Hi everyone! I'm McCaslin Zilles, the owner of MCZPhotography. I found my love for photography at a young age. I've had so many life experiences as well that have made me realize the importance of photographs. They can capture a moment in time and after the moment is gone it can continually bring you back to that moment.

 

Now a little more about my background. I grew up in a small town in Idaho. When I was in Jr. High I discovered my love for photography after taking a class. In high school I continued to learn about photography by taking more classes and joining the yearbook staff. During my senior year of high school and the year after I graduated high school I had several friends reach out to me wanting family photos and senior photos. That is when I found my love for photographing people. After I found my love for photographing people I wanted to pursue that path but never really knew how, until just recently. 

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After I graduated High school I worked for as a hotel housekeeper for about two years until I decided to serve an LDS mission. I served in Albuquerque, New Mexico for about six months when I was suddenly sent home because of Covid-19. I was home for about two weeks when my mom was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Over then next three months I watched cancer take her from this life.

 

After my mother passed away I had to find who I was again. She was my rock and the person who kept me going and suddenly she was gone. After months of counseling and self reflection I had remembered some of my mother's last words to me. Those being "Go do something with your life." I chose to start college at Brigham Young University Idaho. That is were I found my love again for photography. I took several classes there to pursue my photography dreams. I graduated after two years my general associates degree. After doing that I transferred to Utah State University to further my education. 

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Sometime when I started my schooling at BYU-I, I also the Mutual dating app. It let to a lot of disappointing first dates. Finally after many disappointing first dates I had one decent one that led to a couple more dates. However, after a few dates with this guy I realized he was not who I wanted. I went home after our last date with each other thinking I would never find love. I went on my dating app that night and was swiping away on all these guys without even looking into their profiles more because I was so frustrated. One guy popped up and I about swiped away on him as well, and something stopped me in my tracks. I went on and looked at his profile to find that he served his mission at the same place I did. I did not recognize him but was curious and sent him a message. To my surprise he messaged back!

 

Over the next several days we kept sending messages until he asked me on a date. Well, needless to say, that was the first of many. We fell in love very quickly and knew from early on that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. After dating for about two months he proposed to me and then about three and a half months after that we were married. He is the absolute love of my life and we are still as happy as ever. In August we also welcomed our baby girl, Olivia, into the world. We also just got two puppies in October. They are Lab/German Short Hair Mix; we named them Ron and Morgan. 

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When I'm not photographing I'm spending time with my husband and daughter. We love going camping, fishing, shooting, and off-roading. We also enjoy cuddling up on the couch, binge watching our T.V. shows, and snacking. Some other things I enjoy doing are cleaning, doing puzzles, and crafting.