Iconic St Johns Bridge
Updated: Feb 11
My first visit to the North Portland neighborhood of St Johns began with a trip over the St Johns Bridge. Once you cross over the bridge, you're delivered into quaint downtown St Johns. These few minutes of travel secured the desire to make St Johns my home. It made an indelible imprint that few neighborhoods could duplicate. St Johns has easy access to downtown Portland, Sauvie Island, the airport, the mountains, and the beaches, but it still feels like a town on its own. The bridge is a source of a lot of that access. For my dogs, it's the way to Forest Park and a glorious hike. I knew I wanted to create a photo that was different than anything I had previously seen. I thought this bubble technique that I'd seen in Photoshop would be the perfect treatment. I didn't have the right photo of the bridge in my collection, so I went online to find a picture that might work. I found the perfect photo from J Lopes on Unsplash (see below). I then focused the attention on the bridge and applied the bubble technique. It still needed more depth, so I made the whole photo black and white and then hand-painted the bridge in color. It took me more time than I had planned, especially since I did it all with a mouse (no Wacom tablet here). I'm thrilled with the results and feel that it truly captures the bridge as I first saw it back in July 2007.
Learn more about the neighborhood via the following links:
Homes For Sale in North Portland
