Patience is the key to photography for Karen Schmoll, winner of the scenic category in the Valley Record’s ninth annual reader photography contest.

Now, the hobby photographer says, people who know her don’t think she has a lot of that particular quality, “but apparently photos have helped me with patience.”

Her sunset photo of the Tolt bridge at Carnation is a good example of the patience she’s learned. The river reflects the golden sunset, while the blue sky is cut by an airplane’s vapor trail, in a shot that took patience, and timing, to capture

“I watched the airplane for a while, and I just kept looking over my shoulder,” she said. “It was a weeknight and we just happened to be out toodling around the Tolt — it’s really a fun place, I take my 8-year-old there because you can fish and get down to the river really easily.”

Schmoll is a 1991 graduate of Mount Si High School, where she took her first photography class.

“We actually did the film developing and everything,” she said. “That’s where I got the bug, and then my parents got me a fancy camera for graduation.”

She’s been snapping ever since and upgrading cameras, to the Canon EOS Rebel 7 she uses today. Most of the time, she said, she’s taking photos of her and her friends’ children, but she also really enjoys taking scenic photos, especially when they are meaningful to her.

Another photo she submitted, eliminated in the final round, is of a red barn, surrounded by apple trees, on her property in Snoqualmie.

“The barn means a lot to me,” she said. “I’m trying to get it on the King County historic barn register.”

Scenic photos also have one big advantage over her people shots, she said. “You don’t have to worry if the person is going to smile!”

Follow Schmoll on Instagram at fotosbykms.

Coming in a close second in the scenic category was Mahvish Ali’s unusual view of Mount Si in clouds, shadows and spring blossoms, taken from Si View Park. Larry White took third place in the category with his slanting-light photo of an old bicycle stashed in a back yard. Look closely and you’ll discover it’s actually a bicycle built for two.

See all of the photo contest entries in our Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskyBgkD7.