"Scotch Broom and Bridge" by Amy Ryding

Astoria, Oregon ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
Click on the photo for a larger view, and please check out Amy's blog: Long Beach Peninsula Photo.
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"End of the World Haircuts" by Amy Ryding

Astoria, Oregon ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
Remember the Mayan calendar thing?
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Ships at Dock by Amy Ryding

Astoria, Oregon ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
I love this shot. As many times as I've been to the 17th Street dock, Amy's photo makes it look like a different place, like a a postcard from the early 1900s. Visit Amy's Long Beach Peninsula Photo blog.
Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

"October Morning Fog on the Pier" by Melissa Faulkner

Astoria, Oregon ~ Photo by Melissa Faulkner

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"Moving Day" by Melissa Faulkner

Raccoons ~ Photo by Melissa Faulkner
Melissa said, "I call this 'Moving Day' [because] she moved 3 babies from under a neighbor's shed one day."
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Purple Light on Old Bones

The Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens State Park ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
This photo was originally posted on Long Beach Peninsula Photo, the blog with the great subtitle, on April 21, 2013. Amy wrote, "The Peter Iredale wrecked on October 25, 1906. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. The Iredale has been on my photographic bucket list for a few months. Although it’s been photographed thousands of times over the past century, it still manages to inspire the imaginations of photographers. The day I went was no exception; there were at least seven other people photographing it while I was there."
Amy's blog is one of my favorites. I liked it from the beginning. Later we met and became great friends.
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Astoria Bridge by Linda Fenton-Mendenhall

Astoria, Oregon ~ Photo by Linda Fenton-Mendenhall

Today starts a week of guest photos by Linda Fenton-Mendenhall. I love the red river as much as the salmon clouds.

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Signs of Spring

Astoria, Oregon ~ February 15, 2012

Guest Photographer: Jessika Robinson

I've been looking at rain and feeling the cold for the past two days, but it was a beautiful day on Wednesday when Jessika took my camera for a walk.

OK, this is weird. The photo was supposed to be rotated 45 degees counterclockwise, and Blogger keeps changing it. I've encountered this once before and eventually fixed it, but I don't remember how. Any ideas?

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Franciscovich Building: Under A Blue Sky

Astoria, Oregon ~ February 15, 2012

Guest Photographer: Jessika Robinson

One of the many cool things about Astoria is the named buildings in our downtown area. Located on Marine Drive at 16th Street, this one is just outside the nucleus of the congregation of commercial buildings that line Commercial Street, Duane, and part of Marine Drive. It housed Hauer's Cyclery & Locksmith for many years, and now it's the home of the Bach 'n Rock music store. I have to admit I didn't recognize the upper facade of the Franciscovich Building when my guest photographer showed it to me. The building was constructed, as most of downtown Astoria was, after the Great Fire of 1922. The Franciscovich dates from 1925.

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Early Spring

Astoria, Oregon ~ February 15, 2012

Guest Photographer: Jessika Robinson

Today our guest photographer, Jessika, walked up 16th Street from the River Walk to Clatsop Community College. Along the way she found this gorgeous pink rhododendron that decided to open although it's only the middle of February.

Thanks, Jessika, for the lovely photo. Stay tuned for more!

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North Head Lighthouse, Washington

North Head Lighthouse, Washington ~ October 25, 2010

Guest Photographer: Glenn Taggart

Although our October photo contest is over, several people sent photos early in November. I will post them during the month. This photo by Glenn Taggart fits the theme I had planned for November (and maybe into December) of places near Astoria. There is so much to see in the immediate area, and I have not posted much about these places so far. I thought this photo was a perfect starter. North Head Lighthouse is easy to get to. It's just across the river near Ilwaco, and is atmospheric to the max.

Glenn said, "I took this pic a couple weeks ago at the North head lighthouse near Ilwaco, WA. I have a job building a trail there and was checking on the progress and snapped this pic out my window as I was driving by." Because he was on the job, Glenn was able to drive out to this point. For the rest of us, there's a short trail beyond the parking lot. Thanks, Glenn!

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Photo Contest: "Under the Bridge - A Different Perspective" by John Nordquist

Guest Photographer: John Nordquist

This striking image by John Nordquist is the last of the official contest photos to be posted. Several of you sent in additional pix, which I'll post sometime in November. However, tomorrow I'll go back to posting mostly my own photos. I'm always open to guest shots, so send them any time. I may work on a different theme for the rest of November, so stay tuned! I also have the difficult task of chosing our First Prize and three additional prizes. I'll do that over the next day or two and you'll be the first to know  :)

Thanks to all of you for making this contest both fun and successful!

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Photo Contest: Four more from Debbie Loyd

Guest Photographer: Debbie Loyd

Fortunately, Debbie mentioned that this is "the trail or bike bath that cuts off of the river walk east of town." I would not have known that because I still have not gotten down that way. I hope to soon. It's really pretty. 

(Note, I've been out of town for the weekend, so my posting schedule is a bit off. I'm posting this on Sunday night, but I'll leave it up all of Monday. ~ Sheryl)

This sunset view will be familiar to Astorians, but since we have readers who have not been here, it's a wonderfully-timed shot of the Young's Bay Bridge crossing between Astoria (this side) and Warrenton. The bridge spans the mouth of Young's Bay where it flows into the Colombia River, on the right. It looks like it was taken from the vicinity of Alameda Street.

The photo above is called, "December Snow." It was taken December 22, 2008. We don't get snow every year, but there have been a couple of spectacular snow days in the past few years. This was certainly one of them. It's a nice overview of downtown Astoria as well.

The pilot boat dock at the end of 14th Street is a popular place to view the river. If you're lucky you get to see the boat charging in or out of the dock on its way to meet or return home from the big ships in the river. The river is not always this muddy, so it must have rained somewhere fairly recently.

. Debbie's Web Site

. Debbie's Blog

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Photo Contest: Three images of the Column from Carrie

Guest Photographer: Carrie Schwartzenberger

The first photo was taken inside the Astoria Column on Coxcomb Hill. I love what happens with the light and shapes!

At the top of the column, a door opens onto a spectacular view. Carrie sent two versions - as with the Cannery Pier Hotel and the old car, she's given us a tweaked version and the original.

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Photo Contest: Two from Merri Padgett

Guest Photographer: Merri Padgett

Merri took these photos from the top of the Hotel Elliott in downtown Astoria. What beautiful lighting! For anyone not familiar with Astoria, that's our famous column at the top of the hill (below). Earlier in the year, I posted one of Merri's photos taken from the same place but in a different direction. You can see the drama in the sky.

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Photo Contest: Seven More from Robbie

Guest Photographer: Robbie Mattson

Each photo deserves its own day, but if I'm ever going to get all the photos from the contest posted, I need to group them! Enjoy every one of them.

Pier 39

Notice the seagull is exposed nicely - i.e., not burned out in the white areas. Nice job, Robbie!

Another of our amazing sunsets.

Robbie wrote: "Who stacks the rocks up under the bridge??" I think I recently read a similar question about cairns along the coast further south.

This is the inside of the Urban Cafe. When I posted about the Urban, I mentioned the positive slogans to be found. This is one of them, and I find that they really add to the ambience, as I know they are from the heart.

Something interesting anywhere you look.

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Photo Contest: Five from Robbie Mattson

Guest Photographer: Robbie Mattson

The first two photos continue the Halloween theme. The first is the window of a new venue in town: Pier Pressure. I hadn't heard of it, but it sounds like a great new artistic addition to our community, so you might want to check it out here.

Next comes a close-up of one of the windows of our Halloween house from October 31. By the way, this house is owned by town founders, the Flavel family. They don't keep up or rent out most of their commercial properties, either, but those don't have the spooky charm of this place. All I know about those properties is, they are downtown, they are a mess, and I tried to rent one one time. Mrs. Flavel said she would show it to me "in the Spring" of whatever year that was. Someone else told me, "That will never happen," and of course it didn't. Long story, won't go into it now, but I know that many, many Astorians would like to see good tenants or new owners. The buildings beg to have someone care about them. Pigeons, rain, you get the picture. Someone said, "Every town has a family like that." I'm not sure if that's true, but Astoria sure does. Onward. . . .

Robbie said, "I couldn't let the contest pass by without my pictures of what feels like the real Astoria to those who grew up there. . . ." I have put the two photos in reverse order, so . . . "The second......A visit to Astoria is not complete without the Custard King. People think that it sells custard, but those that grew up in Astoria know it's just the best ice cream spot in town. A football game, and a stop at the Custard King to meet your friends in the parking lot, made a cold fall night complete."

Since we're in reverse order: "The first.....The Fisherman. Those that are my age (gradulate of the class of 1969) will remember the infamous cheer: "Lutefisk, Lutefisk, Lefse, Lefse - - - We are the Fishermen, Sure ya all, You Betcha". Unique cheer for Astoria!

"We can even recall The Fisherman being painted on the walls of the old Junior High gym (upper, not lower gym) where Kindergarten Cop was filmed, and the struggle each of us had trying to climb those darn ropes hanging from the ceiling of the old gym!"

Thanks so much for those bits of Astoria culture, Robbie! The photo above was taken in the town of Jewell, not too far away, where Robbie's "Jewell Garage" photo was also taken.

These were great. Thanks, Robbie! For the next few days, I'll continue posting contest photos that were sent in during October.

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Photo Contest: "Crab Pots and Train Station"

Guest Photographer: Jean B

Hi All! Thanks for your wonderful submissions throughout October. This was fun for me and I know from your comments that many people enjoyed the different views of Astoria. Although the contest is closed now, I will continue to post entries for (I think) the next seven days, which means that everything sent in will have its day of fame. Several of you sent in more than the one or two photos I had time to post during the month, so I'll be finishing up by posting all of one person's today, all of another person's tomorrow, etc. For one of you, I think it will take two days to post your pix. If I've counted right, this will add up to seven days, at which I'm I'll post the winning pictures. This also gives me a week's reprieve to make the the difficult decisions!

Today we have two photos by Jean B: "Colorful Crab Pots," above, and the "Astoria Train Station," sadly, not a very busy place these days, but picturesque.

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Photo Contest: "Memorial and Bridge"

Astoria, Oregon ~ September 25, 2009

Guest Photographer: Robbie Mattson

Weekend Reflections

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Photo Contest: "The Old Ice House/Cold Storage"

Guest Photographer: Jean B

This is one of my favorite buildings in Astoria. It is totally unique, and I've never posted a photo of it because there are so many cool things to take pictures of around here, and I didn't know what to call the building. So, thanks, Jean, for sending this in for the contest and mentioning what it is! It's intriguing for sure. Located between the River Walk and the water, it's also between 3rd and 4th Streets.

To reply to a comment, the outside of the building is plaster or stucco. It's solid enough, its just ripply from being applied by hand (at least, that's my guess). I'd love to hear more. I think it's totally charming. I have some close-ups that I'll post one of these days after the contest is finished. ~ S.

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