Portland’s Japanese Garden is beautiful. It is the home of The Tree (a gorgeous, often photographed,  Japanese maple tree worthy of its own Flickr group).  Considered by some “the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan,” It is worth visiting if you are in Portland.

I visit often because I find it relaxing. There are all kinds of nooks and crannies that are made for sitting and meditating. The park was made explicitly for this purpose: meditating and reflecting.  So as you wander around you are not overwhelmed by color and architecture. Instead you are calmed by the ponds and pools,  or the varying shades of green in the shrubbery and trees.

It was overcast and rainy the day that I went and because of the trees, a little dark for my 100 speed iso film. My exposure times were longer than I like. However, it ended up being…