By Ken Levy
She would hit the road before 3 a.m., but she was already wide awake hours before, eagerly anticipating her next photographic adventure. She knew the ugly light of midday would provide ample nap time.
Furthermore, she drove in the dark for the next four hours, wondering where she would be when daylight started to creep up on the landscape. This time, she let her intuition guide her.
South of Winchester, she could see a touch of pink start to color the clouds where the sun would rise. All she needed was an ideal subject. She left the highway and started wandering the back roads.
After a few turns to get away from power lines paralleling the road, the photographer found it: an old windmill in a field of ripening wheat.
With little time to spare, she grabbed her camera and tripod. In these low light situations, and for the longer shutter speeds needed to capture large depth of field, a tripod was essential.
Ready to go, she waited as the color intensified in the sky. Her composition would offset the windmill from the center for visual appeal. It was a beautiful and ideal photograph.
Even though she was satisfied with it, she knew if she moved quickly, she could find another subject to photograph before the light changed. But the pressure was off. She had her first shot of the trip, and she knew this was going to be a good journey.
Fine art landscape photographer Linda Lantzy has repeated variations of this scenario over more than 10 zealous years, capturing and creating powerful renditions of Idaho’s most enthralling landscapes. She’s photographed the beauty of the Gem State exhaustively, logging about 200,000 miles (ca. 321,869 km) of chasing the light and capturing the most beautifully lit scenes imaginable.
“With every spare moment I can muster, I head out with my camera gear and my 4-wheel drive into Idaho’s least-spoiled places,” she said.
Her photographic prowess has manifested into publishing six photography books, including two she curated to include other top Idaho landscape shooters. The latest, “Incredible Idaho: Exploring majestic landscapes and native wildlife,” is a collaboration of 31 Idaho photographers including herself, presenting their images in a coffee-table style book of photographs. It was released in August.
Her guidebook for sightseers and photographers, “Discovering Idaho’s Scenic Drives and Back road Treasures,” first published in 2019, is in its second printing. The book was a collaboration with fellow photographer Shari Hart.
Like most photographers, she said, “I’ve always wanted to produce a book of my work, one that appeals to a large audience. The idea just evolved from there to become a photographers’ guide to help others see what I have seen and share the locations of photographic interest in our great state. As I drive its back roads in solitude, the new routes and photographic finds I make inspire me.”
She took that inspiration further when she curated a collection of old barn photographs, including her own, for her book “Barns of Idaho: Sentinels of Yesteryear,” published in January 2021. She also published “Coeur d’Alene: Heart of it All,” a photographic tribute to her hometown, that year. In July 2022 she released her photographic memoir, “Idaho: Home of My Heart,” which recounts, in unique imagery and intimate storytelling, her travels to capture the magnificence of the Gem State.
While her intuition for finding a memorable scene to photograph works well for her, Linda also meticulously plans and times many of her shoots to arrive at ideal locations at optimum light. She leaves plenty of time for photos en route, and can find perfect compositions in a heartbeat.
“I know it when I see it,” she said. “I’m looking for foreground elements, lines, patterns and seeing in my mind how I want things to line up with other elements I will include, such as the sky or the moon or sun. I’ve jokingly been called the fastest photographer in the west. I usually know exactly how I want to compose a scene before I’m even out of my vehicle. At times this leaves my friends in frustration as they are still looking at the opportunities and I have already finished.”
She takes great joy in putting on a beautiful display of her photographic art during the Coeur d’Alene Artist Studio Tour and at all of the many art events she’s been juried into over the years, such as Art in the Park in Boise, and “getting to see and visit with people who appreciate my work, and see people react to my art.”
Those people are among many who sign up for her landscape photography workshops into little-known back road locations.
“I love taking a small group of folks on my photography tours,” she said. “When you can answer their questions and see the comprehension in their eyes; when the weather and light cooperate, and you get the group to an amazing spot at the right time, and see them be happy with their images, that is immensely satisfying.”
Her work is well appreciated over a wide spectrum. She founded Idaho Scenic Images (idahoscenics.com) in 2006, where she offers myriad photographic images and products, including her books, calendars, and workshops. Her clients include doctors’ offices and hospitals, public and private collections and more. Linda was selected as Artist in Residence for the Idaho State Parks in 2015 and for the Idaho Conservation League in 2017.
“I still have one major unaccomplished goal, but I feel like I would be jinxing myself if I said it, so for now that will remain my little secret.” ISI
