About Soft Shadows Art Photography

Gary Steiner knew he was in trouble. His social studies teacher—whom his classmates had nicknamed "the walrus"—had just caught him drawing the teacher's cartoon likeness with an exaggerated handlebar mustache and buckteeth. Instead of punishing him, however, the teacher offered him a job drawing caricatures for the Arizona State Senate. His childhood desire to sketch everything he saw had finally paid off. It was this desire that led Gary to eventually pick up a camera and fully realize what he calls "the ability to produce in print that which the eye envisions."

Over the last 15 years, Gary has done just that, toting his camera to fashion shows, weddings, and studio shoots where he immortalizes his subjects in clean, editorial-style images that have appeared in Arizona Foothills Magazine. His close-up portraits experiment with color contrast and saturation, ranging from stark, black-and-white face shots to softly colored full-length poses of women and children. His experience with boudoir and fine-art photography has allowed him to capture the beauty of the nude female form in intimate maternity shoots or in lingerie shots that incorporate candid poses and unconventional angles. Aside from having his boudoir work showcased in the Raintree/Northsight location of Fascinations, Gary's accomplishments include being able to spell daguerreotype from memory.