JAKE WYMAN, PHOTOGRAPHER

"Winter in Acadia" has been updated

2011-07-25T19:44:00.002-04:00

I've just updated my website with new images from my ongoing project to document Acadia National Park, during and after winter storms.

It's hard to explain the awe & respect that I feel when I'm watching & photographing the angry, roiling ocean from a snowy, rocky ledge in Acadia National Park during a blizzard.

It took four years of trying to make it happen, but I was finally able to get on top of Cadillac Mt. to shoot sunrise. This was one of the essential images, as the summit of Cadillac is the first place in the US where the sunshine hits at sunrise. The 3.5 mile road road to the top is closed in the winter, so I had two options: start snowshoeing through new snow (i.e. deep!) at 3 am, with a camera backpack, tripod and other essentials; or I could try and find someone with a snowmobile. It took a year or two, but I finally found a local guy named "Nick" who I have hired a few times to take me and my gear to the top.

Hopefully the images on my website will show the energy & drama during the storm & the quiet stillness after the storm departs.

Your comments are welcomed.
http://www.jakewyman.com/

My focus....

2011-06-14T10:50:00.000-04:00

Recently, I have re-focused my attention to myself & my work.

In the next week, I will be posting blurbs and images from recent projects for some new and ongoing clients, so please check back.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-04-04T14:03:00.001-04:00

If you know where to look, Spring is a perfect time to find the remains of a brutally cold & snowy Winter; or from hungry predators, like coyotes

On Saturday afternoon I headed to one of my favorite, largely remote, wooded areas close to home, and in about four hours time, I was rewarded with a few little treasures, which were captured with my iPhone:

Skull & rack of an eight-point buck (as found)

Smaller Skunk or Raccoon?

A "shed"

Ribs & Vertebrae (Any guesses)

Flexibility on location

2011-03-18T14:45:00.001-04:00

Being flexible is something that I learned many years ago, and I was reminded of this with a recent assignment.
A magazine for doctors had located me on the Find A Photographer (FAP) feature of ASMP , and they wanted me to shoot a portrait of a young physician at Yale University Hospital. The thrust of the article was about "environmentally responsible initiatives in medical practices".
With the subject-a very nice doctor who I'll call Dr. "S", I scouted locations at the hospital about a week before the shoot, and we found a few areas that would work. Not great, but ok, given the parameters. his year has been quite snowy & cold, so shooting inside was our only viable option.
On the afternoon of the shoot, I arrived early to make sure that I had enough time to meet with the very helpful Media Relations person at the Hospital, whose name is Mark. At some point in our conversation before the subject arrived, he mentioned another area of the hospital, with "great light".
We had time to spare, so off we went. Mark was right, and our timing would be perfect for the time of day, so we contacted Susan to let her know about the new location.

Naturally diffused sunlight was complimented with a bit of fill light from a single Dynalight head & a soft bank. Some of the greenery was there & I borrowed the plant that Susan held in some of the images.
The happy client chose the image above.

Brian Lanker, Photographer & Filmmaker

2011-03-15T09:27:00.002-04:00

Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and who built an incredible career working for Life, Sports Illustrated & National Geographic, has died. His photograph of his future wife giving birth via the Lamaze method won the 1973 Pulitzer for Photography while he was working at The Topeka Capital-Journal, with Rich Clarkson as his photography editor.
He later published the beautiful book of B & W photographs, "I Dream A World:Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America"

To read more about his amazing life: Brian Lanker, 63, Loses Brief Battle With Cancer

Just to make you smile.

2011-03-12T10:28:00.002-05:00


Frieda

A Gallup of Common Redpolls at a Feeder in VT.

2011-03-09T09:56:00.003-05:00

Common Redpolls

While staying with friends at a rented house in Southern Vermont a few weeks ago, we were visited a few times a day by a feeding "gallup" or flock, of Common Redpolls.

These hardy little finches thrive in colder weather, and they mostly live in the Northern parts of North America. Every other year, depending on the food sources in Winter, they will move south (irruption) to Northern New England and New York to find food.

From the Wikipedia page on Bird Migration:
"Sometimes circumstances such as a good breeding season followed by a food source failure the following year lead to irruptions in which large numbers of a species move far beyond the normal range. Bohemian Waxwing and Common Crossbills show this unpredictable variation in annual numbers."

This image is now included in my Getty Images stock library.

Oh Well......

2011-03-02T11:51:00.007-05:00

My signature image is probably the pre-dawn photograph of the Jade Screen Hotel, in the Huangshan Mt's.
Conde Nast Traveler magazine used it as a double-page spread opener (unusual for a vertical image?), for their story on "Extreme Hotels", in the February 2011 issue.
Nice.
But, the least that they could have done was to correctly spell my last name in the Credit sections in the back of the magazine! "Wymon"?!
They have promised to print a correction in the May issue.

"CHILI" by Koen Wessing

2011-03-01T09:48:00.005-05:00

Some of you know that I have always been a fairly passionate collector of photobooks, and I'd like to share my most recent acquisition.

“Chili, September 1973” is a very rare first printing of the first edition of Koen Wessing’s critically acclaimed photobook which was published by De Bezigle Bij, Amsterdam in 1973. It contains 24 black-and gravures (most of them double page) and measuring approximately 10.75” x 7.75”, the book is bound in illustrated wrappers.

*From the book “The Photobook: A History” by Parr & Gerry Badger:

"The Dutch photographer Koen Wessing was on the streets of Santiago immediately after the coup happened. His gritty documentary pictures were quickly published in this no frills, extremely elegant photobook … There are not many images in the book, but each is carefully considered, modest and succinct ... despite the difficulties of taking photographs in such a tense and difficult situation. The main thrust of the book is the coup’s immediate aftermath, the shock and grief of the people, the rounding up of Allende’s supporters by the Army, and their herding into the now notorious National Stadium in Santiago, where many would be tortured and killed. Wessing vividly captures one of these executions, in a two-page sequence that forms the book’s climax.”

For some time, I had been looking for a nice copy of this book, and I found an antiquarian book dealer in Amsterdam who had a copy. As he had met Wessing a few times. I asked him if he could get the book signed. A week or two later, I received an email from Jaap (the dealer), and this is what he wrote on January 10th, 2011:

"To get Koen's signature was not easy, because I don't know where he lives at the moment, and to meet him downtown, (which was not so difficult in the past) has become complicated because Koen is very ill, he suffers from lung cancer and leads as far as I can judge a solitary life and does not appear in public often. The only place that he frequents now and then is a pub near the Spui, where the weekly bookmarket is. There I saw met him recently , and although he was in company, I could ask him for his signature. He agreed."

Koen Wessing died less than three weeks later on February 2nd, 2011.

The images are amazing-they make you want to see more of Koen Wessing's images from this incredible event in the history of Chile.

SB3 in Philadelphia

2011-02-28T13:09:00.006-05:00

I've just returned from Philadelphia, where I participated in SB3 with four other Board members from CT-ASMP, and my head is spinning with ideas, inspiration & impressions!

If you haven't yet signed up for SB3 in Chicago, do it.

You can register by following the link above.

And for those of you who are asking about my "Escalator Legs" video, stay tuned!

Who was Meinhardt Raabe?

2010-04-27T14:31:00.002-04:00

"As coroner, I must aver
I thoroughly examined her.
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead."

More here: NYT Obituary

Another favorite image....

2010-04-02T13:38:00.003-04:00

This very touching image by a Chinese photographer named Jianbin Huo, has been hanging on my wall for the last two years

From Audubon Magazine:

"As the tale is told, the 12-week-old monkey was separated from its mother and close to death when it was rescued by a refuge worker. But the little guy simply wouldn’t perk up until the bird became its inseparable friend. This sweet photograph of the orphan and its companion was snapped by chance by Jianbin Huo, a young Chinese photojournalist visiting the island".

You can read more here: http://tinyurl.com/yhz3rgl

PS. By the way, Jianbin Huo's birthday is on April 6th.

A beautiful series of images from Jamey Stillings

2010-04-01T10:54:00.002-04:00

Last year at a Leadership Conference in Detroit for ASMP, I met a photographer from New Mexico, Jamey Stillings. Check out his images from his personal project to document the "Bridge at Hoover Dam".

The images are very beautiful and sometimes surreal.

More images here: http://bridgeathooverdam.com/

PDN's "Cramped but Cool Studio" Contest

2010-02-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

Please vote for my "Cramped but Cool Studio".

Here is the link:
"Cramped but Cool Studio Contest"

New Homepage Image

2010-02-23T09:36:00.000-05:00

I try to change the homepage image on my website often. This is the current image, which is getting some nice feedback.

Christchurch, New Zealand

My visit with Michael Melford, NGS Photographer & friend

2010-02-19T14:30:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was my friend Michael Melford's birthday, and I got to spend a few hours with him at his home about 40 miles from where I live. Michael was the first photographer that I traveled with as an assistant, when I moved to NYC in the early eighties. And, he was the last photographer that I traveled with after I decided to stop assisting a few years, and many photographers later.

Michael mostly shoots beautiful landscapes for National Geographic, and one of my favorite projects which appeared in the magazine was his piece on Acadia National Park in autumn. It's spectacular!

Before I left, we agreed to swap prints, and I was happy to take home a beautiful print of the first image in the gallery here: "Acadia National Park in Autumn".
(Be patient, it might take a bit of time to load)

He's getting a print of my image of the Jade Screen Hotel, perched in the Huangshan Mt's of China:

(click to see a larger version)

Thanks Michael & Happy Birthday!

The true inventor of the "Pluto Platter" (Frisbee) has died....

2010-02-13T09:28:00.001-05:00

From the NPR story:

According to Kennedy, Morrison and his future wife, Lu, used to toss a  tin cake pan on the beach in California. The idea grew as Morrison  considered ways to make the cake pans fly better and after serving as a  pilot in World War II, Morrison began manufacturing his flying discs in  1948.

To read more: 

Frisbee Inventor Dies At 90

A little snow in Guilford

2010-02-10T17:12:00.004-05:00

I have some friends who are members of the First Congregational Church, which sits on the Green here in Guilford. Last year I asked for and received permission to climb the scaffolding which was erected to repair the top of the steeple, and after going to the top and photographing with Barbara & Larry, two friendly and helpful Board Members from the church, we climbed down and parted ways.
After they were out of sight, and I was packing up my equipment, a Guilford police officer showed up and demanded to know who I was and what was I doing on the steeple. And, a few minutes later another police car arrived. Eventually it was cleared up when they contacted "church people", and I was allowed to leave. Whew!

This morning, while walking across the Green after a meeting with a colleague, I thought that perhaps there might be an image or two from the same steeple, during the snowstorm. I walked over to Barbara's house, to see if it was possible. She made some calls, got permission and we arranged to rendezvous around noon.

Here are few of the resulting images:

Guilford Green, from the steeple

The frosted bell in the steeple

The steeple from the Guilford Green

Check back, as I may and try to get back up there tomorrow, after the storm has cleared.

Our Little Lucy

2010-02-03T16:52:00.012-05:00

I love animals. All animals.

Losing a pet which you love, and who loves you back-every day of its life, can be devastating.

Last night, our little girl Lucy was hit by a car and lived long enough for me to get her into the kitchen, where she died.

We adopted Lucy from Forgotten Felines, a no-kill Shelter in Westbrook CT, in November of 2008. She was a very nervous and distrusting young cat, and we knew that she'd be a "project" that would take much love and affection to earn her trust.

Added on 2.5.2010:

Lucy was a very special little cat that took a lot of time and love, and to to earn her trust. She was wary of most people, and we'll never know why. But she came to trust & return my love, and I will be forever grateful that she did. I remember when we first brought Lucy home. We couldn't even touch her for months, and I told Ingrid that someday she would let me hold her. It took time, but after some months of gaining her trust, she let me pick her up for 2 or 3 seconds and then she would panic. Eventually I could pick her up and hold her, and she would purr loudly, and rub her neck and head against my face.

Lucy loved being outside, hunting and exploring. Most of the time she stayed inside, but we couldn't keep her inside all of the time. As Ingrid has said, that would be like locking me in the house all day & night.

Here is a small gallery of images of Lucy which were made with my iPhone:
"Lucy"

She came to trust and love us, and we loved her.

We miss you, Lucy
Please say hello to Felix?

Jake Wyman Photographer, LLC Facebook page

2010-02-02T12:54:00.008-05:00

Please consider becoming a fan on my new Jake Wyman Photographer, LLC Facebook page.

Deer tracks on Eagle Lake in Acadia N.P.

Just to prove....

2010-02-01T20:28:00.004-05:00

......that I'm not inclined to just shoot in cold weather, here are a few images that I made last Fall.

your comments are welcomed...

Try to forget what it is that you are looking at..........

Winter in Acadia

2010-01-30T18:26:00.009-05:00

Cadillac Mt. & part of Mt. Dorr (r)

My website has some new images from last week's trip to Acadia, and while I'm pretty happy with the results, I continue to be stymied in my attempts to find someone with a snowmobile who can take me to the top of Cadillac Mt.
I'm not ready to pitch the story to a magazine (Yankee is interested already) until I get some images which I feel are missing.
First, I want images from, and of the summit of Cadillac Mountain, and I also want images from Isle au Haut.

Believe me. I like to hike uphill. In fact I think I'm a pretty strong uphill hiker, and I'd be happy to hike up the Auto Road with snowshoes, but the thought of trying to hike through new snow with a 25-30pound pack of equipment to shoot sunrise or sunset, doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
So, if anyone knows of a snow machine owner around Bar Harbor who is for hire, please let me know?

Thanks for looking.

"Cramped but Cool Studio" on PDN

2010-01-29T10:16:00.004-05:00

Our humble abode is one of the "Cramped but Cool" studios in PDN. Voting for reader's favorites during the week of February 15th.

Cramped But Cool Studio: Converted Church in Connecticut

J.D. Salinger, dead at 91

2010-01-28T18:34:00.001-05:00

There has always been something very appealing to me, about moving to a remote house, somewhere in New England......probably Maine....that has always appealed to me.

J.D. Salinger did it.

"In 1953, Mr. Salinger, who had been living on East 57th Street in Manhattan, fled the literary world altogether and moved to a 90-acre compound on a wooded hillside in Cornish, N.H. He seemed to be fulfilling Holden’s desire to build himself “a little cabin somewhere with the dough I made and live there for the rest of my life,” away from “any goddam stupid conversation with anybody.”'

Other J.D. Salinger obituaries from around the World:

The Independent
New York Times
Here is a story written in 1999 when Mr. Salinger was still alive, which appeared in the Concord (NH) Monitor:
Concord Monitor

Back from Acadia National Park...

2010-01-25T14:47:00.003-05:00

I spent the better part of last week shooting in Maine for my "Winter in Acadia" project. Here are a few images, until the rest are processed and uploaded to my website.

More to come.....