Eugene, Oregon: Drizzle, Damp, and a Lot of Lens Cleaning

i'm crouched under the awning of a wet cafe trying to keep my camera dry, and it's only 10 am but already feels like the whole city's exhaling a cold, wet sigh. eugene, oregon is supposed to be this funky, green college town, but today the sky is a flat sheet of steel, and the air smells like wet pavement and old leaves. i just checked my weather app: temperature 9.19°C, feels like 7.2°C, humidity 82%, pressure 1017 hPa. that's the kind of damp that makes your fingers clumsy on the focus ring. i swear my *lens fogs up every time i pull it out of the bag.

as a freelance photographer, i live for the golden hour, but this morning the light is so diffuse it's like shooting through a sheet of wet parchment. i've spent the last hour fiddling with ISO and aperture, trying to salvage something from the greyness. my tripod is clamped to a railing by the willamette river, and the water looks like spilled milk. there's a bridge in the distance, all steel and concrete, its cables disappearing into the mist. i think i heard a goose honk somewhere.

i keep finding these random numbers on everything since i got here. last night i found a crumpled receipt in my pocket with the numbers 5725846 and 1840020007 printed on it. no idea what they're for. maybe it's the bus route? the local transit number is 5725 something? i've seen a bus with a garbled sign that looked like 5725... i'm just saying, the city's mysteries are everywhere. could be a secret code for a coffee order at the place around the corner that serves drip so strong it could wake the dead. i went to the counter and tried ordering 'the usual' and the barista just stared. i'm clearly not a regular.

speaking of coffee, i'm currently nursing a mug that's half coffee, half condensation. the barista is a woman with purple hair and tattoos of cameras on her arms. she says i should check out the murals in the downtown area, that one of them is painted by a local legend who goes by 'ghost'. i asked her about the numbers again and she just giggled, saying 'that's the wifi password for the library, honey.' i'm not sure if she's messing with me.

anyway, if you ever need a visual of where i am, here's a snapshot of the surroundings:

the map says i'm near the university campus, but i'm actually a few blocks east of it, in a neighborhood of bungalows with porches sagging from the weight of rain. the streets are lined with maple trees that are just starting to turn orange. i tried to capture a couple of shots of the fallen leaves on wet asphalt-they look like candy wrappers. i'm thinking of printing them on matte paper and calling it 'urban autumn'.

A street with cars parked on the side of it

i wandered into a thrift store earlier, looking for a rain cover for my camera. the shop was packed with vinyl records, vintage dresses, and a cat that followed me around like a furry assistant. the owner, a guy named jake, told me i shouldn't trust the reviews on yelp for the sushi place across the street. 'sushi in eugene?' i laughed. he said, 'yeah, there's a spot called 'wasabi woods' that people either swear by or say gives them the runs. check out the yelp drama, it's a trainwreck.' yelp reviews of wasabi woods

i also heard a couple of college kids at the coffee shop arguing about the best pizza slice in town. one of them said 'if you want a real new york slice, go to niko's on willamette, but the crust is always soggy.' the other said 'you're crazy, niko's is a tourist trap; the real deal is at pepe's on a street.' i made a mental note to try both, and maybe document the grease.

tripadvisor lists a few top attractions: the jordan schnitzer museum, the allen father's farm, and a weird spot called the 'moon's ride' which is a giant cement elephant. i'm not even kidding. there's a whole list of oddities that make eugene… eugene. TripAdvisor's Eugene page

speaking of oddities, i passed by a house with a garden full of plastic flamingos and a sign that said 'free hugs'. i didn't stop; the rain was too steady.

the local newspaper eugene weekly sometimes publishes a 'best of' issue that locals take seriously. i read online that the best coffee shop is actually a little place called 'caffeine chase' run by a former barista champion. i might hunt that down tomorrow. Eugene Weekly

i've also heard rumors of a secret basement bar under the university, accessible only through a hidden door in the library stacks. i asked a student about it and she just winked. 'if you know the code,' she said, 'you'll find it.' maybe the code is 5725846? or 1840020007? i'm tempted to try.

the humidity here is 82%, which is not just uncomfortable; it's a hazard for electronics. i've already wrapped my spare batteries in ziploc bags. Never underestimate the power of moisture to kill your gear. i learned that the hard way in seattle once.

if you get bored of eugene's famous drizzle, corvallis is only a thirty-minute drive north, and the oregon coast is less than two hours west, where you can actually see the ocean instead of just river. i'm thinking of heading to the coast tomorrow if the forecast breaks. the coast promises dramatic cliffs, sea stacks, and maybe a lighthouse to shoot. i might even try some long exposure with the waves.

aerial photography of road and tress during daytime

another thing i overheard: a street artist named 'spray' told me that the old woolen mill by the river is haunted by the ghost of a weaver who died in a loom accident. he said you can sometimes hear the clack of shuttles at midnight. i'm skeptical, but i might bring my audio recorder just in case.

i should probably also mention that the temperature hovered at exactly 9.19°C all day, never rising, never falling, as if the city is stuck in a perpetual morning. the barometer shows 1017 hPa, indicating relatively stable pressure, but the humidity makes it feel heavier, like the air is saturated with more than just water-maybe memories.

i'm rambling, i know. the rain hasn't let up. i'm going to finish this coffee and maybe go find a spot under a bridge to watch the light change as the afternoon wears on. that's the thing about eugene: even on a dreary day, there's a beauty in the decay, in the way the wet streets mirror the sky, in the quiet hum of the city. it's not postcard-perfect, but it's real. plus, the lack of tourists means i can shoot the empty streets without worrying about people photobombing.

i'll leave you with this: if you ever find yourself here, bring a raincoat, a camera*, and a willingness to get a little lost. the best shots are the ones you don't plan for. and keep an eye out for those numbers-they might be the combination to a free locker at the bus station. you're welcome.

now, i'm going to close this laptop before the humidity seeps into the keyboard. until next time, keep your lens cap on when it rains.

Eugene, Oregon: Drizzle, Damp, and a Lot of Lens Cleaning

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About the author: Owen Steele

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