About Bill Denton Photography.

Thanks for visiting my photography website. Feel free to browse the portfolio photos, read the blog, or contact me if I can work with you to make some beautiful photographs. Allow me to tell you a bit about myself and my photography.

The first camera I remember using belonged to my parents. I remember it as a small wooden box. About all I knew was that you had to put some film in it, and you read the number of the photo in a little round red window on the back. I knew it had a lens, and a button on top that you pushed to take a photo. It was very mysterious to a small boy, but the black and white photos were always fun, mostly because every picture was of somebody in my family!

In my teen years, we started using small throw-away cameras, or little cheap cameras with those odd flashcubes that you put on top. They were easy, fun, and I took lots of photos with them.

At the age of 19, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and my first duty assignment was in Germany. I bought my first “real” camera there, a Minolta SRT 101, a great little 35mm camera, and I started shooting tons of 35mm slides. That’s when the photography bug first bit me quite hard. I moved on to another Minolta a few years later and continued shooting places where I was stationed (Germany, Thailand, and Japan). I still have many of those slides.

Eventually, life got busy and photography became a very casual thing, mostly taking photos of our children, family gatherings, and sometimes capturing the scenes where we lived. I had already developed a love for Black and White photography because that’s where I started. It seemed more natural to me Years went by, and finally, digital cameras began to be viable options so I ended up with a couple of Kodak cameras. I still have both and they still take good photos, although very much lower resolution, and with many limitations compared to more modern cameras. Then I took the plunge and again bought my first “real” digital camera, a Nikon D3300. That’s almost at the bottom of the Nikon line, but it was a great camera, and still is. One of my granddaughters inherited that camera and continues to shoot with it. I moved to a Nikon D7200 and began to invest in better lenses. Then moved again to a full-frame Nikon D610 and then a D750. Those are the two cameras I still work with. Although there are several newer Nikons out now (and some very interesting other brands), these two remain faithful workhorses for me, so I feel that I’m good, camera wise, for a good while.

I have tried my hand and several different kinds of photography. I went from a tourist-shooter, to street photographer, tried out landscapes, and I’ve shot what amounts to documentary and/or editorial photography. I still shoot a lot of those kinds of photos. About seven or eight years ago, I got heavily involved in portraiture. I love taking photos of people, and I often incorporate that old love for Black and White into my portrait work. You can see some of those in my portfolio.

I’d love to take your photo, if you’d allow me! I’m serious. I find shooting photos of people to be one of the hardest forms of photography, and yet one of the most rewarding.

Of course, with digital photography comes the need to learn how to edit photos. Today’s darkroom is actually on a computer. So, I’ve learned Lightroom (now Classic), Photoshop, and a few others that I use regularly. In recent years, I’ve even begun to teach photo editing, so if I can help anyone learn how to use the available tools to edit your digital photos, I’d be happy to help.

I hope this gives you a little insight into my journey as a photographer. Of course, I’ve learned from many well-known photographers. Ansel Adams, in the early 1970s, fed my desire to understand photography and how to create beautiful Black and White images. I’ve tried to read books, look at what popular or accomplished photographers were producing, and learning from my friends who share a great love for the art.

If I can help you in any way, please contact me. If you want to learn photography, I can help you do that. If you want someone to take your photo, I can do that. If you want to know how to edit using computer tools, I’m up for that too. While I can’t do it all for free, I will say that I’m confident you’ll spend much less money using my services than with most others.

So. . . how can I help you? Send me a message and let’s get to work