Biography

Dennis Jones

Arcadia, Oklahoma

40+ years Photography Experience

Nikon D2X and Nikon Lenses are current choice of photographic gear

I started learning about photography my last two years of high school. After a year of college, I joined the  US Army and was trained as a darkroom lab tech/photographer where I learned to use many types of cameras and films. (aerial film, 4 x 5, 2.25, and 35 mm)

After three years in the army, got out and spent 6 months in an Olan Mills portrait studio, cramming 7 sittings an hour that ruined the spirit for 11 years.

Started using digital with my job in telecommunications systems design. I've enjoyed watching the digital cameras mature... My job allows me to travel the United States, photographing the landscapes and looking for the angle that others don't see.

We've moved to the rural area near OKC - - Arcadia, Oklahoma - - 10 acres of Crosstimbers Forest - - hopefully we'll see and photograph more of the native wildlife and plants. Hope to retire one of these days photographing the outdoors and my wife drawing the photographs with color pencils and ink.

As you'll see in my photographs, Ansel Adams made a huge impact early with me.... Not having the big format cameras he used will always make it impossible to replicate the quality of his works... But I try.

I will always be in the learning mode.

Amazing how the new and old are alike. Dodging, burning-in, color correction, saturation and tone adjustments...Old darkroom and this newfangled digital darkroom are the same...You have to learn how to use the tools.

 I learned to use the web and the information it provides to discover different techniques and skills to improve my photography and digital darkroom skills. Using different layers and creating your own custom actions in Photoshop has taken my darkroom skills to levels I could only dream of back 40 years ago.

After the birth of my first grandchild, my skill set was elevated to a higher level documenting her growth. Little things such as removing a rash she developed taught me how to touch up skin using the clone tool.

Since June 2010, I have been a volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) foundation in the Oklahoma City Metro area. NILMDTS provides infant remembrance photography providing photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the gift of professional portraiture. This has been one of the most rewarding endeavors I have ever been associated with.  It allows me to use the skills of documenting a moment in time with the photo retouching skills that only a digital darkroom can allow to bring a lasting set of memories to a family suffering the loose of an infant.

Thanks for viewing and hope to hear from you.

Always have and will be in the learning mode.....