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Josef Scaylea, 91; Known for Photos of the Pacific Northwest

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Josef Scaylea, 91, an award-winning photographer best known for his stirring portraits of Mount Rainier and other Pacific Northwest scenes, died Monday of natural causes in Seattle.

Scaylea was a photographer for 35 years at the Seattle Times. He was West Coast Photographer of the Year 12 times and was named one of the top 10 press photographers in the nation seven years in a row by the National Press Photographers Assn. His photos have appeared in national publications, including Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Life magazines.

The son of Italian immigrants, Scaylea grew up in Connecticut where he spent many hours just watching clouds. He attended photography school in New York and shot aerial battles in the Pacific for the Army Air Forces during World War II.

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He published “Moods of the Mountain,” a collection of photos of Mount Rainier, in 1981. One of his most famous photographs shows the Blue Angels flying in formation with Mount Rainier in the background.

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