Spotlight Sunday: Megan Kunz

One of my favorite LDS etsy shops is from Megan Kunz. I love her pictures of the temples.

Facebook account: Light to the World LDS Temple Photography
Etsy: lighttotheworld.etsy.com
BLOGS: megankunzphotography.blogspot.com (not purely temple photography)

Questions:

How did you get started on Etsy?

It might sound a bit cheesy, but I got started on Etsy because I was tired of going into LDS bookstores and seeing temple prints on sale for $400. I certainly don’t have that kind of money (although I can dream haha) and I think a lot of others are in the same boat so I wanted to use my talents to provide an alternative to uber-expensive temple photos.


Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Megan Kunz. I am a married mother of one and I have been LDS all my life. My roots are in Colorado , but a certain large LDS university brought me out to Utah and after about 5 years here my husband, daughter and I will be moving to Texas so my husband can complete his PhD in physics. I started doing wedding and family photography about 2 years ago and just barely began doing temple photography a few months ago. I think I’ll use my new venture as an excuse to travel the globe… gotta get all those temple pictures;)


Apart from creating things, what do you do?

Right now my world is run by my baby girl!:) I love being a mom so no complaints here though. I also love to travel, I attempt to cook and I am still finishing my college degree… slowly but surely.


What first made you want to become an artist?

I have always looked at life through a lens. I frame scenes up in my mind everywhere I go. My husband decided to surprise me one day with a new camera and things just sort of progressed from there!



How do you promote your work?

I have a Facebook account and I have a blog. The blog is more of a family/wedding photography centered blog, but I do post my temple photos there as well.


Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.

Ok I can’t think a top five for each of these, but a few that come to mind are: moo.com (awesome business cards), mytartlette.com (I can never make her recipes work for me but they always look amazing), The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (I can only think of children’s books right now and my baby reminds me very much of the hungry caterpillar!) and my favorite movies that have just come out would be The Blind Side and Sherlock Holmes.



How does your faith influence your work on Etsy?

Well my work on Etsy is all about LDS temples! I love having the opportunity to see so many temples and feel the spirit there. I have always wanted to do something good with my talents and I feel like temple photography is one way that I can share the beauty of temples with the world.


What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Spend a little time in the forums… it gets people to at least look at your shop and you’ll get lots of good advice. Find your ideal market and do all you can to advertise for free!


What is your favorite item from your shop?

My favorite item from my shop is the Spires Upward print. I love the vintage feel and I think it’s a unique look for the Salt Lake temple:

What are your top five favorite shops on etsy?

Five favorites? It’s hard to narrow it down but I think these would have to be the winners:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Elephannie

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBobbinsNest

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nextdoortoheaven

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GalerieAnais

http://www.etsy.com/shop/flowersbybluebird


How has selling on etsy changed your life?

My family’s budget will be tight to say the least as my husband goes through grad school so I feel like photography is a blessing to us in that I can be home with my baby but still help out a bit with the finances. My eyes have been opened to all the amazing artists out there and I spend waaay too much time browsing through all the fun things on Etsy!



Thanks!

Megan Kunz