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No matter where you live, there will always be spring; flowers will bloom and trees will leaf. It is a powerful time of year. I consider myself very lucky to have traveled to Joshua Tree National Park this spring to bear witness to the mass Joshua tree bloom, a once in a lifetime event. No one knows why (it could be a defensive reaction to drought or just plain stress) but for some reason almost all of the Joshua trees bloomed; something that they just don’t do, not all at once. This occurrence was reflected throughout the desert, everything was in high bloom; yucca, ocotillo, cholla, everything. The Joshua trees themselves were bearing fruit as big as a person’s fist. In turn, the desert was alive with activity. Standing next to a Joshua bloom and listening carefully you could hear the munching of the yucca moth’s larva feeding on the tree’s seeds. Arriving at an ocotillo patch in the evening you could find them swarming with hummingbird moths; fluttering among the red flowers and pollinating the entire grove as they traversed from one plant to the next. Such a barren place yet so filled with life.
Before traveling, I do a lot of research on the area and the species of interest to me. In this case the Joshua trees were my main focus, as seen in the previous post. I like to go to a place with a specific vision in mind. In finding out about the mass Joshua bloom I wanted to highlight it and really show the exclamation of such an event. I believe the first photo in this series does that. It was the last photo I took in the park before departing. It took me five days to find the right tree and conditions and I succeeded in creating an image that represents both the power of the bloom and my vision of it.
May 04, 2013 | Categories: Featured, Featured Story | Tags: bloom, california, desert, emergence, explore, flower, hummingbird moth, joshua tree, landscape, national park, nature, night, photography, travel, wildlife | Comments Off
Many of the Joshua trees that are standing today were taking root a century and a half ago when Mormon immigrants first gave them their name, some were already full grown. The pioneers saw the figure of Joshua, a biblical character, reaching towards the sky in prayer, personified in the trees. The name stuck and was eventually adopted by the National Park Service. Joshua Tree National Park is a stark, rocky place adorned with beautiful granite boulders, desert gardens, and of course Joshua trees. Out of any natural landscape I have visited in the U.S. this place looked and felt the most foreign. It reminded me of the Australian Outback or parts of Africa with its moonscape features and bizarre plant life. The Joshua trees are rooted deep in the history of this place. They provided fuel and materials for settlers and Native Americans and gave food and shelter to desert wildlife long before that. The Mojave Desert is their home, and Joshua Tree National Park is their monument.
The glaring, mid-afternoon sun gave feeling to the harshness of the high desert, as did the touch of a Joshua’s palmy branch against bare skin. Twilight brought with it a soft pale light that laid pleasantly across the landscape, washing everything in cool relief. The night sky sparkled with stars and the moon was bright enough to illuminate the landscape. The Joshua trees stood like sentinels across the landscape, spread out for miles as if they were marching through time.
Apr 28, 2013 | Categories: Featured, Featured Story, Nature, Nature Blog | Tags: california, desert, explore, flora, joshua tree, landscape, light painting, national park, nature, night, photography, sky, star trails, stars, travel, tree | Comments Off
On a whim, my wife and I packed our bags and took a trip. It’s strange for us not to head into the wilderness when we have a week off, but we hadn’t allowed ourselves a lot of time to plan. The night before we left we simply looked at the map to see what was within driving distance. We chose Quebec City, Canada. Quebec City sits on the northern bank of the Saint Lawrence River, a mighty waterway that stretches from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic. Our thirst for adventure would be quenched by the idea of escaping to another country, a place where English wouldn’t necessarily be spoken by everyone we ran into. We weren’t sure what to expect. We had both been to Quebec when we were younger, and both during the peak tourist season. We remembered Quebec as a novelty, a disney version of France. We were relieved to find that Quebec does actually feel like another country, its own country in fact. Perhaps this had a lot to do with the fact that we were seemingly the only visitors in town. It felt as if we had the place to ourselves. The shops and attractions were empty of English speaking tourists. Locals strolled through the streets with a certain ease, like they were taking the time to enjoy their home free from crowds, even if just for a short period. It didn’t take long for that to change. We had arrived on a Saturday, by Thursday the whole town seemed to be prepping itself, and by Friday busloads of people were swimming through the shops and restaurants. The offseason had ended. Coincidentally, the ice-flows we had watched pass the city each day with the ebb and flow of the river’s tide had all but vanished. Winter had passed and with the arrival of Easter weekend spring had begun. On our last night in town we slipped away to the top of a hill that overlooked the city. The crowds didn’t follow, the March mud and remaining snow had concentrated them to the streets and sidewalks. We were happy to have the place to ourselves one last time.
Apr 01, 2013 | Categories: Featured, Featured Story, Travel Blog | Tags: alley, alleyway, canada, castle, church, city, evening, explore, ice, night, notre-dame, old city, people, photography, quebec, river, saint lawrence, spring, street, tourism, travel, victoires, winter | Comments Off
I am excited to announce the opening of my new online store, the J.K. Putnam Photography Print Shop! I am now offering high-end photographic prints of my work on a limitless basis. All of my prints are made using the most superior archival inkjet printers and luster photo papers to ensure and maintain the original sharpness and vibrancy of the images. Not only that, but I personally inspect each and every print before it ever leaves the print lab. When ordering a print from my store you are not getting a mass-produced, low quality print like you would from third party websites and printers. I maintain total control over the entire process from the printing to the packaging. Your options are limitless; you can order with one click from the store or, if you have a specific look you are trying to achieve in your home or at your office (i.e. custom sizes, high-gloss, metallic, or canvas prints), you can reach out to me and I will work with you one-on-one to customize your order. So by all means, take some time to look around the store to see what I have to offer you, and if you don’t see what you’re looking for let me know. You never know what I may have in my archives or on one of my other sites like facebook, flickr, or tumblr. Let me know, anything is possible.
Visit the store here: www.putnamprintshop.com
Mar 03, 2013 | Categories: Announcements, News | Tags: africa, alaska, california, city, denali, emergence, explore, glacier, glacier bay, japan, kyoto, landscape, maine, national park, nature, new england, new york, osaka, people, photography, stock photography, tanzania, tokyo, travel, wildlife, yellowstone | Comments Off
When I was contacted by The Nature Conservancy and notified that the photo below was a finalist in their annual photo contest I was thrilled… but I kept it to myself. A wave of superstition came over me. I was afraid I would jinx my chances of winning. The top thirteen finalist would be included in the Conservancy’s annual calendar, and I wanted the cover! A photo in a calendar might sound trivial, but a spot in this calendar is something I’ve coveted for many years. Jinx or not I didn’t win, merely an honorable mention, one of twenty-five. I was deeply disappointed by this; I thought I had a real shot. Alli, my wife, who I love dearly for her wisdom, asked how many entries their were. I didn’t know so we looked it up… as it turns out there were over sixteen thousand entries into the contest. All of a sudden 14th place didn’t feel so bad.
To view all of the finalist and winners of the contest go here: http://my.nature.org/photography/2012-photo-contest.html. While there, spend some time on The Nature Conservancy’s site. They are an incredible organization dedicated to protecting and preserving some of the most important and delicate places in our world.
Jan 14, 2013 | Categories: Announcements, News | Tags: alaska, contest, denali, explore, national park, nature, nature conservancy, photography, wildlife | 3 Comments »
As a child, from the back window of a car, I caught a view; a wintery scene from the Kancamagus Highway of a cliff face in black and white. The road before me was snow-covered and the evergreens neutral behind flurries of snow and between the contrast of light and dark. The image was ingrained in my memory. It inspired the look and treatment of the images here, taken during the week leading up to New Years 2013. The gallery begins on the bank of the Saco River as the light fades from the day. The images become stark and gradually lose color as each begins to focus on the contrast and textures of the scene.
Jan 05, 2013 | Categories: Galleries | Tags: black, explore, landscape, mountains, national forest, nature, new england, new hampshire, photography, travel, white | Comments Off
I have always had a love for cinema. As a kid I poured over Kubrick and Spielberg films and dreamed someday of being a big time director. I attended film school and eventually wound up working in the industry setting up lights and loading film. When my attention turned to still photography I looked for a way of combining that with movie production. Production-still photography does exactly this. I am able to retreat to my own world behind my camera while still being on set and telling stories through imagery.
Dec 24, 2012 | Categories: Galleries | Tags: actor, crew, film, independent, motion picture, movies, music video, new york, photography, pictures, production stills, set, video | Comments Off
While visiting these places I thought a lot about how time had passed from their creation to the present. I thought of how slowly time moved as glaciers carved valleys or how recently the spot I stood on had been an uninhabitable volcanic landscape. For this reason I took advantage of any chance I had to show motion or movement, a reference to time. Whether it was water rushing, steam rising, or even the wings of a bird fluttering, I wanted to give the idea that these places weren’t stagnant, they are ever-changing, they are evolving.
Dec 24, 2012 | Categories: Galleries | Tags: explore, glacier, grand teton, landscape, national park, nature, photography, travel, wildlife, yellowstone | Comments Off
Before Japan I had never traveled to a place exclusively to visit it’s urban areas. Since this would be a new experience for me I decided to approach it differently. I looked for situations that would work in black and white. I shot a lot at night and in low-light to produce a grainy look and blur of motion. Japan was mysterious to me so I wanted to portray it in that way. Of course not all of the pictures worked as well in black and white so a handful are in color. And even though I spent my time mostly in cities I still sniffed out some mountains to hike and wildlife to photograph.
Dec 24, 2012 | Categories: Galleries | Tags: city, explore, japan, kyoto, nature, osaka, people, photography, tokyo, travel | Comments Off
Alaska is quite likely my favorite place that I’ve ever been. Wild, untamed, isolated, and above all beautiful. It’s wilderness challenges you like no where else. It’s open, untouched tracts are matched only by places like Africa’a Serengeti. The coast is draped in mystique and allure where once in a lifetime encounters with nature seem to be around every bend. Alaska is the treasure of North America and it deserves nothing but respect from us, its caretakers.
Dec 24, 2012 | Categories: Galleries | Tags: alaska, denali, explore, glacier, glacier bay, landscape, national park, nature, people, photography, travel, wildlife | Comments Off
