Our next guest is an award-winning portrait photographer from Texas – Caroline Mueller.

Caroline is a Digital Portrait Photographer – dealing with images in both color and black and white. Although she can shoot film on request (color or black & white), she prefers shooting portraits with the latest technology and high-resolution digital images.

PG: Caroline, tell us about your education.

Caroline:  My love for photography began as a child. From my youth, I was taught by my grandfather, a skilled amateur photographer who was interested in photography as art and a hobby, and he enjoyed the time spent working in his darkroom. As he taught me along the way, he stressed the importance of lighting and early emphasized to me the grammar of perspective, form, shape, line, and structure. I was fascinated with the camera’s ability to capture a moment that would last for a lifetime.

Later I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with a Concentration in Photography from The Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. It was there at SMU that I studied with photographers Charles DeBus, Debra Hunter, and others.

PG: And what are your achievements in photograohy so far?

Caroline:

• Designed and Produced Group Portfolio, The Portrait: In Memory of All Those We Shot.
• Sphere of Continuity (Grand Prize Winner), On Permanent Display at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
• Wrote and published book: A Collection of Statements, Comments, Images.
• Photographer, Independent Film: T’d Off

PG: What is your equipment?

Caroline: I prefer to shoot with a Nikon 7D00. My studio is located in Dallas, Texas, but we will bring photographic equipment and shoot on location for Corporate Executive Portraits, Bridal & Wedding Photography, Modeling & Fashion Shoots, Actor & Actress Headshot Sessions and Band Promo Shots.

PG: Have you done any traveling?

Caroline:

• Visionary Group: Dakar, Senegal, Africa
• Amazon Jungle, Puerto Alegria, Peru
• New Zealand
• Mexico

PG: Photographers who inspired you?

Caroline: I was influenced by photographers Michael Kenna, Steve McCurry, Annie Leibowitz, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams (a friend and mentor of my professor, Charles DeBus), Albert Renger-Patzsch, and also by my late father, Herbert Clem Mueller, M.D.

PG: What is photography to you and why do you enjoy it?

Caroline: My portraits have a photojournalistic feel. My passion is getting to know people and their stories with my camera: the icebreaker and magical tool. I truly care about my clients and appreciate the value that they add to my own life. The gift that I strive to give back to my clients is a photograph that captures their essence. Using Photography as a means to capture the world around us has always been natural to me. I bring together my passions for people and photography, focusing on portraits.

The camera does not lie. My love for photojournalism is evident – and for telling the stories that I see – of either the amazing beauty in nature, of families, of children, of the drifter, of the lonely . . . or in giving us a glimpse of the pain and suffering that comes though poverty, oppression, disaster, or loss. I develop a keen eye for capturing images in the natural setting.

My website is dedicated in memory of my father, Dr. Herbert Clem Mueller, who was taken into the presence of the Lord on Sunday, May 25, 2008, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. To read more of Dr. Mueller’s life, faith, and courageous battle with cancer and his legacy, please see the website his family created: www.PrayerAvailsMuch.com

PG: Thank you very much for your interview, Caroline, and good luck!

You can see more works by Caroline Mueller here: www.CarolineMuellerPhotography.com