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Alooooooha, I’m Jason O’Rourke and I’m a wildlife and landscape photographer who has spent most of the last 20 years in Hawaii. I’m excited to join /bigenergy today to share a bit about my photography journey with you all for Foto Friday.

Another big Mahalo to the /bigenergy team for the invitation to Foto Friday yesterday. I got a request to build a thread with all of my casts from yesterday, starting with the introduction below and wrapping up with my AMA last night.

Setting up the thread here for anyone that missed a cast or two yesterday, and I'm always available to keep answering questions too!

I am almost completely self taught, with some great mentors along the way. My mother gave me my first camera, a hand me down Minolta 110 film camera, when I was 5 or 6. 
 
I used to take photos of the frogs and toads and turtles (and my thumb over the lens) in my back yard, growing up in New Hampshire.

I still shoot a lot of wildlife today, but the turtles in my backyard in Hawaii are a little bigger.

Second cast and one of my most iconic images:

Wildlife and landscape photographer from Hawaii. All photos copyrighted. More images on my website: www.jasonorourke.com

https://foundation.app/collection/honu

Second cast and one of my most iconic images: 
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x283408a8

When I started my NFT journey, minting my first NFT in April 2021, there was little doubt that I would start with a wildlife shot.

Hawaii has one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet, the Hawaiian monk seal, with roughy 1600 of them left. For more than a decade, I have done volunteer outreach with these seals on Hawaii’s beaches, and a weekly Monk Seal Monday post to raise awareness of these amazing animals.

My first NFT was The Survivor, and she is part of my Monk Seal Monday collection. Link 👇🏼.

Third cast, and a chance to talk about my passion project, Monk Seal Monday:

Happy Aloha Flower Friday… for those of you just joining, I’ll be sharing my window to Hawaii, my home for almost twenty years, all day today in /bigenergy. 

We love the beautiful flowers in Hawaii, and this Bird of Paradise flower is one of my newest mints to my Postcards from Hawaii collection. Wish you were here! Link 👇🏼

Fourth cast, with one of my most recent mints... new images added to my Postcards from Hawaii collection:

Fourth cast, with one of my most recent mints... new images added to my Postcards from Hawaii collection: 
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x64d5c282

When I first started sharing my photos online, I had friends that asked me for prints. I kind of shrugged it off, and said I had just gone hiking in Hawaii and these were photos of my beautiful backyard.

When my Hawaii friends started asking me for prints, I realized maybe I was doing something different. 

So in November 2011, I took some prints to a gallery in Haleiwa on Oahu’s North Shore and this was my very first display. Before I got home, the gallery called to tell me they had already sold my first print, the Outrigger Sunset here, which quickly became my first “best selling” image.

Fifth cast, and a look at the humble beginnings to my gallery career... I will forever be grateful to Scott and Beth for giving me my first opportunity to display and sell my work:

Fifth cast, and a look at the humble beginnings to my gallery career... I will forever be grateful to Scott and Beth for giving me my first opportunity to display and sell my work: 
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x63de29b5

Along the way, I began to have my work recognized by local publications like Hawaii Magazine and in some international photo contests, but none were quite as exciting as when @natgeo shared my Ke’e Tower with their fans on their Facebook page, first in October 2019, and then a second time in June 2020.

Sixth cast and another iconic image, and a huge career milestone having my work featured by @natgeo!

Sixth cast and another iconic image, and a huge career milestone having my work featured by @natgeo!
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x9ad86297

The next big milestone of my photography career was made possible by web3, when @johnknopf helped organize the Foto Gallery during NFT NYC, and asked me to submit three of my photos to be displayed at the @superchief in New York.

Ke’e Tower and The Survivor were two of the images I chose.

This was an absolutely epic day, with my images on display with some of the legends of photography!

Seventh cast and another milestone... three of my images (all shared in the /bigenergy casts yesterday) were displayed at the @superchief during NFT NYC in 2021.

Seventh cast and another milestone... three of my images (all shared in the /bigenergy casts yesterday) were displayed at the @superchief during NFT NYC in 2021.
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x21c48288

To wrap up my Foto Friday, let’s go with one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.

On New Year’s Eve in 2017, there was a bench collapse on the Big Island which severed a lava tube, creating this lava hose spilling millions of gallons of molten lava into the ocean, with explosive results.

Stay tuned for my AMA in about an hour, at 4 PM Eastern time.

Eighth cast and the third of my Big Three images, Lava Hose, to wrap up a great day sharing and talking about my work. Don't forget about the AMA!

Eighth cast and the third of my Big Three images, Lava Hose, to wrap up a great day sharing and talking about my work. Don't forget about the AMA!
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0x44034634

It's AMA time. 

Sorry, just a few minutes late getting myself settled in here. I've got a nice cold compression cycle running on my knee for the next 30 minutes, so I'm here for any questions you might have about the images I've shared today, or photography in general.

Ninth and final cast... the AMA. Thanks to everyone that asked some great questions and joined me yesterday for Foto Friday. Happy to be a part of the /bigenergy community and look forward to continuing to see other artists featured in the coming weeks!

Ninth and final cast... the AMA. Thanks to everyone that asked some great questions and joined me yesterday for Foto Friday. Happy to be a part of the /bigenergy community and look forward to continuing to see other artists featured in the coming weeks!
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0xa0e3a124

Third cast, and a chance to talk about my passion project, Monk Seal Monday: 
https://warpcast.com/jasonophoto/0xda8be5c8

We are Kathryn and Dave life partners & photographers with many interests. Storm chasing & storm spotting is one of our passions. https://linktr.ee/phos3.com

We have been lucky enough, since the pandemic, to become aware of nesting activity on Oahu, so not just this beautiful Honu but future generations as well!
🤙🏼💙🐢

I love this Jason. Gives me joy to know this one will be swimming in the ocean!