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.

Traditional Neighborhood: Central Avenue, Albany, New York (Tri-X film)

Albany, New York, is the capital of New York State. The city has a rich 300-year history of government, arts, and commerce. The Central Avenue neighborhood is an area of traditional early-20th century town homes, shops, and small apartments. According to the Central Avenue web page, 

"This isn’t your typical main street and that’s exactly the point. Central Avenue is where authenticity thrives and Albany’s creative pulse beats strongest. It’s home to rising artists, bold thinkers, small business pioneers, and innovators shaping what’s next."

This was all new to me because I had only once before been to Albany (after I completed the Erie Canal bike tour). 

My bicycling friend and I had just completed the Cycle the Hudson Valley ride. We joined family member for lunch at a restaurant on Central Avenue. While they lingered after lunch, I wandered around and took photos of the houses and stores. 

Central Avenue

198 Central Avenue

Fresh Bites Deli, 199 Central Avenue

Bob's Appliances, 224 Central Avenue

Robin Street and Sherman Streets

 

Standing alone, 217 Sherman Street

200 block of Sherman Street

201 Sherman Street

Note the asphalt shingles on the side of the house on the left. Decades ago, many of these buildings may have been re-shingled this way.

Robin Street

Memorial, Robin Street

Apartment, 351 Elk Stree

Houses, 421 Sheridan Avenue

201 Sherman Street

Lark Street

Row townhouses, 105 Lark Street

Townhouses, Lark Street

These handsome townhouses date from the 1880s and 1890s and form part of Albany's historic core. The area has been revitalized and gentrified over the last 20+ years. Lark Street has evolved into a prominent center for Albany's LGBTQ+ community.

This ends our short walk around historic Central Avenue. I took these photos in August 2025 on Kodak Tri-X film using my Canon Canonet GIII QL17 camera with its 40mm ƒ/1.4 lens. The negatives were very contrasty, and I had to reduce the contrast with the curve tool using Photoshop CS6. For some frames, I corrected converging vertical lines with Photoshop. This would be the place to use a shift lens on an interchangeable lens camera. Unfortunately, I did not have any yellow or orange filters with me to add some tone to the featureless sky.