William
Ames has more than 20 years of experience in 35mm and digital
photography, electronic pre-press, photo-journalism and more.
Mr. Ames lives and works in State College, Pennsylvania, and has a bachelor's degree in English from the Pennsylvania State University. In his spare time, hiking, travel and photography create an enjoyable mix of memories and images in lasting photos.
A small town at the very center of Pennsylvania, State College owes most of its culture to Penn State University, for which it derives its name, and Mr. Ames is a Life Member of the Penn State Alumni Association.
"There's an old saying, that the camera doesn't lie", says Mr. Ames. "In my experience, it does."
Mr. Ames describes the differences:
"My philosophy is simple. When you look at a person, you can only focus on one tiny area at a time. Most of the time, when you look at somebody, you're only really looking at their eyes. The rest of the face is filled in by your "mind's eye", much like our peripheral vision is filled in for us, or when we visualize whole scenes in our dreams."
"It's true that at any given time, you're really only seeing a small fraction of the scene in front of you, but with the added dimension of time, it gives us the illusion of a lot more detail, and the rest is our mind's interpretation of that scene. Usually, it's optimized. A lens, on the other hand, can focus on an entire scene, all at once, and a print can show all of that detail all at once...with all of the flaws, stopped in time. When we look at a print, there's no motion, so we have time to look at every little imperfection. This is why post-processing is so important, so that a portrait looks they way you really look, not as a collection of imperfections."
For more than 15 years, Mr. Ames has photographed the Penn State Campus, capturing the essence of the university, but that isn't the extent of his work. With some of the best hiking and scenery in the state, there are many opportunities to create lasting images from nature. The Mid State Trail, a favorite subject, is close to State College, and the many hours Mr. Ames spends roaming the hills for photographs is time captured for all to enjoy. In addition to the Happy Valley, Mr. Ames regularly visits and photographs historical sites, such as Gettysburg National Battlefield Park, offering reflective studies.
Mr. Ames' photography is available for stock sales and commercial use. Commercial clients include The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Nittany Bank, Centre Medical and Surgical Associates, FHL Bank of Pittsburgh, Adelphia Communications, Bank of America and more. For more information on professional services, click here.
Weddings and portraits at the Nittany Lion Shrine are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Click for the photoblog; regular updates from current projects, snapshots and archived photos.
Photos of Penn State by William Ames are now available through Replay Photos, Penn State's exclusive online photo source.
All images on this web site are copyright William E. Ames and digitally watermarked. Use without express, written permission is prohibited, and violators will be vigorously prosecuted.
Visit http://www.williamames.com for more about the photographer.
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