Cover Photo for the Sisters Oregon Guide!

On a fun side note, the little girl in the photo in the lower left hand corner of the guide is my daughter Emma who thinks this might be her big break!  Thanks again to the staff at The Nugget and the Sisters Oregon Guide!

Mike Putnam

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Visit Bend Tourism Guide

Doug, Lynnette, and the rest of the crew are excellent to work with and they are great ambassadors for our city.  Visit Bend has done an excellent job of bringing in events such as the 2010 Cyclocross National Championships, The 2010 Road riding nationals, and the 2011 Mountain Bike National Championships.  All great events that fit well with the personality Bend.

The above image of South Sister from Sparks Lake is one of my personal favorites.  To learn more information about this beautiful landscape photo and to see the whole image, visit my personal website by visiting the following link.  Sparks Lake!

Thanks for Reading,

Mike Putnam

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Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area: This was one of those impossibly challenging cross-country (i.e., “no trail”) treks that I planned (rather poorly) using Google Earth and a hefty dose of optimism. Although the approach looked fairly easy online, I quickly realized that I had been deceived and within a half-hour of leaving the Jeep, I was decidedly happy that I had chosen not to invite anyone else along on this little adventure. Anyone else would have surely killed me for dragging them up and down these remote valleys in what turned out to be a failed attempt to reach a never-before-visited viewpoint of Mount Jefferson. I thought for sure I was going to be killed and eaten by bears before making it out of the Wilderness on this day. About mid-way through the hike, I changed course and headed for the safety of the Jefferson Park area. This viewpoint isn’t quite what I planned, but then again, dying in the jowls of a hungry bear wasn’t necessarily part of the plan either.

Hiking in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area.

Fall Color in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness

Ochoco Mountains: This hike started out as a fairly nice evening stroll up along a wildflower-filled trail in the Ochoco Mountains. There’s a great viewpoint at the top of Lookout Mountain, but if you stay to take sunset pictures (like the one below), you better have a headlamp or be prepared to trail run out in the dark. Guess which one I did. Yep, I found myself sprinting back to the Jeep in total darkness. Real smart.

Hiking in the Ochoco Mountains near Prineville, Oregon

Smith Rock:  These photos were taken on a great mountain biking trip to Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne, Oregon. If you haven’t ridden at Smith Rock, put it on your list of 2011 Resolutions. It’s one of the most surreal places you will ever ride.

Mountain biking in Smith Rock State Park

Perched high on the cliffs at Smith Rock State Park

Three Sisters Wilderness:  I was fortunate enough to get into the Three Sisters backcountry area on several different occasions in 2010. Each of these trips ranks among my favorites for the year.

Backpacking in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area

Hiking near Central Oregon’s Broken Top Mountain

Backpacking in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area

Crooked River Canyon: Central Oregon has so many great desert scenes, it’s hard to choose where to go first. I spent quite bit of time this past Spring exploring the peaks and valleys surrounding the Deschutes River and Crooked River. Here are a few photos from some of my favorite desert hikes:

Hiking in the canyons near Crooked River Ranch

Sitting on the cliffs above the Crooked River at Smith Rock State Park

Trail running in the Crooked River Canyon near Prineville, Oregon

Other Miscellaneous Trips: There were lots of other great days in the past year where I was lucky enough to get outside and enjoy some fresh air. Here are a few miscellaneous photos from some of those days:

Backpacking near the Mount Washington Wilderness Area

Autumn color at Silver Falls near Silverton, Oregon

Mountain biking above Tumalo Creek Canyon

Enjoying a sunset (and a beer) at the Oregon coast

Snow hiking near Tumalo Falls

I hope that 2011 is as good to me as 2010. Cheers!

Posted by Troy McMullin

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Cyclocross Nationals 2010 in Bend, Oregon

The first race I was able to catch was the men’s under 23 elite race, and it was riveting.  Below is an image from the start of that race showing the riders poised, clean, and comfortable

Start of the cyclocross nationals men's under23 elite race, in Bend, Oregon's Old Mill District.

Please notice the signature smoke stacks from Bend’s Old Mill District nicely framed beneath the starting gate and over the riders.  That was no accident!  Also notice the rider who is wearing the orange,blue and white lycra near the center of this photograph.  That rider is Danny Summerhill who later became extremely filthy and then extremely happy after he eventually was crowned U23 Cyclocross National Champ.

Danny Summerhill of Centennial, Colorado, competing in the 2010 Cyclocross Nats

As you can Summerhill didn’t stay clean the whole race.  I spent a lot of time near the stairs as the climb made for some dramatic images.  Below is another of the countless images of suffering and exhaustion I captured from near the stairs at Cyclocross Nationals. This kid is making a great face!

The face of Cyclocross Nationals

The following image of competitors climbing the stairs does a nice job of capturing the feel and mood of the U23 elite race.  Muddy, and grueling.

Another interesting spot for viewing the races was at the bottom of a small sloping hill, near the vendor tents.  During the wet and muddy U23 mens race, this hill was chaos.  I saw at least 3 course marking poles broken by falling competitors.  Below is a typically chaotic scene from that location.

A chaotic and sloppy scene from Cyclocross Nationals

A special commendation should be given to the large unknown man on the other side of the course who stood on top of a dagger like broken pole and saved at least to different competitors from seriously impaling themselves.  I’m convinced that the unknown man prevented at least two trips to the emergency room.

The start of the mens 35-39 race offered a different kind of drama as there was a huge pile up immediately after the starting gun which led to the cyclocross scene you see below.

Chaos shortly after the start of the Men's 35-39 Master race

I love the randomness of one guy running with his bike at the start of the race and all the disruption in the middle of the pack.

Doug Laplaca, climbing the Stairs at Cyclocross Nationals

Above is a competitor who deserves special notice for an unusual reason.  The man you see grimacing on the stairs is Bend’s very own Doug Laplaca, the intrepid leader of Visit Bend.  Doug and Visit Bend have done a phenomenal job of helping to bring wonderful events like Cyclocross Nationals to our fair city.  These events bring in visitors, and are brilliantly suited to Bend Oregon’s strong and distinct outdoor personality.  Thanks to Doug and the rest of the talented staff at Visit Bend.

Another fun attraction near the stairs was one of many big puddles on the course.  After the first lap, the competitors were so soaked and mud coated that they largely disregarded the puddle, allowing me to capture images like the one below.

Mud Puddle at Cyclocross Nationals.

While the races on Saturday were thrilling, the true mayhem occurred on Sunday during the Men’s Open Elite Cyclocross Race.  The course was inundated with cowbell swinging spectators.  Part of what seems to make Cyclocross attractive and successful  is its crazed fans.  Below is one of my favorite shots from the men’s elite cyclocross race.

Competitors grimacing while climbing the stairs during the Men's elite race at Cyclocross Nationals

How excellent is this?  Mud covered riders carrying their bikes up gooey stairs underneath a landscape worthy sky while some guy in dinosaur pajamas and a panda mask encourages them.  Pure Awesomeness!

"Salty" and "Santas" cheer on Bend's Ryan Trebon as he nears the stairs

This is another image of wonderful cyclocross randomness!  A crazed shirtless and masked man( “Salty”) cheers on Bend’s Ryan Trebon as a group of varied Santas also offer their support.  Few spectator sports offer scenes that are more fun filled than this!  Below is the obligatory winners photo of Todd Wells of Durango Colorado taking the gold.  Todd rode strong and edged out local favorite Ryan Trebon who was cheered on by a frenzied local crowd.

Todd Wells winning the men's elite race

For those of you who have never been to a cyclocross race.  Go, go, go.  The atmosphere is phenomenal and the competitors truly pour their hearts into the races.  Hopefully in the not too distant future, Cyclocross Nationals will return to Bend, Oregon as Bend is an exceptional venue  and the races were brilliantly supported by the Central Oregonians and visitors alike.  To see many more images from the 2010 Cyclocross Nationals, please visit the galleries at our stock photography site by folowing this link: Cyclocross National Photos.  If you have any specific needs for images from Cyclocross Nationals, feel free to contact me at (541) 610-4815 or email me at Mike@pacificcreststock.com.  I have hundreds of great shots from this phenomenal event that may meet your cyclocross Imaging needs.

Thanks for visiting,

Mike Putnam

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Mt. Rainier and Wildflowers from Paradise Park

The clouds you can see at the base of Mt. Rainier, quickly grew and completely covered the mountain.  Shortly thereafter, the rain and snow commenced!  I wasn’t able to capture any images with my large format camera because it was simply too windy.  I suppose this offers inspiration for a return visit to Mt. Rainier next summer!  Below is an image I captured the night before at the tail end of the 6 hour drive to Mt. Rainier from Our Pacific Crest base camp of Bend, Oregon.

Sunset over the foothills of Mt. Rainier.

Great colors and textures made it well worth while to stop despite the fact that I was frantically looking for a camp site and I was almost out of daylight.

The morning of my Mt. Rainier visit I awoke before 4:00AM and began hiking.  I traversed the Mazama Ridge in the dark and along the way I saw two red foxes and countless deer.  Not finding any remarkable scenes along this park of Mt. Rainier National Park, I continued uphill back towards Paradise.  I passed through the Van Trump area and the Edith Creek Basin which is pictured below.

Edith Creek and Mt Rainier

Weather reports from the visitor center predicted rain and heavy clouds for the next two full days in the Paradise area so I  hastily retreated to the Columbia River Gorge area where the weather forecast was more promising.  I got some great new stock photos from the Coulumbia River Gorge National Scenic area but they will have to wait for another blog entry.

Mt. Rainier is truly an amazing mountain and  the National Park offers much more than just the mountain.  There are countless waterfalls long the way as well as the gorgeous Tatoosh range, and the Grove of the Patriarchs and it’s 1,000 year old cedar and Douglas Fir trees.  Below is Sunbeam Falls, a whimsical little waterfall along the roadside near the Paradise area.

Sunbeam Falls in Mt. Rainier National Park

For more information about the remainder of my Mt. Rainier road trip, and some great images from the Columbia River Gorge, Double Mountain Brewery, and Elowah Falls, please check back soon!  Thanks for reading and if you would like to license any of the images in this blog entry, please visit our stock photography site, Pacific Crest Stock.

Happy Trails,

Mike Putnam

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Hiker in the "Blue Basin" located in the John Day area of Eastern Oregon

Oregon's Painted Hills near the John Day Fossil Beds

Hiking into Oregon's Blue Basin

Troy has been working particularly hard at capturing images from some of Central Oregon’s newer trails.  In the Crooked River Ranch area there are several great new trails worth checking out.  These new trails can be preview by visiting the following link to our Pacific Crest Stock website.  Pacific Crest Stock.  The following images were captured at a few of these new trails.  There are many more like it viewable at our website!

Mountain biking the Otter Bench Trail near Crooked River Ranch

Cliffs along the Opal Pool Trail near Crooked River Ranch

Hiking at Central Oregon's Scout Camp Trail Canyon

Hiking in Central Oregon's High Desert

View from the Pink Trail as it drops into the Crooked River Canyon

Hiker surrounded by Central Oregon's desert cliffs

Troy has also been busy exploring around Smith Rock, which is Central Oregon’s most famous desert destination. We think these images are definitely ripe for licensing.

Hiker high on the cliffs of Oregon's Smith Rock State Park

Dinner high on the cliffs above Central Oregon's Crooked River

If any of our readers have suggestions as to where Troy should go for his next great High Desert image, please leave a message at the end of this blog entry!

Thanks for Reading,

Mike Putnam

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The day started off like many other photography mission days. It was a beautiful Spring morning, and my loving wife had given me clearance to spend the entire day hiking, biking, skiing or doing whatever I wanted to do. I noticed some great cloud formations stretching across the northern skyline, so I decided to take my trusty friend into the desert canyons near Crooked River Ranch to take pictures. I had scouted these areas several times earlier in the year and I was calculating that the deserts should be pretty close to reaching their peak (i.e., as green as they get and full of balsom root flowers). Based on the positioning of clouds, I figured my first stop should be Steelhead Falls on the Deschutes River. This deep desert canyon has lots of interesting hoodoo formations and traditionally good flowers about this time of year. Add in a good collection of cumulus clouds overhead, and its pretty hard to beat.  Unfortunately, when I hiked into the waterfall, I found that the balsom root and Indian paintbrush were still on the early side . . . and, there was a fierce wind moving through the valley, which meant that I had virtually no chance of capturing any decent photographs of flowers anyway (because they would all be blowing around like mad).

Photo of balsom root near Steelhead Falls on the Deschutes River. This photo was taken on an earlier trip when there was no wind.

I did the best I could with the situation at hand, and then decided to move a few miles farther downstream to the Camp Scout Trail. The Camp Scout Trail is a recently opened section of trail that descends through a steep, rugged canyon to the lushy confluence the Deschutes River and Wychus Creek. I’ve been there a few times since it has opened, and I think it’s one of the best desert hikes in Central Oregon, especially in late-April and early-May. After a level half-mile section, the trail opens up to dramatic, big-Western-style views.

Mike Croxford and I hiking at Camp Scout Trail earlier in the year . . . when my camera was still alive.

As I followed the trail downstream from the fork, I was pleased to see that the balsom root flowers were much farther along in this area than at Steelhead Falls. I scouted around and took about a dozen photographs that I was very excited about, but then the wind started gusting again and it became clear that I was not going to get any more good photographs from this area. Rather than hiking the entire 3-mile loop, I decided that I would wait and bring the family back here a different day for a more extensive photographic experience.

Deschutes River and cliffs from the Scout Camp Trail. This photo was taken earlier in the year, before the big balsom root bloom and fatal camera incident.

I hurried back the Jeep, and then drove a few miles down the road to some other new trails along the Crooked River canyon.  The Lone Pine Trail, Otter Bench Trail, and Opal Canyon Loop Trail are located just past Crooked River Ranch. Like Steelhead Falls and Camp Scout Trail, they offer incredibly scenic views, but parallel the Crooked River instead of the Deschutes River. My plan was to hike a short ways up Lone Pine Trail for a few quick photographs and then come back and mountain bike the 7-mile Otter Bench/Opal Canyon Loop network. 

Crooked River Canyon from the Lone Pine Trail. This photo was taken earlier in the year, during happier times for my camera and I.

I left the Jeep and started up the Lone Pine Trail on foot, oblivious to the tragedy that was about to happen. At the first good viewpoint of the canyon, I dropped my backpack and unloaded my camera and tripod as I have done hundreds of times before. I started to compose the shot through my viewfinder, but then realized that the photograph I really wanted to get was going to require me to move a few more feet to my right . . . which, unfortunately, was going to put me dangerously close to the edge of a 200-foot cliff. I nervously inched toward the edge of the rock knowing that the cliff dropped off immediately behind me and to my right. With barely enough room to turn around on, I leaned over to check my lens and saw a bunch of debris clinging to its center. I carefully maneuvered around the tripod leg and started to reach for my backpack to get a clean lens cloth when a surge of wind came gusting up the canyon. The strong wind caught the lip of my cap and as I reached both hands to my head to keep my cap from blowing away, I saw that the wind had also caught hold of my camera.  I looked back just in time to see my dear old camera and tripod go somersaulting off the cliff.

It was like one of those moments you see in the movies where everything is moving in super slow motion.  Imagine a slow frame-by-frame scene with me on top of the cliff lunging for the foot of my tripod as it tumbles out of view and my mouth opening wide to scream “Nooooooooooooooooo!” That’s pretty much how it happened.  After witnessing the unfathomable, I just dropped to my knees in disbelief and hung my head . . . unable to look up. After a few moments of dumbfounded silence, I rolled to my side and then crawled over to the edge to see if I could catch a glimpse of my camera’s corpse on the rocks below. I expected to see it and my tripod in a mangled heap of carnage at the bottom of the cliff, but I didn’t see it anywhere below.

Always an optimist, I decided that I would gather up the rest of my gear and then try to find a way down to the bottom of the canyon to re-collect any pieces of my camera gear that were still intact. It didn’t take long for me to locate a game trail that worked its way down a steep rocky outcropping and into the rattlesnake-infested area at the bottom of the cliffs that I had been standing on a few minutes earlier. As I approached the scene of the crime, I noticed a piece of carbon fiber legging that once belonged to my tripod. A few feet from that piece, I found the rest of my tripod. The tripod was no longer usable in any way, but all things considered, it had actually taken the fall quite well. One piece of the leg was missing and the ball head had broken off upon impact, but otherwise, it looked much better than expected.

My next task was to try to find the camera. Given that the camera is much heavier than the tripod, I figured that it had probably ricocheted farther down the slope. After a few more minutes of searching, I spotted my camera wedged underneath a twisted section of sage brush about 50-feet below the place where my tripod had come to rest. The entire right side of the camera had split open during the fall, and my $1500 lens had disengaged itself somewhere during the tumble. I knew there was no way that my lens would be salvageable, but in trying to give myself at least one small nugget of hope, I thought that maybe, perhaps, through some small miracle, that I might be able to at least re-use my polarized filter, which was attached to the lens before it fell. I searched high and low, under each and every brush pile looking for my lens, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Using my best CSI skills, I backtracked and zig-zagged the entire area between where I found the tripod and where I found the camera, trying to cover every imaginable scenario. Just as I was about to give up, I caught a glimpse of that signature “L series” red circle. At nearly the same moment that I spotted my lens, it dawned on me that the lens cap was in my pocket before my camera blew off the cliff, which of course, meant that there was no way the polarized filter was going to survive the tumble. Sure enough, the filter was scratched beyond belief.

I then thought about all of the nice photographs that I had taken earlier in the day at Steelhead Falls and Scout Camp Trail, and let out a little smile thinking that since I had found my camera, I would at least be able to get those photographs off of the memory card.  But even that small feeling of relief was short-lived because as I looked closer at my camera, I realized that the memory card had also ejected itself sometime after impact.  I spent another 30 minutes looking for that tiny (but precious) memory card before I finally had to admit that it had been nearly a complete loss.  With one fleeting moment of indescretion, I had lost my camera, lens, filter, memory card, and tripod.

And so with that, I packed all of the different pieces into my backpack and started hiking back to the Jeep, thankful that I still had a perfectly good lens cap in my pocket. . . and that it wasn’t me that had blown off the cliff instead.

The carcass of my dear old friend.

Posted by Troy McMullin

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Photo/picture of Oregon's Mt. Washington in Autumn

There are several different crops available for the above Mt. Washington Image including ones with plenty of text space if necessary.

Macro Photo of Autumn Ground cover in the Oregon Cascade

The above macro image of swirling autumn ground cover  taken at high elevation in the Central Oregon Cascades offers a more intimate view of autumn in Oregon.

Sparks Lake Sunrise

A more thorough description of how I captured the above Sparks Lake Sunrise Photograph is available at the following link.  Sparks Lake, an Oregon Landscape Photographer’s Dream

Photo Picture of Oregon's Three Fingered Jack Mountain from Canyon Creek Meadow

The above picture of Central Oregon’s Three Fingered Jack was taken at one of my favorite back country location at the peak of summer wildflower season.

Photo/image/picture of Bend Oregon's Shevlin Park in its autumn glory

The above photo of Bend Oregon’s Shevlin Park can currently be seen in a fine art version at the Sage Cafe in Bend Oregon’s Northwest Crossing neighborhood. Finally one last image of Central Oregon’s beloved Three SIsters Mountains during a beautiful winter sunrise.

Winter Sunrise on Central Oregon's Three Sisters Mountains

The above photo of the Three Sisters Mountains near Bend Oregon, can be seen at the Mountain Gallery of our Main Pacific Crest Stock Photography site by visiting the following link.  Oregon Mountains.  Please do visit our site to see more of our new images.  Pacific Crest Stock Photography

As Always, Thanks for visiting,

Mike Putnam

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Although it’s nearly impossible to pick out our true favorites, the following photos have a certain level of sentimental value as they often represented significant milestones from our early photography careers.  We hope you enjoy them.

1. Summit Sunrise

Summit Sunrise: Taken from the summit of South Sister with his large format camera, this photo of Mike’s is the Pacific Crest Stock signature shot. It has also been used in numerous advertising campaigns for the Bank of the Cascades.

2.  Strawberry Mountains

Cumulus Clouds over the Strawberry Mountains: This photo from Eastern Oregon was the first cover shot that Troy sold through Pacific Crest Stock.

3.  Sparks Lake Sunset

Sparks Lake Sunset: This was one of Mike’s first shots with his large format camera, and continues to be one of his best selling prints.

4.  Skier on Three Fingered Jack

Skier on Three Fingered Jack: This photo is currently the cover shot for the 2009 Discover Central Oregon tourism guide, and was one of Troy’s first stock sales featuring a person (him) in the photograph.

5.  Mount Jefferson Wildflowers

Mount Jefferson Wilderness: This photo is currently the cover shot for the 2009 Visit Bend tourism guide, and is one of Mike’s most popular large format prints.

6.  The Monument at Smith Rock

The Monument at Smith Rock: This is one of Troy’s favorite photo locations, and it absolutely drives Mike nuts. This photo is currently licensed by the SELCO Community Credit Union and can be found as a 10-foot mural inside their Redmond branch.

7. Aspen Leaves

Aspen Leaves: This macro composition is one of Mike’s best selling prints. It can also be found hanging in numerous businesses throughout Bend (and in the homes of nearly all of his friends).

8.  Mount Hood from Lost Lake

Mount Hood from Lost Lake: This photo was used as the cover shot for Troy’s very first photography calendar. It marked the beginning of his photography career.

9.  Basalt Columns

Basalt Columns at Smith Rock State Park. This photo of Mike’s was used as the cover shot for last year’s Discover Central Oregon tourism guide.

10.  Oceanside Sunset

Sunset at Oceanside: This was one of Troy’s first coastal photographs, and is one of the first large format prints that he had framed. It was also featured in one of our first blog entries.

Thanks for all of your support through the year, and we’re looking forward to another exciting year in 2010. Cheers!

Posted by Troy McMullin

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Picture of hiker in Fog at Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, Oregon.

Sunrise on the Tatoosh Range from Mount Rainier National Park

Mountain biking at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne, Oregon

Trees along Whitewater Creek in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area.

Sunrise at Trillium Lake with Mount Hood reflecting in the background.

Hiking below one of the waterfalls along Fall Creek and the Green Lakes Trail

Purple lupine at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park

Sunset in the Mount Hood Wilderness Area

If you want to see more photos from my recent adventures, check out the New Images gallery on our main Pacific Crest Stock photography site. This gallery contains several hundred new images that Mike and I have taken over the last few months.

Posted by Troy McMullin

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