Steven J. Mueller was born December 7, 1964, near San Francisco, California. His first serious camera was a neighbor’s Nikon F, which was always at hand during his stint on the editorial staff of his eighth-grade year book.  In 1988, after a long spell of personal introspection, he worked in the Soviet Union on a documentary film depicting the diverse regional arts and cultures. 

Steven resolved that his career must involve art and technology.  He transferred into the Applied Art and Design Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and began to excel.  He won first place in an advertisement contest for Selectware Corporation.  He was selected as Cal Poly’s Photojournalist of the Year, and as photographer for the University’s solar-powered cross-country car race.   

Following graduation in 1993, New York City became his destination of choice for extending his experience in photography.  Steven assisted many different photographers, and garnered a large collection of New York images.  He became fascinated with country-western music and dancing and parlayed his interest into a job where he photographed Johnny Cash for the February 1997 cover story for New Country Magazine.

Steven always knew he would return to the West.  He had a love for the desert which arose with a trip to the Grand Canyon with his Grandparents when he was four, and strengthened during a raft trip down the Colorado River when he was twelve.  The West was now in his blood.  After a trip into the great southwestern desert where he watched a full moon rise to create a rainbow in a distant night storm, Steven became a fine art landscape photographer.  He had captured the feeling of being there on film.  The image is a favorite of his and of any who hear him tell the story of its creation.  Steven is committed to capture the grand scale beauty of the earth we all share, and his detailed images convey a sense of discovery and awe.  He has created poetic expressions to accompany some of his photographs.  With poetry or in silence, it is a feeling captured.