MESA, Ariz. — Being surrounded by women doesn't intimidate Mark Mabry at all.
After all, he grew up as the only boy with seven sisters.
So, even though his job as a presenter at Deseret Book's "Time Out for Women" events involves speaking well and connecting well on his feet, he doesn't mind.
"I love it," said the Mormon photographer who is probably best known for his work on the "Reflections of Christ" and "Another Testament" multimedia projects. "I'm strangely at home. My buddies are blown away."
This is Mabry's second go-around as a "Time Out" presenter. He's scheduled to speak in Indianapolis; Toronto; Atlanta; Portland, Ore.; and Plano, Texas.
Originally, he was asked to pinch-hit in 2009 for Merrilee Boyack in his hometown of Phoenix, where he found it challenging to speak before an audience that included former girlfriends.
"I'm thrilled to be asked back," he said.
Mabry said he finds the "Time Out" events vibrant and fun with an electricity that's inviting.
He shares some touching clips from the photo shoots of "Come Unto Me" taken in Honduras with the native people and Christ but keeps his speech more about real life than about "the making of" various projects.
His focus is on using imagination to make dreams come true, harking to the clips that show people accepting the actor portraying Christ as if he were Christ.
"To me it's the biggest exercise in imagination and isn't that what we're supposed to do when we take the sacrament and when we go to the temple?" he said.
"I get feedback that is kinda funny. If I took it wrong I could be offended," Mabry said, "People tell me it's nice to hear from just a regular guy because I'm totally a normal guy. It makes following their dreams totally doable, more realistic."
Mabry discusses the changes in his life that came about after he directed "Reflections" and "Testament," which basically put his testimony of Christ on public display.
"It was a huge lifestyle shift for me," he said. "You put your testimony out there. It definitely pins you to it."
Mabry said ironically his appearances as a presenter have hurt his career as a photographer. People think he's done with that part of his life.
But the name recognition has brought him a couple of projects that include a movie, a couple of books and a Founding Fathers film. He's also planning on returning to school.
At home in the Val Vista LDS Ward, he's the priest quorum adviser, a husband and father of three.
"They're my first favorite audience, young adult males," he said. "Women are my second."
e-mail: haddoc@desnews.com