(A thanks to Suzanne for the great picture of me)

Mormon Artist

The magazine Mormon Artist has done an interview of me this month.

Read Article Online Here
Even better: Download the beautifully laid out PDF

(Or full magazine PDF)

On another note the founder of magazine is an amazing person, one of the most talented and intelligent people I’ve ever known, follow him on twitter @bencrowder
What a Wonderful project he has taken on himself to produce. Thanks Ben for your contribution to the arts and the LDS community.

The Interview

They don’t mess around it’s 10 pages including the 20 pictures they used, big and small.
I talked a lot because I had an 8 hour drive from San Diego to Vegas and I had nothing else to do so I talked for like 90 minutes, I wondered how they’d cut it down: Answer… Use most of it

Yes of course I’m happy for the exposure, it’ll be fun.
My favorite part of photography is seeing people happy about my work.

The Way I see it

As we all know I love sharing things I’ve learned, hoping that it helps others or at least speeds up the time it took them.

I think there are a few questions I answered that could help anyone going down the photography road.

So I hope that beyond exposure that YOU learn from things I’ve shared.
I have written a history of how I got into photography already on my site, this article takes a little different spin.

BEST THREE LINES

I’m the type of person who is crazy enough to agree to take on a wedding, never having done one.

How has the gospel influenced your work as a photographer and also as a teacher of photography?

I like to try to do everything in a principled-based approach. I don’t believe in just saying: “It’s good business.” I think that’s a cop-out and it can be very destructive when someone excuses themselves with “I think it’s good business.” Almost all these principles I learned at church, through the interpretation of the scriptures, or from church leaders. Where we learn that the purpose of life is not to get more money but that we’re supposed to help others, we learn the value of real education. It’s not about a piece of paper that says you’re educated. It’s about really gaining light and knowledge, and at the same time, expanding our talents. It teaches us that we shouldn’t hide our talents but we should share them, and that they should be beneficial to other people. We don’t always need to prostitute our skills; we can just share them and give them to other people.

What are your plans for the future?

I see myself doing a lot of education. And I see myself almost completely doing Envision the World project work. And having a family, and you know, enduring to the end, and living happily ever after.