Ten Things: Newport, OR

I recently took an online photography class from Kat Sloma at Kat Eye Studio. I’ve known Kat for several years through a photography site, but had never taken one of her classes. When she offered “A Sense of Place” in April, I knew the time was right. I love to photograph when we’re traveling, and we had upcoming trips to Washington, D.C. and Oregon. I hoped she’d provide some inspiration and information about capturing those places we visit more effectively. I was not disappointed. The eight week course was packed with thought-provoking information, and beautiful photographic examples. Ironically, because I was traveling, I wasn’t able to participate in the class as fully as I hoped. I did read each lesson as it arrived, however, and was able to incorporate some of it. In the next few weeks, I hope to return to each of the lessons and complete all of the written and photographic assignments Kat included in the lessons. It’s material I’ll return to again and again.

One of the things that has always interested me in travel photography are the details that make a place different from the place where I live. Newport is a harbor town, so you’d expect to see photographs of boats and fishing gear. I did capture some of those, but what really captivated me in Newport was the community artwork painted on the walls of the buildings along the main street. So without further ado, here is a look at Newport.

Not surprisingly, Newport has many fish packing plants. I loved the way the pipes had been painted such bright colors.

And now for the community artwork:

This is one of my favorite shots. I love the contrast of the bright red truck with the blue boat, and the sense of scale that it lends to the mural.

I’m linking this to Shimelle’s Ten Things. You’ll find lots of interesting posts linked up here.