Portland Mayoral Election 2011 - Social Media Standings Round 2!

Here is the latest Mayoral Social Media Standings graphic, current as of 10/31/2011. I have put the 15 candidates in order of their combined amount of Twitter and Facebook numbers. This is still a photo blog, but as I have said before, I like to share my thoughts on other Portland related topics from time to time. This will likely be the last mayoral social media graphic I make before the election. I might make one after the votes are counted just to compare the results versus social media totals.

A few observations concerning social media and the Portland, Maine mayoral election of 2011:

• Social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, are not that reliable in predicting a candidate's success at the polls. The numbers are interesting to look at though (for me at least). 


• Jed Rathband has run the most successful online campaign, as evidenced by his social media presence and overall polish of his websites.


• Peter Bryant appears to have run the least successful online campaign. 


• Jodie Lapchick, who is a marketing strategist and who is running on the idea of better promoting and marketing the city, should be one of the leaders in social media success.


• Michael Brennan and David Marshall are equally savvy with the social media.

This photo was shot, as you might guess, around the same time as last Thursday's photo. I'm not sure which one I like more, but this one does have the long exposure tail lights which is a bonus.

Congress & North Streets, Munjoy Hill.

First Snow

As you can see, we didn't get much snow in downtown Portland, but it was enough to be noteworthy. 

Snow & Foliage in Lobsterman's Park

A bit of snow on Congress Street.

Oak Street, with Oak Street Lofts under construction on the left.

Last Night

All the Leaves are Brown

Vines on stones.

Looking up Deering Avenue. The vehicular entrance to deering oaks is directly to the left of this photo.

Red leaves, grey sky.

Flashback: October 2010

Remember October of 2010? It was the month before the State Theater reopened, the same month that Trader Joe's opened on Marginal Way, and the month that I posted the below pictures. You can always check out all of my posts from that month by going here.

A bicycle on Deering Street, in the Parkside neighborhood.

Renovations to the McLellan House, part of the Portland Museum of Art.

Tracing the Fore, Fore Street in the Old Port.

Maine Medical Center, West End

Congress & North Streets

The intersection of Congress and North Streets on Munjoy Hill. Portland Observatory is on the left and Colucci's is on the right:

In Colucci's related news, they are now using my photo of their store that was published in the print and web versions of the Washington Post (link) a few years back as the image on their take-out menu. If anyone from Colucci's reads this, I would be happy to be compensated with a free slice of pizza. 

Three Pumpkins

Three Pumpkins on the steps of The Danforth, an historic inn on Danforth Street in the West End.

Alternate View

East Deering

A few photos from the East Deering neighborhood area:

Train tracks from Veranda Street. The bridge ahead carries I-295. You can see the old swing bridge in the distance that used to connect Munjoy Hill and East Deering via rail.

Looking back from where Veranda Street meets Route 1. Munjoy Hill is on the left, part of East Deering on the right.

Tukey's Bridge

Tukey's Bridge on a crisp autumn morning. The current bridge opened in 1960, per wikipedia. It carries US Route 1, I-295, and Washington Avenue from Munjoy Hill to East Deering.

Because the Night

A few Congress Street night shots:

The Time & Temp

The upper floors of Portland's Time & Temperature Building, built in 1924, during a recent sunset.

Call

Center Street. 

So. Portland

A few photos from a bicycle ride through South Portland last weekend:

Buoys

Old Tracks

Fall Farmers Market

I stopped by the Farmers Market in Deering Oaks this past Saturday. Photogenic as usual! The market will be here a couple more weeks from 7-12pm on Saturdays and is in Monument Square on Wednesdays  from 7-2pm.

Parsnips 

Gourds/Pumpkins

Convenient bicycle parking

International Marine Terminal

If you've been by here recently, you may notice that the International Marine Terminal, near the Casco Bay Bridge on Commercial Street, is being reconstructed. It will be a good thing to have a more modern facility, but I will miss the "welcome to Portland"sign on the old building that I included in so many of my photos.

Timeless

A somewhat timeless view of Monument Square. I do take pictures of other places, but the square has been pretty photogenic lately.

The Nights are Getting Longer

Here are a few recent nighttime shots. As you may recall, I moved from a Nikon D50 to a Nikon D90 back in May. The D90, having been released in 2008, is not the newest and most technically advanced consumer-level Nikon camera anymore, but it still holds its own and was a worthy upgrade from the D50. I was usually confined to shooting in the daylight with my previous camera, but now I have to remind myself to get out at night more. With the days slowly getting shorter, expect to see more night shots from me. 

Monument Square and puddle.

Temple Street and Federal Street. First Parish Church in background.

Shopping Carts

Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing an abundance of shopping carts (mostly from Hannaford) around town? Here are three I spotted recently:

Congress Square Park.

Deering Oaks Park.

Lost lumber at the corner of Park Avenue and State Street.

Untraceable

Here is a photo of a section of Boothby Square, which sits between Fore Street in the Old Port. This was the site of the recently removed Tracing the Fore installation. Based on historical photos such as this one and this one, the current state of the square would be similar to how it looked in the past if they replace the orange fencing with a nice wrought iron fence.

And not far away from the above photo is the picturesque corner of Milk Street and Silver Street, home to The Crooked Mile Cafe, among other shops and businesses.

Watching the Sun Set

People watching the sunset from Standpipe Park on North Street.

Photos to Canvas

I've long thought that some of my photos might look great printed on canvas.  I recently tested out the photos to canvas service offered EasyCanvasPrints.com. I chose this photo to test out on an 11X14 canvas and here are the results:

Pretty sharp, eh?! I am very satisfied with the results. The quality of the printing is top notch, the time between order submission and delivery was quick, and the canvas arrived securely packed and protected.

As I've said before, I am thinking of trying my luck at selling some of my photos at a few arts and crafts festivals. In addition to selling prints at those events I will definitely bring along a few photos printed on canvas.

I know a lot of my readers are photographers also, so I recommend heading over to the Easy Canvas Prints Facebook page to get 50% your order and free shipping.

Occupy Maine - The Signs

Occupy Maine signs along Lincoln Park (click image for larger version). It's not often that there are things like this going on in Portland, so it's been good material for photographing. I'll probably have more Occupy Maine related photos in the near future.

Stroudwater Village

Today I am posting a few photos from the Stroudwater Village area of Portland, which is on the western side of town, towards the Westbrook border. I happened to walk through here with my camera after attending the open house of the new Jetport terminal earlier this month. This neighborhood was settled in 1727 and has some impressive old buildings, including the Tate House Museum.  

State

State Theater 

Occupy Maine

Some photos from Occupy Maine headquarters in Portland's Lincoln Park.