Ken Murphy was lying in a field somewhere in Arkansas when his cell phone rang. Hunkered down in tall grass waiting for the snow geese to fly, he was surprised a caller could reach him in the remote area where he was hunting with friends Sunday.

“I’ve never been goose hunting,” Murphy said, unable to check a little chuckle of satisfaction.

“Since Katrina, I take it one day at a time. I enjoy life as much as I can. Katrina slowed me down but it didn’t stop me.”

Katrina slowed him down, all right. The August 2005 storm that ravaged the Gulf Coast destroyed Murphy’s home, his photography studio and, as he said:

“Everything we had was totally destroyed, along with everything of my mother, brother, cousins and everybody I know.”

Bay St. Louis indeed did not fare well in the storm, and today Murphy lives with his family in two FEMA trailers in his hometown — not ideal, but with a few things for which to be thankful. The chance to go goose hunting is an example.

He also is thankful that he had packed his van before Katrina walloped the coast. “It is like a place that has been bombed out, and there still is nothing built back,” he said.

In his van were a few cameras and the materials for two books — the plates from his 2001 book, “My South Coast Home,” and the photographs to be used in his new book, “Mississippi.”

“That was what I took,” he said. “Everything else was gone.”

The 2001 edition of “Coast Home” was successful, selling out of the 8,600 copies printed. Hailed for its photographic excellence in capturing the physical and spiritual beauty of the coast, the book takes on even greater meaning today, as the pre-Katrina coast is no longer there for the camera to capture.

Reprinting the coast book was a natural thing to do. He was working on a new book, “Mississippi.” Why not put both books out at the same time, he said.

On Saturday, Murphy will be at Cover to Cover Books & More, 401 Main St., to sign both books, “My South Coast Home” and “Mississippi,” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Mississippi” required about five years to complete, and already he is working on the next volume, he said.

“‘Mississippi’ and ‘My South Coast Home’ are only the essence of the state,” Murphy said. “There is so much more to photograph.”

One of his aims in the book that includes all parts of the state was to “get across how diverse we are,” he said. “People don’t realize that some parts of the state look the way they do. I wanted people to see what Mississippi is and what it is not.”

The reprint of “My South Coast Home” has been popular, Murphy said. “It’s going great. Word is getting out.”

The coast photographs include dreamy sunsets over the gulf or bay; animal and plant life, from alligators and pelicans to irises and Cherokee rose; marshes and groves; houses and huts; and landmarks that may be saved only in photographic memory since the storm.

Murphy became interested in photography when he was in the Army and assigned to a photography lab open to military personnel and their families for recreational use.

He returned to Bay St. Louis from the Army, dabbled in a few jobs and finally went to the Rochester Institute of Photography in New York, where he received a degree in photography.

He worked for the former Coast magazine as a photographer and set up his own studio. With the growth of casinos on the coast in the 1990s, he turned to commercial photography as his primary work.

Creating books appeals to him now, he said. He has ideas for photo books that will take him far into the future.

“I hope these books will keep me going for a couple of years while I work on the next book. I have other books in mind,” he said.