Tiger Mountain Sunrise

Jerry Klein, SPU Alumnus of 1960

Sometimes photographer Jerry Klein ’60 goes to great heights — the mountains of Alaska, say, or the Himalayas — to capture his subjects. But “Tiger Mountain Sunrise” was an easier shot. One morning, outside the door of his 1872 home in Issaquah, Washington, he saw sunlight piercing through branches, then ran for his camera.

“I love to shoot into the light,” he says. “Backlit images are always my choice. This was taken in September, the time of year the sun rises almost directly over the mountain.”

About half of Klein’s work consists of architectural/aerial photography. The rest focuses on subjects in nature. Photographing wildflowers — like the unusual fringed grass of Parnassus — is his particular passion.

Klein’s wife, Cindy, has created a garden on their property that borders Issaquah Creek, between Tiger and Squak mountains. Passersby often stop and ask to wander through. From his studio on the property, the former materials scientist at Eastman Kodak now works full time as a freelancer at his craft. With home sales in a slump, Klein says he and Cindy, a realtor, have more time to spend on work they enjoy together: renovating the studio. Cindy has perfected the stretching of cloth canvasses for his photographs.

Once a stickler about using only film, Klein found that digital photography has great benefits. First, he can keep track of his images with geocoding, which gives each picture’s location and even altitude. That way, he retains precise information about the 70,000 images he shot just last year. Second, “I notice incredible detail when I zoom in on an image on my computer,” he says. “It’s a good close-up of God’s creation.”