Central Oregon Autumn Ground cover.The next fine art print in my Macro photography art gallery.
Despite what you might think, I often find more difficulty with macro photography than I do with the big sweeping western landscapes for which I’m more well known. Frankly, finding and capturing very small yet attractive scenes is very challenging for me. What small scene is interesting enough to merit the expense and time commitment of shooting the scene, having expensive prints made, and then having the image framed, and then having the courage to show the print in public and have it be scrutinized by your peers and potential collectors?
Central Oregon Autumn Ground Cover
In actuality,I find most macro photography somewhat cliched. How many close-ups of out of focus roses do I need to see? It is rare for me to find a macro image that is unique and doesn’t have any distracting and unsightly debris in the field of view.
Another difficulty I have with macro images is that they rarely convey a sense of place. I like to draw a parallel between Fine Art Landscape photography and the high end wine world. Both fine wines and fine art landscape photographs are a product of a special place on earth(think terroir in the wine world) and unique timing. No other wine will taste exactly like a 2007 Penner Ash Dussin Vineyard Pinot Noir (one of my personal favorites) and no other photograph will look exactly like a given fine art landscape photograph from Sparks Lake at sunrise after fresh snowfall in the mountains. Both the Penner Ash Pinot Noir and the Sparks Lake Print are unique because of the landscape and timing that make both of these wonderful things possible.
While the above photograph may never be one of my best sellers, I do feel that it conveys a sense of terroir and for me it holds enough interest to make it a worthy fine art photograph. I love the variation of color, the small water droplets and swirling motion of the uniquely shaped autumn foliage. This is an image that I nearly missed because I was focusing on the big picture. I was at Sparks Lake where I shot this New Sparks lake Photo. I was trying to find one more unique composition of South Sister and Broken Top framed over the glassy waters of Sparks Lake when I briefly looked down to find the splash of color and texture which eventually became the image you see above. I searched about on my hands and knees for quite some time, examining different little bits of ground cover until I found the tiny little scene that you see above. I shot this image with my large format 4×5 camera and I can’t wait to see this as a large framed print because of the way it uniquely represents a small but unique photographic terroir that is dear to me.
Thanks for visiting,
Mike Putnam
Oregon’s Mt. Washington Fine Art Photograph
The next of my soon to be released fine art prints is one that I’ve been trying to capture for two years now. It is a location that I have to thank Troy McMullin for. He scouted this image quite some time ago and I’ve searched for the appropriate conditions to make this shot work ever since then. My goal with all of my fine art large format photographs is to capture Oregon’s beautiful locations at the best time of year and under the optimal conditions. Optimizing variable photographic conditions of light, flower and plant colors and weather patterns obviously makes for a better fine art photograph but it also serves to better represent the beautiful and wild Oregon locations that recharge my soul. Photographing these locations in anything less than optimal conditions doesn’t do them justice. A good parallel to sub-optimal photographic conditions would be making your wife who you love more than anything go out to dinner for a fine meal without letting her shower and brush her teeth. (My loving wife would kill me!) She deserves better as do the wonderful Central Oregon Locations which I love so much!
Photograph of Oregon's Mount Washington at sunrise with fresh autumn snow
Fresh snow on Oregon’s Mt. Washington was paramount for making this Photograph work as a fine art print. Without a heavy load of fresh snow, Mt. Washington looks small and meek. With snow, it has the Matterhorn like appearance which makes it one of my favorite Oregon Mountains. This Particular lake happens to have great trees on the opposite shores which are covered with lichen. At this particular time of year, the blueberries and huckleberry bushes on the opposite shore glow with the colors of fall. The clouds moving in on the right side of this image also help but from a compositional standpoint. As the focus with my 4×5 camera was very sharp in this image, I think this will make an exceptional Large format fine art print. The print is not yet complete but combining fresh snow, fall color, and great light at a beautiful Central Oregon location makes me think this fine art print will proudly represent Oregon’s natural beauty.
Thanks for visiting,
Mike Putnam
Crooked River Canyon in Autumn, My next Fine Art Print.
I have recently order several new fine art prints, my biggest order in quite some time. The following image of the Crooked River Canyon with some awesome fall color is part of that order. The timing of this image was great. Nice delicate overcast light, combined with well timed fall color along the riparian areas of Central Oregon’s Crooked River.
Crooked River Canyon in Autumn from the Crooked River Bridge.
I think the textures and colors in this image will look great in a fine art print! As is the case with all of my fine art prints, I shot this image with my 4×5 large camera. While standing on the Crooked River Bridge composing this image, I slowly was swarmed with curious onlookers who enjoyed the Cherrywood, brass detailing and leather bellows on my camera. It was outside of my skill set to multi-task well but I did my best to answer everyone’s questions while composing and shooting this Crooked River Canyon picture.
Please visit my blog often to get some more updates regarding the new fine art prints that I will be producing in the next month.
Thanks for visiting,
Mike Putnam
Sparks Lake Fine Art Print on the Way. An Oregon Landscape photogapher’s dream!
As I tend to be an optimist, I have a long list of images that I want to capture with my large format 4×5 camera in order to make a beautiful fine art photograph. In my mind I have a vivid idea of what a given scene will look like when I get to the right spot at the right time on the right day. In reality, fine art photography rarely works out as smoothly as I’ve planned. The following image and story account one of the rare instances in which things worked out even better than I’d planned.
"Sparks Lake Sunrise" fine art Photograph captured with my 4x5 camera at Sparks Lake near Central Oregon's Cascade Lakes Highway
Central Oregon’s Sparks Lake is no secret as a landscape photography destination. Landscape photographers from all around the United States travel to this Central Oregon Lake off of Bend’s Cascade Lakes Highway for photography purposes. There is clearly something magical about this lake, in that it continues to facinate even after you’ve made hundreds of visits there, a I have. Oregon’s now deceased photographer laureate, Ray Atkeson, described Sparks Lake as his favorite photography destination, which is quite a compliment considering all that Oregon has to offer landscape photographers and outdoor adventurers. I’ve had good and bad luck at Sparks Lake and on this morning, I had exceptional luck. I arrived at the Lakes shores before sunrise the morning after fresh snows had coated and given detail to South Sister(on the left) and Broken Top Mountain(on the right) This coating of snow is critical to a great photograph, as the mountains would just be black blobs without the snow. This morning also happened to fall in a narrow autumn window after snows were falling in the cascades and before the Cascade Lakes Highway was closed for the winter(it closed shortly after I captured this shot) Because of Sparks Lake’s elevation, at nearly 6,000 snow comes early, stays late and piles deep.
This was one of those rare mornings where I get nervous shooting because I know that I may never see light like this again and especially not at a phenomenal location like Sparks Lake. I mostly shot with my large format 4×5 camera this morning in hopes of capturing a wonderful fine art print. When I got my transparencies back from this morning’s shoot, I was even more excited than the morning of the sunrise. They came out great! I recently sent one of the transparencies from this morning off for printing and I think it will make a stunning fine art print. I’m already picking out matting in my mind! I hope everyone loves this fine art print as much I I think I will!
All the Best,
Mike Putnam
Fine Art Photography Now Showing at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters, Oregon!
I often get prompting from friends in the Sisters, Oregon area who would like me to have a show in the Sisters, Oregon area. Well they’ve got what they wanted. My Fine art landscape photography is now showing at the Aspen Lakes Golf course. If you haven’t already visited this beautiful setting, it’s worth a visit. The Lodge at Aspen Lakes is beautiful and I’m proud to have my work showing there. I hope to rotate different pieces through the next several months. Currently I have a nice selection of sweeping landscapes and even macros such as the following image of Aspen Leaves(appropriate, don’t you think!)
Aspen Leaves Fine Art Print now showing at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters, Oregon
In addition to the Aspen Leaves image pictured above, I also have several other images hanging in the main hallway of he lodge and in the Brand 33 restaurant. As usual, my fine art prints are framed with the hand made cherry wood frames that I make myself in my basement wood shop. I hope you like them! If you happen to be in the Sisters area, please take a few moments out of your day and examine my work at the Aspen Lakes Golf Course which is located off of Camp Polk Road.
I’d like to offer a special thanks to the Cyrus Family for offering me the opportunity to share my work with the people of Sisters, Oregon
Thanks for the First Friday Art Walk support!
I’d like to offer a special thanks to those of you who turned out(there were a lot of you) to my show at Pandora’s Backpack in downtown Bend, Oregon. The turn-out was exceptional! I got to meet some great new people which made my week for me. Below was one of the images which stole the show as it often does. I call it “Summit Sunrise” because I captured this image while standing on the summit of South Sister. It captures an iconic Central Oregon view and I thrilled it was enjoyed by many people on the night of 11/6/2009.
Summit Sunrise Fine Art Print
If you invest in this fine art print, don’t worry, you aren’t required to take any of my family photos with it! Thanks again to those who turned out to support me and the new friends I made.
On a different note, I just posted a blog entry about Silver Falls State Park at our Pacific Crest Stock Photography site. Please visit the following link to view some beautiful Oregon Waterfall images. Oregon Waterfall photos. Thanks again everyone!
Mike Putnam
Oregon Cascade Mountain Gallery
High Desert Print Gallery
Trees and Wildflower Prints Gallery
Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls Gallery
All content © 2010 by Mike Putnam Photography