It was a beautiful spring day hiking with my bride-to-be  (although I didn’t know that at the time), on Eagle Creek trail outside of Portland, Oregon.  Moments after I snapped this frame a giant dead tree careened over the falls and almost took out my future wife!  Fortunately the fates had a different plan for the image and it has made it’s way into National Geographic online HERE.

A woman looks in wonder at the beautiful Tunnel Falls on Eagle Creek trail in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, USA.

Cross country skiing in Bend, Oregon.

This summer I reconnected with an old friend from high school named Michael.  After some small talk, Michael recounted the story of the last ten or so years that we had lost touch.  After college, he had worked for a few years on hydrogen and hybrid technology at Ford before taking a leave of absence to sail around the Caribbean.  What started out as a medium length trip, turned into nearly two years aboard a small sailboat island hopping with his wife.  When they had their fill, he and his wife and began looking for a place to settle down, and eventually picked a small town in the rocky mountains of Colorado. I asked Michael why he decided on this town rather than a city that could offer much more in the way of employment, and he said “We decided to find a place to live that we absolutely loved, and once we found that place, we made it work financially.”

This thought really resonated with me, because I have always felt I should begin with the end in mind.  And that is in fact the intention that landed my wife in I in Bend, Oregon. In 30 minutes we can be climbing at Smith Rock, or cross country skiing in the shadow of Mt. Bachelor.  There is a symphony of nature all around to photograph and a small airport that can get me to anywhere on planet earth in just a few hops.  With the wonder of the internet and FTP, I can make it work financially.  Cheers to living in this day and age!

A time exposure at Mauna Loa Observatory, lasting a little over an hour, produced star trails as Earth rotated.

December 22, 2010 - Front page of the New York Times - Jonathan Kingston

Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, in early December I found myself on the side of a volcano at 11,141 feet on the Big Island of Hawaii photographing a story for the New York Times.  The story revolves around the research facility and dedicated staff that has been taking continuous measurements of CO2 in the air since the late 1950’s.  Its a great read and an honor to be featured on the front page of the NYT.   You can read it online here listen to the audio slideshow here and see the slideshow here.  Enjoy!

Horses pasture near the Little Bighorn battlefield on the Crow Indian Reservation, Montana.

Before I attended college in the mid 1990’s, I lived on the Crow Indian reservation in Montana helping to run an after school youth center.  During my time there I became dear friends with a Crow Indian musician named Kenny Pretty on Top, who has just released his first Christian & Gospel album titled Beautiful Revolution – Near To You.  Given Kenny’s talent, I am surprised it took him this long to release a studio album and expect to see many more in the years to come!

A Kingston Images shot of rock climbing at Trout Creek, Oregon was recently featured in National Geographic’s online gallery.  For any rock climbers out there planning travel to Oregon, Trout Creek is a must.  A long approach hike with a short burly uphill section at the final leg rewards you with stellar splitter cracks in perfect columnar basalt/volcanic tuff rock.  At the base of the cliff, many of the columns have fallen over – creating the feeling of walking over fallen greek columns at the acropolis in Athens.  Bring tape – the cracks are much sharper than they look!  A lesson this nomad learned the hard way…

Potato harvest in Tamil Nadu, southern India.

Jonathan Kingston's photography featured in UN FAO End of Year Review

2008 was designated the “International Year of the Potato”  by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.  According to Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of the FAO, “The potato is on the frontline in the fight against world hunger and poverty.”  I produced the above image while living in Tamil Nadu, teaching photography at Light and Life Academy, south Asia’s first photography school.  In the background you can see a large tea plantation that produces much of the CTC tea for the Tetley tea company.  I was just recovering from a nasty case of typhoid fever when I took this frame and was only strong enough to click off half a roll or so before exhaustion forced me to retire to my bungalow that shared the same hillside as the potato farmers.

Cross posted from the Aurora News blog here.

August 17th, 2009

Aurora photographer Jonathan Kingston’s image of a pair of boots recovered from a German battlefield was published recently in the June 2009 edition of National Geographic. The boots (whose original owner is currently unknown) are being used by the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) to try and identify the fallen soldier so that his remains can be returned to his family. JPAC, established in 2003, is a response to the Pentagon’s recent efforts to try and find the 84,711 US military men and women still missing after various US engagements all over the world. It is home to the world’s largest forensic anthropology lab.

When asked about the shoot, Kingston said, “Assignments such as this one epitomize what assignment photography entails — problem solving, people skills, and performing well under pressure. I feel honored to have played a small part of bringing the story of what JPAC does to the world.”

To see more work by Jonathan Kingston, visit Aurora Photos.

Cross posted from the Aurora News Blog Here

When Aurora photographers Jonathan Kingston, Dan Patitucci and Janine Patitucci, along with 7 other photographers, traveled to India to document the annual Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, they were not expecting to end up with a book. However, after seeing the collective archive of imagery created by the 10 participants, they decided to gather them into a book, titled Pushkar – Gurus, Gods and Camels, which was published by CreateSpace on March 27, 2009. To view the entire book online, or purchase a copy, visit www.gurusgodsandcamels.com.

The group of photographers traveled to Rajasthan to recharge and inspire themselves creatively among the thousands of Indian nomads, gypsies, sadhus, pilgrims, camels, and tourists who travel to the Pushkar Camel Fair annually. When asked about the resulting book, Jonathan Kingston said, “Every morning we would go our separate ways before sunrise and every evening we would meet again well after sunset for dinner and an exchange of stories from the day. One evening towards the end of the fair, another photographer on the trip suggested we pool our collective images into a book and put me in charge of the project. I immediately deferred my new-found responsibilities to the Patitucci’s, who wrangled the images from each photographer, and spearheaded the production of the book. This project goes to show that spontaneous creativity happening collectively can be a powerful force.”

Image by Jonathan Kingston

Images by Janine Patitucci (left) and Dan Patitucci (right)

Image by Dan Patitucci

View more work by Jonathan Kingston, Janine Patitucci and Dan Patitucci at Aurora Photos.

Cross posted from the Aurora News Blog here.