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Over the years I’ve had hundreds of requests for people to use my photography—for their homes, for their offices, for special gifts, for youth programs, for outdoor pageants, for the Church History Museum and even for the Church’s official publication of the scriptures.
I am happy, now, to offer a limited number of stunning photographs to the general public. I’ve partnered with Foundation Arts and I’m excited to have my fine-art photography hang in your homes and be in your lives. And, of course, this is the perfect season to give these as gifts.
Let me give you a little background then I’ll show you some of the images.
My Background as a Photographer
When people ask me how long I have been a photographer, I tell them that I grew up with a camera in my hands. My Dad was a geologist and always had a camera with him, and he was very generous in letting me use it. My instincts were to see images everywhere that I just had to shoot.
I’ve never thought my part of capturing photographs was hard. My job, as I’ve always said, is to press the shutter. That’s all. The Lord paints the picture. He brings in the weather. He is the maker of the sun, the moon and the stars and all of nature. He alone can bring in clouds and angles of light. He alone can bring rain or sun. He really does all the work. All I have to do is to have eyes to see.
What is so special about these photographs I am now offering?
I’ve gone out of my way to try to capture stunning, even spectacular photographs—images that stand alone as beautiful and worthy to hang in your home. But there’s more to each image than meets the eye. My goal is to capture the beauty of the location but then tell the story behind that location and reveal what is usually a spiritual surprise. That remarkable sky over a dirt road is actually the martyrdom trail where Joseph and Hyrum rode to Carthage. That man who plays the role of Jesus is actually from Nazareth himself—and is the appropriate age.
I want you to have stories to tell in your homes and to your families and associates. I want your children and grandchildren to grow up knowing these significant and moving stories and when they see those images, those ideas jump immediately to their minds.
For example, I have a stunning image of a dirt road in a very rural setting shot in the early morning. Now read my description of this image:
Click on this image then scroll down to see options for purchase.
“I had prayed about this shot for days. The weather had been too good.
“Perfect skies don’t communicate what I wanted to capture in this sacred scene, for this is the half-way point on the road to the Carthage Jail. This is the Martyrdom Trail.
“I only had one day left in my schedule. Then, some residual moisture blew in from the east on this morning and I drove out to my pre-scouted spot to set up.
“I pulled the tripod legs out wide so the camera was only six inches off the very dirt by where Joseph and Hyrum rode their horses. Everything started coming together. The sunlight came beaming through the soybean field to the east and the weeds on the trail began to have that perfect morning glow.
“Joseph said on that fateful day, ‘I’m going like a lamb to the slaughter but I’m as calm as a summer’s morning.’
“As I was lying in the dirt pressing the shutter and pulling focus over and over again, I knew this scene was a gift. It was the answer to my many prayers. I could not stop crying.”
I know you’ll love this image I’ve entitled “The Lost is Found.” This is no ordinary setting and this is no ordinary person. Here is the description I’ve written for this image:
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“My wife and I hired a cast of natives in Israel to depict some scenes from the life of the Savior. We so wanted to capture the feeling from Luke Chapter 15: ‘What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?’
“We were very familiar with this verse but as we were shooting I noticed two things from the story: 1) The Lord refers to a sheep, not a lamb, and 2) He doesn’t hold it to His bosom, as we might imagine, he lays it on His shoulders. ‘And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.’
“I loved how the Shepherd in the scriptural account could not contain His rejoicing: ‘And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.’
“This was a very difficult shot. Adult sheep are very heavy and want to get away from a stranger at all costs. It took four strong men to get the sheep up onto the man playing the part of Jesus. Our direction was simply, “Show us how you think the Lord would have felt bringing one back who was lost.”
“Our amazing actor here is 28 years old and he was born and raised in Nazareth right near where this image was taken.”
The Fine Art Photograph Offerings
As you go and see these beautiful images, please scroll down and see the various sizes I have cropped: 5 x 7; 8 x 10; 11 x 14; 16 x 20; 12 x 18; 16 x 24; 20 x 30; 24 x 36; 15 x 30 and 18 x 36. There’s a size that will fit whatever setting you have.
And with the amazing folks at Foundation Arts we offer this in open edition prints or (with the larger sizes) in open edition giclée on canvas. This is fine art with deep meaning for your home and your heritage.
Here’s an amazing image taken in the Peter and Mary Whitmer home in Fayette, New York. This image helped us raise our children on the scriptures. Read my description:
Click on this image then scroll down to see options for purchase.
“Daily scripture study has always been critically important to me and I love antique copies of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I have numbers of photos of the scriptures in various significant sites.
“Here in the window of the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York I saw this beautiful scene. This framed photo hung in our home for many years and was in the constant view of our children.
“From this small New York cabin missionary work began through the journey of Joseph’s brother, Samuel. His job was to sell copies of the recently published Book of Mormon (just like the one on the left). He was rejected at a number of places and was thrown out of a public tavern for preaching.
“He finally found one man, a Methodist circuit preacher, John Greene, who had enough interest in retaining a copy to see if anyone he found might buy it. Not much success for Samuel!
“John’s wife, Rhoda, read the book and became convinced of its truthfulness. She shared it with her brother, Phineas, who in turn shared it with his brother, Brigham Young who shared it with his sister, Fanny Murray, who shared it with her daughter Vilate, who in turn shared it with her husband, Heber C. Kimball. From that first mission of Samuel, we know of numerous people who joined the Church including one who would later lead it for 33 years.”
Imagine the kind of influence this could have on your grandchildren who are being raised in a toxic world. I want to shore them up as best I can. This picture can help in that shoring up process.
This is one of my favorite photographs. I think you will love it. Here is the back-story I wrote for this image:
Click on this image then scroll down to see options for purchase.
“This is a photograph I’ve been trying to take for many years.
“I have the blessing of going to the Sacred Grove almost every year. My first visit was in 1969. I have walked the 10 acres that has been preserved as ‘The Sacred Grove’ in about every direction, in every season, in every kind of weather.
“I am always looking for the perfect shot. One day, many years ago, the light, humidity and moisture all collided in such a way as to give me a series of pictures that I was able to put into a children’s book we published called, ‘A Day Like No Other.’ Those photos were all a gift.
“But with all that in mind, and having published numerous other photos from the Sacred Grove over the years, I never quite captured the moment between when Joseph was nearly destroyed by the adversary and when the pillar of light descended gradually until it fell upon him.
“During a recent visit with my camera, I saw this very large tree that had toppled since my last visit. I was mourning the loss of such a monolith and I knelt down by the former base of the tree. I looked to the east along the path of the tree and the sun began to burst, filling the scene with light from the darkness of the death of this tree to the sunbeams gleaming above my head. It was that moment I had always been looking for: Suddenly a light descended!
“I knew that this, too, was a gift.”
I would love to have you come and see the galleries I have just opened. I have 36 more images including some from sacred Church History sites and some from the Holy Land. I have beautiful images from England and from Mesoamerica.
You can get them just as prints and then frame them yourself. You can put the frames on the pictures and see what they look like right there in the online gallery and then have them framed by Foundation Arts and shipped right to your home or office.
Come and browse through these first 40 images. See which ones speak to your soul.
Patricia OakesDecember 15, 2016
I'm looking for a big photo of MT. Timpanogos
LarryDecember 7, 2016
When will the 2nd Century Edition of Talmage's Jesus the Christ be available?