Workers for Schreiner’s Iris Gardens, north of Salem, harvest among colorful rows of blooming irises. Schreiner’s is a popular destination for flower lovers but is closed for the first time in the garden’s 95-year history due to the pandemic. Irises are still for sale by phone or online. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
