Sunday, March 31, 2013

From Portland to the World

Icelandic shipping company Eimskip is now making regular visits to the Port of Portland from multiple ports in Europe. It's nice to see this section of the harbor being used for the economic benefit of Greater Portland again.


On an unrelated note, I am running a giveaway on the Portland Daily Photo facebook page for a free 12X18" (or smaller) print from Corey Templeton Photography. Go here for details and to enter (Facebook account required): a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

West End Life

A profile view of a house along the Western Promenade. I think this is considered georgian style architecture (let me know if I am wrong, I'd like to know what to call this style). 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Market & Congress

A view from the corner of Market and Congress Streets. The building on the left, the former Portland Press Herald Building, will someday soon become a hotel. To the right is City Hall, of course. The colors and details in this photo were a bit hard to manage, partly due to the bright sunset in the background and the shadows over most of City Hall.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

Better Know a Street: MacMillan Road

MacMillan Road is an obscure little street nestled off of Congress Street near Bramhall Square. The road doesn't have any buildings directly on it and is only about 200 feet long, connecting parking lots for Holt Hall and the Bramhall Fire Station to Congress Street. 

What drew me to photograph this not-so-picturesque street was actually the name of the street itself. According to an article on the Portland Club's website,  MacMillan Road is named after Donald MacMillan (1874-1970). He was born in Provincetown, Massachusetts but spent a good portion of his life in Maine. MacMillan is best known for his arctic expeditions in the early 1900's. He famously accompanied fellow Mainer Robert Peary on his quest to be the first man to reach the North Pole in 1908 as part of his support team (although MacMillan had to turn around before reaching the Pole). 




Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Snapshots: March 24, 2013

Some recent Instagram shots photos taken from my cellphone:

Grand Trunk

Little Big Dig

Deering Street, Snow

Beaux Arts in the Arts District

Congress and North Street

Feel free to follow me over on Instagram, if you'd like. 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Lights Out

Artist Pandora LaCasse's  unique light sculptures have illuminated downtown Portland between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day each year for more than a decade. I happened to capture the lights being removed from the Portland Museum of Art a few weeks ago:



Thursday, March 21, 2013

Reader Photos: March 2013

Here are some recent submissions to the Portland Daily Photo Flickr Group:

Untitled
Untitled by Gabe Bornstein 

Full Snow Bloom
Full Snow Bloom by Steve Stracqualursi 

DSC_5416-1-mill creek-1
Mill Creek by Nancy Ciocca 

Portland Head Light, Long Exposure (2 minutes)
Portland Head Light, Long Exposure by jbattis 
130213_PER-54-Edit
Sunset over House Island, by Henry Leiter

Thanks to all the contributors for sharing their fine photos! Feel free to upload your own to the Flickr group, the Facebook group, or directly to me via email.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Under a Cloud

The downtown skyline viewed from across Back Cove. The day this photo was taken was rather cloudy, but the darkness of the clouds has been increased for dramatic effect. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Wake Me Up When Winter Ends

These photos are not from today's snowstorm (they are from February), but they convey the general weather pattern as of late:
Congress Square

Volvo-level snow drift

Monday, March 18, 2013

Lucky Catch

A photo of the boat named "Lucky Catch" from October of last year. According to the vessel's website, it is available for private charter and for lobstering excursions. 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Before and After: Thomas Brackett Reed House

Today's Before & After shot is of the Thomas Brackett Reed residence (1888), a National Historic Landmark, on the corner of Deering Street and State Street. Mr. Reed was a prominent political figure in his day and served two nonconsecutive terms as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Here is the house circa the early 1900's, image from the Library of Congress :


And here it is circa July 2012:


Bonus fact - President Theodore Roosevelt visited this location when he was visiting Portland in 1902.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Flashback: March 2012

Time to look back into the archives to a year ago, March 2012. Here are a few select photos from that month:

Commercial Street Tunnel
Monument Square, Night


White Collar Portland


Presidential Visit

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Gamewell

These yellow or red colored emergency call boxes around Portland are a common sight. Most, if not all, of the ones in Portland were manufactured by the Gamewell company. Gamewell was founded in Boston in the 1850's and is still in business today. Although the technology behind these original call boxes is quite old now, I assume most of them still work just as well as they did a hundred years ago. This particularly rustic looking box is on the corner of Portland Street and Parris Street:






Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Fences of Love

Portland now has it's own Fences of Love installation. The fence is located on Commercial Street, next to Portland Lobster Company. These love padlocks are, according to wikipedia, a "custom by which padlocks are affixed to a fence, gate, bridge or similar public fixture by sweethearts at an increasing number of locations in the world to symbolize their everlasting love." I’m not sure who set up our fence,  but it is nice to see Portland joining in on the fun.







Monday, March 11, 2013

Baxter Boulevard

A shot of the work being done on Baxter Boulevard, near Payson Park. The eight-month project aims to improve the city's aging storm and waste water systems and to make the Back Cove and Casco Bay even cleaner in the future. The Boulevard is closed to vehicular traffic from Vannah Avenue to Bates Street, but the popular Back Cove Trail will remain open to pedestrians and cyclists. 


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Spring is Here Again

Longtime readers of this blog know that it's not officially Spring in Portland until I post a photo from Post Office Park. These trees are always the first to come back to life in March, and it's always a welcome sign after a long winter. The weather has been in the 40's (Fahrenheit)  the last of couple days, so even though it won't be quite as warm the rest of the week according to local weather forecasts, it feels like we've turned a corner. 


Saturday, March 9, 2013

Friday, March 8, 2013

Banner Year

These shots are a couple weeks old now, but nonetheless, here are the Portland banners being hung up on streetlights around Monument Square. As I learned a few years ago, the banners were designed by one of the owners of Portland's own Pinecone and Chickadee



Thursday, March 7, 2013

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Hot & Cold Portland

You will recognize the wintertime photo from just a few days ago, and the summer photo is from August 2005, long before I started this blog (I suddenly feel very old).


Monday, March 4, 2013

House of Stone

One of my favorite residences in the West End after last weekend's light snowfall.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Snapshots: March 3, 2013

It is time again to share some select photos from my Instagram account:

Create on Congress Street

Custom House Wharf, Blizzard Nemo

Thanks for the (heads up)

Gritty Door

Landlocked in Bayside

You Have to Start Somewhere