This is not the post I thought I would be writing today. I had planned to write up a summary of our vacation in Chincoteague, VA today. Instead, I have so many emotions about the passing of my friend Klaus Peter that I think I need to share them.
As we were driving home yesterday I learned that Klaus passed away sometime Thursday. It was an 870 mile trip home for us, and I can tell you that the last 700 miles were a blur for me. I got word from Nancy and Dan shortly after noon that Klaus had left us prematurely and I began forming this post as I thought about what we had lost. I don’t know the details of his passing, but I do know the details of the time we shared together.
I don’t remember exactly where I met Klaus, but I do know that it was within the last 2 years. I didn’t know him as well as some others in our photography group, but the man had an impact on me and my photography for which I will be forever grateful. He was truly an artist behind the camera. He could take an ordinary scene and somehow compose an extraordinary image out of it. Where I saw a boring sunrise, he saw beautiful shades of yellow and orange. Where I saw the same old Great Blue Heron standing beside a body of water, he saw a beautiful bird dazzled in light. He masterfully took the common sights of our favorite photography locations and turned them into works of art.
His creativity didn’t stop at the camera. He ran his own business designing and hosting websites for individuals and companies. It was a natural extension of his creativity, but most importantly, it provided him flexibility. As the boss, he could come and go as he pleased and he used that opportunity to its fullest. If someone wanted to go out shooting during the week, Klaus was available. If you were from out of town and passing through Central Florida, Klaus would make time to spend the day with you. His career choice afforded him the luxury of flexible office hours and he maximized that opportunity. As a software developer myself, I dream of some day being in a position where I could put photography first instead of work. Klaus was successful at making both photography and his career work seamlessly so as to enjoy life as much as possible. There is definitely a lesson to be learned here.
While Klaus was a fantastic artist, he was also a fantastic friend. You could always count on any photography outing where Klaus was involved to include lots of fun. He was witty and at times made a dull shooting day into a great time. I had the pleasure of shooting with Klaus several times a year, but there are a few of those shoots that stand out for me as exceptional. There was “The Great Owl Shoot” at Clay Island with Scott Helfrich, Donna Faylo, Jane Walden and Scott Gridley. We first went to see a Barn Owl nest in an old shed on the property, but never did see the owl. Klaus insisted that there was an owlet in the box and that he could see it. No one else could see it, but Klaus claimed it was there. We teased him by saying he had put a stuffed owlette in the box for us, but we all knew that if Klaus said he saw an owlette in the box, then it had been there. Next we photographed a pair of cooperative Barred Owls for what seemed like hours. Finally after lunch we went to where the Burrowing Owls were nesting for even more good times. It was a blast to be out there that day.
Klaus chimping during the Great Owl Shoot
One of his favorite places to shoot was Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, FL. This past Winter, we met up with Scott Helfrich, Diana Turk and Kevin Barry there for sunrise. There might have even been a Jane Walden sighting that day, but it is still unconfirmed. The air was thick with fog that morning and there was nothing to shoot. It was also bone-chilling cold there and we were questioning our sanity to be standing around on that frosty morning with nothing to shoot but fog. But Klaus found a gorgeous opportunity as the morning wore on. He found a tree, shrouded in fog, with the sun rising behind it. The sun rays shot through the tree and fog to create a beautiful scene of light and shadows. He literally could pull a beautiful image out of any situation. It was images like this that encouraged me to work harder at my photography as I wanted images like that to call my own.
Scott and Klaus on a frosty morning at Circle B.
Klaus also like Fort DeSoto near St. Petersburg and I remember shooting over there with him in April. I eventually found Klaus with his posse (Dennis, Dan and Alan) and had a great morning there. We eventually met up with Meg Puente and Kevan and Linda Sunderland later that morning. I regret now that I couldn’t have stayed longer as they all stayed until sunset and got a card full of great images, and probably plenty of Amber Bock. Last September Klaus and I happened upon each other at Fort DeSoto while I was vacationing there. He didn’t know I would be there and I didn’t know he was coming, but we both showed up at the “Sunrise Lagoon” at the same time and made a morning out of it. We were even called in to help a fisherman untangle a bird that had become snared in his fishing line. While the fisherman held the frightened bird, Klaus and I carefully untangled the line from his wings, then stepped back to photograph the release.
Klaus and Dan on the beaches of Fort DeSoto
My last shoot with Klaus was at Gatorland this past Spring. We literally had the place to ourselves and had a great time working the rookery. Klaus must have known all the employees there as everyone we passed would say hello to him and call him by name. This ability to make friends with anyone and everyone was what made Klaus special. It didn’t matter who you were, what you did, or if your photography was on par with his. If you met Klaus, you were instantly friends. Remembering this day at Gatorland brings back sad memories for me. During that day Klaus asked me to help him with doing nature walks at the Lake Louisa Naturefest in May. I told him I would make sure that date was available and get back to him. Little did I know how important that invitation would be for me.
Klaus on the boardwalk at Gatorland
A week or so after his invitation, I emailed Klaus and told him I could help him at Lake Louisa. I didn’t hear back from him for 2-3 weeks and learned later that shortly after I saw him at Gatorland last he had fallen very ill. Klaus never shared personal information with me and most of his friends, so I never learned exactly what was wrong with him. But he had stopped posting on Flickr and Facebook, so I knew something was up. When he finally responded to my email and gave me the information for the Naturefest, he explained he had been sick.
On the day of the Naturefest, Dan Kaufmann drove over from Tampa to pick up Klaus and we met at Lake Louisa for the nature walks. The plan was for Dan and I to conduct the nature walks and Klaus would go as far on the walks as his health would allow. When he got out of Dan’s truck, it was obvious he wasn’t going on the nature walks. He was much thinner, pale and could hardly catch his breath. While I was shocked to see just how sick he was, he told me he was doing much better. Dan and I did the nature walks while Klaus sat in the shade and made new friends. We had lunch together before heading back home. It would be the last time I would see him. We emailed each other a few times after that as I offered to take him grocery shopping, run errands or cut the grass if he needed help. He said he had all that covered and was feeling much better. In fact, he recently went on a photography outing with Scott Helfrich and Donnie and Connie Shackleford, so all indications were that he was getting better and would be back out at Circle B and Fort DeSoto when the cooler weather set in.
While I will never forget these outings and Klaus will hold a special place in my heart, it is a single email exchange that we had about 2 years ago that will be forever etched in my mind. I think I saved it and I’ll have to dig it out of the archives and review it, but it had to do with my photography. When you post an image on Flickr, your contacts will comment on it and most of the time the comment is a simple, short comment to let you know that they stopped by to see your work. On this particular day, Klaus wrote a comment that went far beyond the typical comment. He actually liked one of my images and wrote a couple of sentences as to why. At the time, this was a huge for me. I had been following Klaus’ work for a while and I had placed him in high regard based on the quality and composition of his images. To have someone I thought so highly of give me what I considered a glowing review was just fantastic. I wrote him a thank you for being so generous and told him I hoped that my work might someday be on par with his. He wrote back that he believed I was already there.
It was that kind of encouragement that made Klaus special to me and to dozens of others who called him friend. But it was also his big heart and his easy-going attitude that made him so popular. The photography world has lost a wonderful artist, but we have lost a tremendous friend. Klaus is now enjoying a perpetual “Golden Hour” scouting out the best photography spots in Heaven as he waits for the rest of us to join him. He and Van Hilliard are walking the beaches together in search of Yellow-crowned Night Herons and American Oystercatchers, and when our time comes to join him he’ll be ready to show us around. Hopefully by then he will have found his nemesis, the American Coot.
Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did. Rest well my friend.
