Last summer, My wife ,Debbie, My Daughter, Emma and I made what has become an annual overnight pilgrimage to one of my favorite camping locations, Canyon Creek Meadows, at the base of Central Oregon’s Three Fingered Jack Mountain. I visit this location at least once per summer because it is beautiful, relatively easy to access, and I always find some interesting photographic scenery. Three Fingered Jack is itself a gorgeous mountain which has colorful volcanic striations decorating its rocky towers. Canyon Creek Meadows, located on the eastern flank of Three Fingered Jack always has a strong wildflower display and in some years it is stunning. This year(2009) was definitely a stunning year. The Lupine meadows were the best I’ve seen in the 10 years I’ve been hiking to this phenomenal location.
Picture of Canyon Creek Meadow and Three Fingered Jack in the Oregon Cascades
As a Bend Oregon photographer, this location is a must see. I certainly can’t promise that the flowers will be as stunning as they are in the picture seen above, but even if the oregon wildflowers aren’t blooming, the scenery is breath taking. I will introduce a fine art print of the landscape photograph seen above on the first Friday in January at the Volcano Vineyards Tasting room located on 126 Minnesota St in Downtown Bend, Oregon. I hope to see some of you there! Scott and Liz, the owners, and operators of Volcano Vineyards, are funny,smart, and talented people who have the courage to operate a winery out of the high desert town of Bend. They wouldn’t know it until now but they are my heros! I’d love to have a winery business, but I’ve never had their bravery, or wine crafting talent for that matter. If you are a wine connoisseur and find yourself in Bend, you should definitely stop in and have a glass. I recommend their Syrah, it is firm but elegant, and my favorite! OK, enough about the good folks at Volcano Vineyards.
My new photography logo!
The following image of Three Fingered Jack was also taken with my large format camera on this trip with Debbie and Emma, which is now pictured in my logo and hopefully as a favicon to the left of the URL in your browser right now.
This fine art print can currently be viewed at Pandora’s Backpack in Downtown Bend. I hope Rod, Mo and company won’t be mad that I’m changing venues for a month! It is a rare occasion in which I can capture more than one image in the same trip that is worthy of making a fine art print. Well, I guess that these two fine art prints are a testament to how beautiful Canyon Creek Meadows was this year!
Picture/photo of Sunrise on Oregon's Three Fingered Jack
I’ve got a couple more fine art prints to introduce over the next week, so please stay tuned for some beautiful new Oregon Landscape Photography!
As Always,
Thanks For Visiting,
Mike Putnam
Dec 13, 2009 | Central Oregon Fine Art Landscape Photography, First Friday Art Hop/ Art Walk in Bend, Oregon | Leave A Comment »
I’m excited to announce that I will have a few new Oregon Landscape Photographs available to the public for the very first time at my usual art haunt, Pandora’s Backpack (the Patagonia Store) on Bond Street in downtown Bend, Oregon. Art Hop should kick off at about 5pm and should wrap-up at about 9pm. If any of you are in the vicinity, please stop by, say “Hello” and check out my new work.
Below is one of my new images which will be unveiled. It features Three Fingered Jack Mountain in the Central Oregon Cascades and a beautiful little alpine stream.
Photograph of Three Fingered Jack Mountain in the Central Oregon Cascades.
Lots of alpine wildflowers, live water , a cool local mountain, early morning light and interesting clouds help to make this image a winner. I captured this photograph while on a backpacking trip with my wife and daughter this past summer. It is a little bit painful to admit that the summer is in fact past! Here is a link to a previous blog entry bout our trip to Three Fingered Jack and Canyon Creek Meadows.
Below is an image of Smith Rock State Park’s legendary ”Monkey Face” formation. It is an iconic and stunning rock tower recognizable to rock climbers around the world and hikers around Central Oregon. This is another Photograph that I captured with my 4×5 large format camera this past summer.
Smith Rock State Park's "Monkey Face" at sunset
Great sunset light and a beautiful cloud grouping will make this a special fine art print for those of you who are rock climbers and hikers of Smith Rock’s famed trails.
The last of my new images is from the crown jewel in the Bend, Oregon Park system, Shevlin Park. I often run in Shevlin Park. It offers several great trail runs/hikes which you can learn more about here. Shevlin Park trails. While I’ve always considered Shevlin Park an gorgeous and special place, I’ve had little photographic luck there until last autumn when I captured the following image which I’m thrilled about. You might even say that I’m as excited about this image as my daughter Emma is about picking out new school clothes, which is saying a lot!
Photograph of Shevlin Park in Autumn.
This image captures several things about Shevlin Park that I love. Riparian environments,fall color,old growth ponderosas, larch trees,and Tumalo Creek are all embodied by this beautiful image! For a few more fall images from Shevlin Park, you can visit the following blog entry. Shevlin Park. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I to see some of you Friday, October 2nd 2009 at Pandora’s backpack in downtown Bend!
Sep 28, 2009 | Oregon Landscape photography blog entries | Leave A Comment »
I’d like to thank the good people from U.S. bank, in Bend, Oregon, who recently purchased some of my fine art landscape photography for their newly remodeled downtown branch.
Sunrise on Central Oregon's Broken Top Mountain with a wildflower filled foreground.
The above photograph is one of those now on permanent display at the downtown Bend, Oregon branch of the U. S. Bank. This beautiful image captures Central Oregon’s Broken Top Mountain at sunrise with a beautiful flower filled foreground which includes Monkeyflowers, Queen Anne’s Lace, Indian Paintbrush, Senecio, and alpine asters. This and all the other images at U.S. Bank are double matted with a museum white acid free matte which looks great at the bank.
Photo/Picture of Central Oregon's favorite waterfall, Tumalo Falls
The above Tumalo Falls also looks great at U. S. Bank. For those of you who have seen this image before, you’ll notice that this specific has a slightly different crop, giving it a more expansive feel. It is a crop I’ve wanted to try and one that the folks at U. S. Bank wanted for their downtown Bend, OR branch.
Photo/picture of an alpine sunrise as seen from the summit of Central Oregon's South Sister
This semi-famous “summit sunrise” image is still one of my favorites and is now one of the favorites of U. S. Bank. It looks great there as it does at most locations. It gives a rugged, alpine balance to the balance of fine art images in the new collection at U. S. Bank.
Picture/ photograph of the Painted Hills of John Day in Eastern Oregon
The above Painted Hills print captured in the John Day unit of the Painted Hills area is another great representation of the tremendous geographic diversity that can be found in the Bend, Oregon area. This image is also a permanent member of the U.S. Bank’s art collection.
Photo/picture of Mt. Jefferson in the Central Oregon Cascade Range
This picture of Jefferson Park was captured in late summer from one of my favorite camping and hiking areas and is one of the first locations that made me excited about fine art landscape photography. this is simply one of my favorite types of landscapes to capture. Beautiful snow-covered mountains, scenic alpine meadows filled with wildflowers and great warm evening light.
Fine Art photo/picture of Oregon's Smith Rock State Park with the Crooked River in the foreground
Smith Rock State Park offers endless fine art photography opportunities and this is one of my favorite prints from that wonderful Oregon location. The glowing towers bathing in soft warm light with a fore ground of the gently curving Crooked River offer another example of the phenomenal diversity of the Central Oregon region. I think all of the above images make a beautiful permanent addition to the downtown Bend , Oregon branch of U.S. Bank, but judge for yourself! Please stop in at the bank and tell me what you think.
I’d like to sincerely thank the kind people of U.S. Bank who chose to purchase my art work and who graciously hosted me during the May 2009 first Friday Art walk in Downtown Bend. The event was well attended and it was very rewarding to meet some new people who are willing to support the arts in Central Oregon. A special thanks should also go out to Stacey, Loretta, Andy, and the rest of the staff at the U.S. Bank Downtown branch. They were all very efficient, helpful, organized and pleasant people to work with during the completion of this art project.
Thank You!
Mike Putnam
May 08, 2009 | Oregon Landscape photography blog entries | Leave A Comment »
The Cascade Lakes Highway near Bend,Oregon is arguably one of the prettiest drives in the United States and is filled with outdoor adventure options. Fishing, skiing at Mt. Bachelor, cross country skiing from Dutchman Flat, hiking, climbing, and of course photography. Every year I make several photographic journeys along the cascade lakes highway, so I decided to spotlight some images that emphasize this area’s impressive beauty. Sparks Lake is a favorite location of many photographers and I am no exception. I have to start my exploration of this ara with an image of one of one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. It was the sort of scene which makes me nervous with excitement. Part of what makes this one of the favorite images in my portfolio is that Debbie and Emma were there to share in this exquisite scene. Emma to this day refers to this image as “Froggy Lake” because of all the frogs she and Debbie studied that evening.
Sparks Lake Sunset
The following image is another taken with Emma, but it required more effort than the previous image. This was a scene I scouted while sea kayaking on Sparks Lake with my good friend, Mike Croxford, AKA “Old Mike”. Therefore, the next morning, I awoke long before sunrise, scooped Emma out of bed in her footy pajamas and we drove to Sparks Lake where I made trips awding back and forth in waist deep water carrying gear and Emma to a small island, where this shot was taken. I was consumed with the scene and Emma was consumed with sleep. She quickly fell asleep on my down jacket(see Columbia River Gorge entry) while I worked the scene. Soon the light became too harsh and hummingbirds frantically worked the scene as I had moments before.
Sparks Lake Garden
The next two images are both of Mt. Bachelor as seen earlier this summer along the shores of Sparks Lake. the first displays a channel of water gracefully coursing through a field of buttercups, one of the first flowers to announce the arrival of spring along the cascade lakes highway.
Mt. Bachelor and Buttercups
The following image is of Mt. Bachelor fronted by a foreground of Mountain Heather Blooming on small islands adjacent to the shores of Sparks Lake. This specific area of Sparks Lake is in my experience, essentially a holding basin designed by mosquitos in order to exsanguinate crazed landscape photographers, namely myself.
Mt. Bachelor and Mountain Heather Islands in Sparks Lake
From this image I move along to another of my favorite cascade lakes, Elk Lake. Elk Lake has more developed areas and is famed for a small but relatively stable population of sail boats residing there. My favorite area of the lake is the “south beach” area, cleverly named for the fact that it is on the south shore and has a beach and not because is sports art deco architecture, palm trees, or a prominent fashion district. The following image was captured near south beach with South Sister Mountain in the background. The most difficult part of capturing this image was waiting for the dozens of hummingbirds to clear the scene before exposing my film. Had I not waited the hummingbirds would have been represented by an unattractive blur due to the long exposure times I usually utilize with my large format camera.
South Sister, Elk Lake, and wildflowers
Next is an image taken this July showing a foreground of columbine, where I fought a similar duel against dive-bombing hummingbirds repeatedly invading my shot. I especially like the early morning fog breaking up the scene, adding to this landscape photograph.
South Sister, Elk Lake, and Columbine along the Cascade Lakes Highway.
Finally I’ll conclude with a Sparks Lake shot taken earlier this summer at sunrise. Another stunning light show at a truly beautiful location for landscape photography in Central Oregon.
Sparks Lake sunrise with South Sister and Broken Top
Oct 30, 2008 | Central Oregon Fine Art Landscape Photography, Oregon Landscape photography blog entries | 2 Comments »
- Balsamroot in the Columbia River Gorge
On the weekend of May 10th, Emma and I decided to visit our good friends, the Max, Chrissy, Joe Joe and Jill Reitz in Hood River, Oregon. Unfortunately, Chrissy(Momma) Reitz and Joe Joe and Jill were out of town, leaving my long time friend Max as the only one left in the Reitz household. The Weekend was wonderful. Emma and I arose early and shot at Tom McCall nature preserve in the Columbia River Gorge, near Rowena, Oregon. The light was good for macros, but not great for more expansive landscape shots.
Balsamroot and Lupines bloom in the Columbia River Gorge
Several other photographers were at the preserve that morning, shooting and enjoying the scenery. One of the several other photographers I met there, Kim, was nice enough to take some shots of Emma and I and forward them. He has an attractive website, which you should visit if you like landscapes and flower photography. Emma, through her mother’s genetics prefers to sleep in and on this we had to awake at 4:30AM to arrive at the Tom McCall Nature Preserve before sunrise. I knew she would be cold, so I brought my orange down jacket, which she fondly refers to as “The Great Pumpkin”. She predictably got cold so I zipped her up in the great pumpkin and she was instantly comfortable. Comfortable enough to fall asleep in the middle of the meadow. Several fellow photographers visited to chat and see my large format view camera and they never knew she was there beside me because her head was tucked inside the pumpkin, making for a very cute photo.
Emma asleep inside "The Great Pumpkin"
Emma Awake at Tom McCall Nature Preserve
We enjoyed the remainder of the day watching while a BMW commercial was being shot near us on the winding roads below Tom McCall nature preserve. There were hundreds of people involved and it was very secretive in that no photographs were allowed because a new sporty car model was being filmed which had not been released to the public. The next day, Max, Emma and I visited Fairy Falls, also in the Columbia River Gorge area and took the following photo of Fairy Falls. We visited several other waterfalls in the gorge that day and as usual enjoyed them immensely.
Fairy Falls
Oct 25, 2008 | Oregon Landscape photography blog entries, Travel and Family Photos | Leave A Comment »
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