A New Morning

Photography provides ways of seeing the world from a fresh perspective. Early in my career I followed my passion for nature by photographing wildflowers, gradually learning the craft of the camera’s focus and exposure, and lying on the ground in contorted positions to get just the right angle. Sometimes these could be artistic rather than straightforward photos, and the discipline taught me that good photography does not come easy.

Half a century later, I am still photographing flowers and leaves, but in more evocative compositions. By carefully controlling what is in focus in the foreground, and letting the background blur into pleasing patterns of colors, I create work that some might call “painterly,” but which is simply a more thoughtful impression of nature.

During the past two weeks I have have gone walking with a zen-like spirit, mindfully focused on leaves and other natural details with my new approach in mind. I walked through two Japanese gardens, the University of Washington Arboretum, around Seattle’s Green Lake, and in Olympic National Park; most of the pictures here are from those walks.

Enjoy the work and click on them to see them larger. If you would like to purchase any of them, contact me at lee@leerentz.com. These are limited edition prints that I have printed on Japanese Unryu paper, which has a soft, painterly look with visible mulberry fibers giving it a special texture. Since this paper is fragile, I don’t trust sending collectors just the print. I mount it on photographic mount board and mat it with a triple-thick white cotton board of the highest quality. The sizes available are 6″ square print matted to 10 x 10,” 11.5″ square matted to 16 x 16,” and 16″ square matted to 22.5″. The prices respectively are $75, $150, and $300, with free shipping to the lower 48 states.

Focus on the Inner Mind

While visiting the lovely little Yashiro Japanese Garden in Olympia, Washington, I at first didn’t know what to photograph. The garden was pretty, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with a desire to take pictures. I decided to stay longer and work at it, freeing my mind from preconceived notions of what might make strong photographs here. Eventually the details captured me, and I chose to take a zen approach to my photography, focusing narrowly on detail and letting the background float away into a wash of color.

Click on the photographs above to see them larger. To see more of my work, go to my website: leerentz.com There you will see thousands of photographs and can order prints in a variety of sizes

Spring in Seattle

Azalea blooming in early February

2010 has brought Seattle the warmest January we have seen in over a hundred years of record-keeping, which might seem odd to those dealing with record-setting snowfall in more southerly parts of the east coast.  This is an El Niño year, which brings strange weather patterns to the whole Pacific basin and over much of North America.  Our warm temperatures and Vancouver’s trucking in snow for parts of the Winter Olympics are part of this El Niño effect.

As a result of the warm weather, our first sign of spring, the flowering of the hazelnut trees, occurred just about the first of January, and I heard frogs croaking on warm days.  While jogging in Bremerton, I saw the first miniature irises in bloom.

In early February I made two trips to Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum, located along Lake Washington near the University of Washington campus.  The arboretum is beautiful any time, but I especially love the flowering trees in spring, and this was my first opportunity in 2010 to see early witch hazels and azaleas in bloom.  Within the arboretum, the J. A. Witt Winter Garden is the focus for early spring color, as well as bright winter twig and bark colors.

In this portfolio you can see traditional approaches to garden photography–as well as some more impressionistic images that have their own beautiful aesthetic.  Enjoy the spring through my photography, even if you are trapped in a snowstorm!

Persian Violet (Cyclamen coum) around base of Tall Stewartia

Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’)

Scotch Heather (Calluna vulgaris ‘Robert Chapman’)

Early Azalea Blooming

Purple Hazel (Corylus maxima ‘Atropurpurea Superba’)

Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis)

Paperbark Maple bark (Acer griseum)

Impressionistic view of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick

Orange Beauty Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Orange Beauty’)

Muskogee Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia x ‘Muskogee’)

Plastic Fence and Azalea

Wilcox Footbridge, built in 1911

Paperbark Maple bark (Acer griseum)

Peeling bark, backlit by a low winter sun, of Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)

Ruby Glow Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Ruby Glow’)

Impressionistic view of backlit bark of Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)

Bark detail of Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)

Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) branches casting shadows

Green-barked Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’) with Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogan planiscapus ‘Ebony Knight’)

Colorful coppiced shrub dogwood (Cornus sp.); coppicing means cutting back branches to the ground each spring, which encourages new twig growth, and new twigs have brighter color

A lavender early-blooming azalea (Rhododendron sp.)

Ruby Glow Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Ruby Glow’)

Another view of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick

And still another view of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick

Patterned bark of Hers’ Maple (Acer grosseri var. hersii)

A cherry (Prunus sp.) blooming in early February

Moss on a huge tree glowing under overcast skies

For more information about Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum, go to:  http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/index.htm.

To see my web site, which includes photographic prints for sale, please go to LeeRentz.com

To see thousands of my photographs in large file sizes for use in magazines or other printed materials or electronic media, go to my PhotoShelter Website