A portfolio worth a thousand words

Luis Pena

Waking up at the crack of dawn to go through bushes and mud and get

chased away by a swarm of bees may seem like a headache to some, but

to one photographer it’s just part of the passion.

Daily Pilot photojournalist Kent Treptow made waves when his photo

essay, “Wild at heart,” was published in the paper in January. The

paper received calls and letters from readers saying they were

astonished by his photos. Among the impressed was Dennis Baker, a

board member of the Newport Beach Naturalist and Friends and a member

of the Newport Beach Arts Commission.

Part of Baker’s job as an arts commissioner is to promote art

within Newport Beach, and when he saw Treptow’s work, he saw more

than just a newspaper. He saw photographs that crossed over into fine

art.

Because of the quality of Treptow’s work, Baker helped to arrange

an exhibit featuring 10 of the photographs to be held at the Peter

and Mary Muth Interpretive Center.

“I was going to make a couple of pretty pictures for my parents

and that’s all that was going to happen,” said the modest Treptow.

Treptow said he thought it would be a challenge to shoot the Back

Bay’s wildlife. The photo project ended up taking him a year from the

first click on his Nikon F100 to the last.

“The coolest thing about it for me is that so many people seem to

get so much joy out of it that they’re taking an interest in the

bay,” said Treptow, who took the photos within an hour of sunrise or

sunset so that he would have the best natural soft light.

Steve McCrank, photo supervisor at the Daily Pilot, said he

admires the “heart” that Treptow put into the photo essay and that it

showed the depth of his talent.

One of the images that stands out most from Treptow’s essay is of

an osprey, a bird of prey. In the photo it has one of its wings

spread and a fish in one of its talons.

Treptow would get up before dawn and kayak into the bay to set up

the shot to avoid scaring off the bird.

“It was so much work, I never thought I was going to get it,”

Treptow said of the six months it took to get that single shot.

Another standout photograph is one of cirrus clouds, which Baker

calls an opportunity picture because Treptow was able to see

something happening as an artistic moment. The photograph shows

clouds mimicking the curves of a mustard plant. The photograph is so

rich in quality that it is now part of the Newport Beach Arts

brochure, Baker said.

“A talented person creates the photograph in their mind, they know

what they are looking for or they have a good enough eye for art to

recognize the picture when they see it,” Baker said of Treptow.

Limited edition prints of Treptow’s work will be on sale with 30%

of the proceeds going to the Newport Beach Naturalist and Friends.