a surplus WWII Quonset Hut? Thousands of them were available after the war. 

 

Astoria in Color

  

 Here is the locomotive shed taken on Kodak Ektar 100 film with a Zeiss Ikon ZM camera and a 35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens. 

Riverwalk mural

Bigfoot drinks coffee??

Dear Readers, you know the inevitable end to vigorous exploring and walking:  Go eat some of the best fish 'n chips I have ever tasted at Astoria Brewing Company. Plus, have some ales or beers. Mmmm....

 

The square black and white photographs are from Kodak Tri-X 400 film via my Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens reflex camera with its 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens (5-element version). The color rectangle frames are Kodak Ektar 100 film from a Zeiss Ikon ZM rangefinder camera with 50mm and 35mm lenses. I will write more about the ZM later.

Industrial Museum: The Georgetown Steam Plant, Seattle, Washington (Sea 13)

 

Georgetown Steam Plant, July 2019 (from Google® Maps)

Early in 2026, some Seattle-area film photographers posted an invitation on the Photrio forum to meet at the Georgetown Steam Plant. That was a nice idea to meet other photographers from the Puget Sound area.   

The Seattle Electric Company built the Georgetown Steam Plant in 1906-1907 to provide electricity for the city's electric streetcar system and for the interurban trolley. The plant was built near the Duwamish Waterway in the Georgetown area of Seattle. 

The Steam Plant is a National Historic Landmark, a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark, and a City of Seattle Landmark. According to the GEORGETOWN STEAM PLANT Community Development Authority (CDA), "We use SHTEAM (Science, History, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) to inspire the Community to envision and create a future where we all belong, and this historic building  generates Community Power." HistoryLink has a detailed history. 

Six or seven of us wandered around in the fascinating setting of pipes, machines, valves, ladders, and catwalks. It was like time travel to another era. My friends had a variety of cameras, mostly medium format. I used Kodak Tri-X 400 film in my Hasselblad 501CM camera with 40mm, 50mm, and 80mm lenses. My compact Linhof ProfiPort tripod supported the camera for all interior exposures. The light was directional from high distant windows, so all my exposures were in the ½ to 2 second range.

 

The mid-level catwalk may be the best way to get a sense of the scale of the machinery and piping.

 

One of two vertical Curtis steam turbines (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Near the base of the Curtis turbine (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Access gantry

Boilers (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Steam piping. Is that asbestos sheathing?

 

Steam piping with access ports (80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

 

Classic precision gauges (80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

Dear Readers, maybe I showed you too many pictures. But I love the shapes, shadows, and textures of old industrial sites. And it is rare that you can enter a place like this legally. 

 

My 40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens was very handy for this setting because of the tight spaces. My 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens works well for both close and distant subjects. This is an 6-element double-gauss design. 

 

Northeast Photographics in Bath, Maine, developed the film and scanned it. The files were very contrasty. Tri-X 400 should have handled the range of exposures with normal development, but I could have specified N-1 to reduce the contrast. Regardless, the TIFF files contain plenty of data to manipulate with a curves tool. 

 

When you visit Seattle, take time to see the Georgetown Steam Plant at 6605 13th Ave. South. The Steam Plant is open to the public every second Saturday.

Cooking in the Monastery, Meteora, Greece (1996)

Meteora is a spectacular scenic and architectural treasure in Thessaly, central Greece. A remarkable collection of vertical plugs of sandstone and conglomerate rise up from the plain. Starting around 1000, hermits moved into caves on the rock pinnacles. In the second half of the 14th century, monks established Eastern Orthodox monasteries on these remarkable rock pillars. The monks sought isolation from the mortal world, a bridge between the mortal and the divine. The precipitous rock pillars also provided safety from bandits and marauding Turkish troops. At its peak, Meteora had 24 monasteries, but only six are active now. 

Ecclesiastically, this complex of monasteries is second in importance to the remarkable ones on Mount Athos in northern Greece. I visited Athos in 1995, a memorable trek.

The Meteora region and the architecture are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

My stepdad and I visited central Greece in mid-1996. We stayed in a hotel in Kalabaka, the major town nearby. Then we spent two days exploring the monasteries that were open for tourists. Some are now ruins and dangerous to access.

Village of Kastraki

Holy Monastery of Rousanou and the village of Kastraki

Evening in Kastraki

Grand Meteoron

The Holy Imperial Monastery of the Holy and Great Meteoron is a spectacular architectural treasure.  "In 1340 St. Athanasios of Meteora occupied the ‘Platylithos’, the rock which he was to name ‘the Meteoron’ (i.e. the rock suspended between heaven and earth), and went on to lay the solid foundations of cenobitic monasticism at the Meteora." Their web page provides history and visiting information. 

The ancient buildings house chapels, libraries, storage rooms, workshops, and kitchens. 700-year-old kitchens? Smoke-darkened pots and hearths? What could be better? 

Food Preparation

Sure, these old utensils have been staged. But some penitent monks used them years and centuries ago to prepare food for the members of the monastery. 

Storage

Food storage was always an issue. The monks needed supplies for the harsh winter months. They also needed to protect their supplies from marauding bandits. In times of war or banditry, villagers may have taken refuge in the monastery. 

Sewing and Farm Equipment

Meteora is a gem. Go there as a life goal! But the area is now grossly over-touristed, so visit in the off season. 

I took these photographs with a Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens reflex (TLR) camera with a 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. These are long exposures (1/2 sec and more). I braced the camera on railings or shelves. The Rolleiflex is well-suited for this type of work because you can place it on a shelf, look down into the viewfinder, and use a cable release or the self-timer to trigger the long exposure. The camera does not have a moving mirror and is almost vibration free, so it is perfect for long exposures. The film was Tri-X professional 320 film, exposed at EI=250. I developed it in Rodinal (the genuine Agfa product) at 1:25. I measured the light with a Gossen Luna Pro Digital meter.

On the Waterfront: Harbor Days in Olympia (Oly 24)

Dear Readers, Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2026 is prosperous and healthy, and thank you for reading along.

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Olympia really likes its waterfront! Harbor Days is a three-day festival of boats, food, children's' activities, sunshine, and antique tugboat races. A good time is had by all. Here are some pictures from the 2024 festival.

Percival Landing, Olympia (Tri-X 400 film, Rolleiflex 3.5E camera)

WWII era tug Commanche (the large vessel)

The Comanche is a sturdy old World War II navy tug, launched in 1943. I want onboard before the start of Harbor Days and spent an hour listening to two former crewmen relate stories. She is owned by the Comanche 202 Foundation in Tacoma. I do not know how far around Puget Sound she travels. This old-timer needs a lot of maintenance and overhauling. When young, she was powerful enough to tow aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean.

Where is the concert? (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

Lego artists of budding marine engineers

The commercial part of the Port of Olympia offered short tours for the public. Normally, the Port is a restricted area, so a guided tour promised to be very interesting. It was! The Port of Olympia's most common cargo now is lumber. Huge logs come into town on 18-wheeler trucks. They are sorted and labeled at the port and then loaded onto freighters. Most go to Japan and Korea. Every log has a label indicating its quality. Rarely, a cattle freighter takes cows to Vietnam. 

Machine for unloading logs from trucks

Serious forklift

Shuttlewagon - runs on rails and pavement

I took these photographs with a Rolleiflex 3.5E camera with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens (5-element version) on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi film scanner operated by Silverfast software on a Windows 7 computer. I cleaned chemical blobs and dust with Photoshop CS6.