The following Mt. Bachelor greeting cards are the third in my series of eight Central Oregon Greeting Cards. Hopefully they will arrive for purchase in about two weeks. As you ay be aware, my first series of art cards is focused on the beautiful volcanic mountains that highlight the skyline around Bend and the Central Oregon area. One of the reasons that My wife and I moved to Bend over 11 years ago was the beautiful cascade mountain views. When we visited it was it was a bluebird day in November after a fresh fall snow had covered the Central Oregon Cascades. The scenery was stunning. It wasn’t until several years later that I became a professional landscape photographer, but until this day, I feel a rush whenever I get to enjoy the expansive mountain views in Central Oregon.
As Most of you know, Mt. Bachelor is one of the most prominent ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest and is an important hub in the Central Oregon economy. In general, I like to de-emphasize the effects of man in my pictures but this is impossible when photographing Mt. Bachelor which is laced with ski runs, ski lifts, and lift houses. Nonetheless,some very attractive views of Mt. Bachelor, like this one as seen from Tumalo Mountain located to the North of Mt. Bachelor’s parking areas.
I’ve previously recounted some of the difficulties of winter photography in a previous blog entry on my blog, Central Oregon Snow Photos.
Winter travel in deep powder and a heavy photo backpack is tedious at best and torture at worst. Snow blows and obscures one’s lens, and It’s Cold! I love the beauty of sunrise alpenglow after a fresh winter snow fall on a Mountain filled scene but there is a price to pay for photographs like the one above. One of the most important things about winter photography snow. That’s obvious but not that easy. Fresh snow tends to blow off of trees quickly or melt off of trees shortly after sunrise. Timing is everything. Being at a scene after a heavy snowfall on a non windy day and before the sun comes up is critically important. It also is why most winter mountain scenes are simply not that good, because the photographer has settled on sub- standard scenes with tree branches void of snow.
If you ever see one of my fine art prints, there are some interesting details. If you look closely you can see several wispy clouds drifting around Mt. bachelor’s summit and for all of you downhill skiers, you can also see a couple of snow cats grooming the runs on Mt. Bachelor. If you are interested in a fine art photograph of this image, please visit my Mountain Print Gallery
If you are interested in this or any of my other soon to be released Central Oregon Art Cards, please email me via the contact tab at the top right hand corner of this page or check back soon as they have been ordered and will soon be available. To purchase a beautiful poster from this morning, visit, Mt. Bachelor Poster.
All the Best,
Mike Putnam