Bryan Haynes/The Gazette Since retiring last year, Frieda Weise of Laurel has been able to pursue her hobby of photographing nature.

Her work has not only fulfilled her personally, but helped out some local businesses that decided to sell the notecards she creates from her photographs.

"It's very nice to have the work of a local craftsperson," said Elsie Klumpner, director of the Laurel Museum, whose gift shop sells the notecards. Weise has also volunteered time in taking photographs for the current exhibit, "Postcards from Laurel," and of the museum itself.

Weise's notecards also sell at The Rose Cottage on Main Street, and at shops in Silver Spring and Annapolis.

But she considers herself a "serious amateur," who enjoys her subject matter more than the technical aspects of fine art photography.

"I like to look at something and see whether I can capture the essence of something," she said.

Old photos of her family from Germany fueled Weise's childhood love of photography. While in her 20s, she got her first camera, a Kodak Starmatic. She moved to Laurel in 1991, and retired in 2004 after 20 years as the director of the Health Sciences Library at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

For much of her working life, she said, she took "vacation pictures," but when she started thinking about retirement, she joined the Bowie-Crofton Camera Club, a group that nurtures photographic interest with monthly competitions and regional affiliations with other groups.

As a club member, Weise was awarded the Novice Nature Trophy for 2004, awarded to the maker of the best nature image by a novice photographer.

"Frieda is a strong competitor," said Scott Swanson, vice president of competition for the club. "Her images are well-regarded by the judges, and have won several ribbons over the years."

The print she won with, "Flaming Leaves," is an image of flame-shaped, fiery leaves taken in the fall of 2003 at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, for which she initially won first place among 61 entries in April 2004 in the novice color prints category.

She also took second and third place out of 22 advanced slide entries in October, and honorable mentions in slide and print competitions in November and February.

Weise is particularly happy about the nature trophy because she loves shooting natural subjects. Many of her images show single blossoms or leaves in close-up detail, with backgrounds blurred almost to the point of abstraction. But she also has scenic shots, as well as two other favorite subjects, cats and barns, particularly old barns in southern Maryland or Pennsylvania.

She loves slide film ­ "what you see is what you get," she said ­ but switched to digital photography about a year ago.

"I think it's very seductive because you have an instant gratification when you see your picture," she said. "That's the thing about it that hooks you."

E-mail Ayesha Ahmad at aahmad@gazette.net.