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Plate 7 - Calm Before the Storm

Plate 7 - Calm Before the Storm

SKU:SFP1012151

Story Behind the Art

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 Carthage, Illinois--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 laying 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.

About the Artist

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. My job, again, is only to press the shutter.

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 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 special photographs to the general public. I’ve partnered with Foundation Arts to do this and I’m excited to have my fine art photography hang in your homes and be in your lives.

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What is so special about these photographs I am 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 a surprise. 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.

Browse through these first 40 images. See which ones speak to your soul.

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