When general contractor Jason Moran saw his business burning out, he turned to a subject that flamed his interest - photography. Particularly shots taken from the brick hearth fireplace at his Saugus home, where Moran snaps up to 2,000 frames at a time on his Sony digital camera.

What start as flames morph into distinctive shapes, such as hands, hearts, flowers and faces. Moran whizzes through the extensive batch of images in about half an hour, clicking only on what immediately captures his interest.

"The faster, the better. If it doesn't pop out right away at me, then it probably won't for anyone else," Moran said.

Like a Rorschach test or watching clouds in the sky, however, interpretation of Moran's work is very subjective.

"Everyone sees something different than what I see," Moran said. "One person commented on a photo that it looked like a man embracing a woman. Others thought it was a lily."

Moran will show his work for the first time at the Santa Clarita Creative Guild's "Love is In the Air" event on Sunday, March 14, at the Hyatt Regency Valencia. Available online through the Fine Art America Web site, Moran's work starts at $50 for a framed 4"-by-6" and increases to $75-$100 for an unframed 8"-by-10" print.

"It's part of what I call the element series. I'm starting on water next, which opens up to lakes, faucets, waterfalls. I like to catch elements in their own state, which creates a different and unique perspective," Moran said.

Originally raised in Saugus where he attended Saugus High School, Moran left for Yosemite and construction jobs for more than a decade before being called back to the SCV in 2005 to help take care of his ailing parents.

He received his contractor's license in 2009 and found business to be slow - a kitchen remodel here, a bathroom addition there. "It's the economy, plus people tend to gravitate towards contractors that have been around for a long time," he said.

He picked up his camera for solace about five months ago, planning to supplement his income through stock image sales online. Moran thought shots of his brick hearth fireplace might be of interest to photo buyers, but quickly grew bored until he noticed the flames and set up shop on his hardwood floors, a tripod surrounded by blankets and pillows.

"I like the fact that it's so random. When I do capture an image, it can't ever be captured again. Believe me, I've tried," he said with a smile.

Sensing a market for his fiery images, Moran has contacted companies such as Duraflame and El Pollo Loco and has a heavy metal artist interested in possibly featuring his work on an upcoming album cover. For fun, he even sent George Lucas, a noted art collector, a letter and samples.

"I got a signed letter from his secretary saying that while the work was good, it isn't really the kind of art Lucas collects," Moran said.

Though his older brothers, both general contractors, scoff at Moran's new passion, he's found support from wife Carrie, an accountant and Saugus High graduate, and his father, David Moran of Saugus, who gave him the Sony camera and a high-end Canon with a powerful zoom lens so Moran can capture everything from a sleepy lion napping in the sun at the Los Angeles Zoo to a vivid yellow flower bursting with life against a dreary urban sky.

Turns out the shutter bug is in Moran's genes. His grandfather Douglas Moran, an engineer who worked on the space shuttle and lived in Simi Valley, was a talented amateur photographer. His accumulated work was so impressive that he was profiled by The Daily News in 1987. Douglas Moran passed away in 1994 and Moran has all his slides, as well as myriad cameras and accessories including darkroom equipment he hopes to use someday.

When Moran joined the Santa Clarita Artist's Association two months ago, he was told that his style was abstract, which is how his grandfather's work was described in the article.

"He is my biggest inspiration," Moran said. "His work is the mirror image of what I'd like to do."

Moran seems to be on the right path for that wish. One day while exploring in the San Francisquito Canyon area, a bent piece of wire caught his eye. He stopped to photograph it, intrigued by the way it cast a shadow against the road.

When Moran went rummaging through a folder of slides at his grandmother's house some months later, he found almost the exact same picture that Douglas Moran had taken of a wire casting shadow against sand. "That was wild," Moran said.

If he remains a passionate amateur like his grandfather, it's all right with Moran. He's not ruling out the possibility of becoming a professional artist someday, though.

"This whole thing is all new to me. I never thought I'd be doing this," Moran said. "I try to present that it could turn into a business, that something could happen, but I don't know if there's any money in this. That's why I still have my construction business."
For more information on Jason Moran, call (661) 713-0617, e-mail jason@jaydc.net or visit http://imagepro.photography.com/jasonscreations.