Sharon Dennis
by Audrée Peters

Sharon Dennis says her life has been a spectacular blend of hard work and serendipity.

“My work has evolved over four decades,” the Fountain Hills photographer says.

“My whole life is basically the result of serendipity,” she says. “I’d plan, I’d go to college, I’d do this, I’d do that, but then things would come up, and like that famous Robert Frost poem about the road less traveled – well, I have found myself, a thousand times in my life, with a fork in the road.

“And you never are going to know what happens if you had taken the other road. But for whatever reason, all the roads I’ve taken -- just total serendipity -- have led me to a lot of adventure in 63 years.”

Dennis’s life and careers have been a snapshot album of varied and exciting experiences.

And at no time had she ever planned or expected to become a photographer.

She discovered a long time ago, by accident, that there is joy in capturing an expression, a fleeting moment, a memory of one second in a person’s life.

With degrees culminating in a Master of Arts in Teaching of Fine Arts, after attending Ohio State University, University of Hawaii, and Kent State University in Ohio, Dennis enjoyed being a potter for 10 years.

“I became a potter because I cannot draw,” she admits. “My artistic aptitude was largely three dimensional.”

“I was eventually led to photography. It combined all of my interests -- art, culture, travel and journalism.”

It started after Dennis became a divorced mother with a child to feed. She took a job at a photographer’s studio in Akron, Ohio, to supplement her income.

She recalls that the turning point came when the photographer needed someone – anyone - to shoot candid photos at a soapbox derby.

“He gave me a camera, two lenses, 40 rolls of film and two and a half days to go out and photograph as many faces and family groups, and as many of the side issues of the soapbox derby, that I could. It was probably the best and the most fun I’d ever had in my life, because the human face is what I’m attracted to.”

From then on she was hooked on photography.

She learned quickly, and did freelance photography wherever she could, including working for United Press International (UPI).

“My editor there basically trained me by saying ‘No’ if something wasn’t good enough, and making me do it over,” she says. “You’re humiliated a few times, and then you learn.”

She has lived in Fountain Hills for eight years, and says, “there are so many beautiful venues for photography here, it’s just perfect.”

Her passion for travel has taken her on many adventures, including a year in China when her daughter was small. Dennis had studied Chinese and Chinese Literature in college, so in China she taught English to the teachers.

Throughout that adventure and other trips such as New Zealand, Asia, Costa Rica and Africa, she snapped thousands of photos, documenting them for all time.

She also discovered along the way that she was addicted to travel.

“Every time someone says, ‘Want to go to…?’ I say ‘YES!’" she laughs.

Now Dennis feels she has come to a point in her life where she is able to focus on photography of a more conventional type, with weddings and portraiture.

“Through the years I’ve done a lot of photojournalism and documentary work, but now I’m leaning a lot toward portraits, and smaller, intimate weddings and house weddings,” she says.

Dennis says she keeps her wedding prices reasonable because she understands.

“I’ve been on a budget all my life, and I work with a lot of people who are on tight budgets -- a lot of young kids who don’t have family to pay for everything the way some kids do, and second marriage couples who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on photography. So I try to meet the needs of that clientele.”

Dennis meets with the bride before the wedding. She says preplanning can prevent aggravation later.

And Dennis remembers when her daughter was born, a photographer did a four-generation photo of her with her daughter, her mother and her grandmother.

“That picture is so precious to me that, at weddings, I always try to do a generational photo, with three or four generations,” she says.

Dennis also enjoys doing family events such as 50th anniversary parties and family reunions.

One of her specialties is pregnant mothers and infants, “mostly in black and white,” she says, “and I will do pregnant nudes.”

She likes to photograph babies at around seven to 10 days, “when they have that real newborn look. Even if they are asleep, they’re just exquisite little beings.”

Even though she enjoys her photography so much she hardly considers it work, Dennis also finds time to play with just as much zest.

A lifeguard for years, she swims at the YMCA in Scottsdale several days a week to stay in condition.

She loves hiking and has hiked the Grand Canyon many times. She is on the Fountain Hills Parks and Recreation commission, and is always cleaning up the trails when she walks.

Dennis belongs to a number of local organizations, including the International Club in Fountain Hills, and she volunteers at the Library, helping to teach the Lightbulb Lab science classes to children.

Always the cheerful optimist, Dennis says, “When I retired from Maricopa County a good friend gave me a magazine with an article entitled, ’Women Photographers in their Eighties.’ So I guess I have a few more decades to practice my craft, to travel and to enjoy my family and friends.”

Dennis can be reached at 480-836-8556, or by e-mail at sddphoto@cox.net.