Keith Munyan - Self-educated Photographer

Self-educated Photographer

Munyan is self-educated as a photographer. His experience as a model helped him to make the transition because while he was being photographed over the years, he "listened a lot regarding lighting and shooting. I found it easier for me because I enjoyed working with people." Munyan described patience as "the key to photography. Don't rush." He indicated that he is innovative and will "try anything, because I'm not always right. . . . "

Munyan once photographed Beth Broderick, who played Aunt Zelda on ABC's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The program used all of his photographs, and the assignment led to new clients: Jessica Simpson, Cindy Crawford, Hilary Duff, Carmen Electra, Rachel Melvin of NBC's Days of our Lives, and Kelly Clarkson. In photographs of Melvin for Agenda magazine, Munyan used dead yucca trees that he had procured from his own property. Often he finds that various kinds of wood enhance the photographs.

Munyan said that proper lighting is essential to good photographs: "I've learned how to adjust my lighting around my clients. I figure out how to make it hotter, warmer, darker, depending on their skin tones, their hair, their makeup. . . . "