Juan de Santa Anna Photography

Goal: Juan de Santa Anna defines photography as the magic of recording a moment that will never be again. He said, "It's a nostalgic art really. Everything becomes a moment that has passed." He sees his mission as "recording as much of now as I can" and sharing as many pictures as possible with people all over the world.

History: De Santa Anna's formal training in photography began in 1999 when he took a course at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography (RMSP) in Missoula. After he graduated, he was hired by RMSP to teach black-and-white darkroom developing to up to 120 students a session. During the four years he taught there, digital cameras overtook the film market. When Juan switched to digital, he found his darkroom grounding in concepts such as lighting and contrast gave him an advantage in knowing how to tweak those elements using photo-editing software. He said he really loves the process of taking and editing a photo.

De Santa Anna runs his photography business in partnership with his wife Randi. He said Randi is the one who turned it into a business. Randi said when Juan courted her in 2002 he showed her boxes and boxes of his photos. She told him, "You have to share these. They're so beautiful."

Products & Services: De Santa Anna shoots landscape and wildlife photography but he particularly enjoys doing portrait and event photography. He has done weddings, reunions, rodeos, cattle brandings, fishing trips and senior graduation portraits. He also teaches photography, does photo retouching and sells photo note cards and photo commercial products such as magnets and cutting boards.

Contact Info: De Santa Anna's photographs can be viewed in his studio by appointment; online at Bigguys.zenfolio.com; in the Grizzly Claw in Seeley Lake and at The Artists' Shop in downtown Missoula. He can be contacted at 406-531-3057 or 406-677-3057.