Central Oregon Photography Fundraiser - Mike Putnam Photography (2024)

Every February for the past several years, I submit one of my fine art prints to the annual photography fundraiser for the Family Resource Center of Bend, Oregon. It is an outstanding event which raises lots of operating capital for this noble charity. The event was previously held at the Riverhouse until last year when it was moved to the convention center at the Riverhouse. For more specific information about the Family Resource center and their annual photography auction please visit their website at Family Resource Center.

The FRC’s annual fine art photography auction is rumored to be the largest auction focused entirely on photography on the entire West Coast. The event has traditionally held both a silent auction and a live auction. It is traditionally quite an honor to be juried into the prestigious live auction. This is my 4th year to submit a fine art photography print. In the three previous years, my fine art prints have been juried into the live auction. I haven’t heard back yet about this year but I like my chances as I submitted an image that is local, recognizable and very attractive. This years fine art print submission is pictured below.

This picture of Central Oregon’s Broken Top Mountain is my favorite to date. The scene is simply over flowing with wildflowers in the foreground meadow and the warm morning light accenting Broken Top’s summit is intensified by the wispy clouds floating around the summit pinnacles. To find this many flowers in a Central Oregon Mountain scene is rare but it is also becoming a photographic speciality of mine. As I mentioned, this year’s fine art print has not yet been juried so I’m not yet certain that this image will be present in the live auction but that doesn’t stop me from being optimistic.

I’ll not step back in time and give a bit of person history about the FRC auction. My first year with the local pros such as Bruce Jackson, and Loren Irving who does a great deal of work on behalf of the FRC I nervously submitted the following sunset photo of South Sister as seen reflected in the glassy waters of Sparks Lake.

Despite the fact that this image has some stunning color, and captures a beautiful scene, I was very nervous about submitting it to the FRC for jurying. It was at that time my most stunning large Format fine art print. What if it wasn’t good enough? Well, it was and it sold very well but unfortunately I don’t know who ended up buying that particular print. this is unfortunate because I wanted to thank my new collector and I’ve never been able to do that. If anyone happens to know who ended up buying that fine art print please contact me! The following year I submitted the following fine art print of Central Oregon’s Tumalo Falls in Autumn.

I captured this fall image of Tumalo Falls with my daughter Emma by my side. We’d just finished a day hike together under rainy skies and I realized that the combination of heavy rain and fall color along Tumalo Falls and Tumalo Creek might make for an interesting photograph so we drove to the most iconic waterfall in the Central Oregon area. It was raining and blowing hard but the scene was beautiful. I fought with rain spots on my lenses for quite some time as my large format camera isn’t the speediest photography tool available. I captured many different compositions as I realized that the combination of setting, light and color was special. My little Emma was actually instrumental in keeping my equipment dry during what developed into a rare Central Oregon downpour. This ended up being my favorite of many good images from that day. For another cropped version of this image, please visit our stock photography blog at Pacific Crest Stock and browse the collection of waterfalls, lakes and streams images. Unfortunately, Debbie and I weren’t able to attend the auction that year because we took Emma to Disney Land which Emma probably enjoyed more than the fine art auction or getting drenched with me at Tumalo Falls! When I returned I got a congratulatory call from a fellow photographer who was Impressed with how much that photo sold for and how exciting it must have been for me! I believe that years total netted the Family Resource Center $3,500 which is exciting indeed. I think the excitement from my Tumalo Falls photo helped garner some extra attention for my work around Bend. The next year I was asked to be the featured artist of the event and the following fine art print was the featured print for the Auction.

Being the featured artist for an event that I once was nervous about being juried into was of course a tremendous honor. The same Mt. Jefferson photo seen above is also to be featured on the cover of the soon to be released Visit Bend Central Oregon guide. I recently recounted that honor on our stock photography blog at Pacific Crest Photo Blog.

If any of you have an interest in top quality fine art photography, please visit the Family Resource Center’s website listed at the top of this entry. I’d also like to give a special recognition to Debbie Spicer of Eastlake Framing. She does all of the framing and much of the organizing for this event which is a huge time and monetary commitment. I suspect this event would not be possible without her time and effort. If you happen to go to the FRC photography auction, think Broken Top, bid early, bid often and bid high!

If you have any interest in licensing any of these images for editorial or advertising purposes please visit our stock photography site, Pacific Crest Stock. If you are interested in purchasing any of my fine art prints of these images, please contact me via the contact info at the top of this website’s home page.