About Denise Jane

Denise Jane was born and raised in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. The summer before her junior year she traveled to New Zealand and Australia with her art teacher. She had no idea that this trip would be an inspiration for the path she would follow for the rest of her life. It inspired her to pursue a career in photography. When she went to Australia, its beauty was overwhelming. Denise said, “I remember thinking that I wanted to share the experience of the beauty there with other people through photographs.” This trip was a defining point in her life. “I knew from then on that I would work hard to become the best.”

The following summer she had her Senior Portraits made, she took her camera along with her because she wanted to be photographed with it. She asked the photographer several questions, “Where should I go to school?” “How did you get your start?” “What are the steps I need to take?” His name was Ralph Housden. He told her about a small school in Philadelphia that specialized in photography.

Three years later she received her Associates degree in Photography from Antonelli Institute of Art and Photography and started working for a commercial photographer named Lauri Bridgeforth of Full Frame Photography in Winchester, Virginia. Later she worked for the same photographer that had taken her senior portraits. Denise says, “You never know how the people you come in contact with can possibly someday change your life. I had responded to an ad that they had put in the newspaper while I was still in school. I did not realize when I responded to the ad that the Housden’s were the ones looking for help because I mailed my resume directly to the newspaper. They kept my name for about a two years. They had remembered me from my senior portraits.” She accepted the position as photographer for Housden Photography, in Harrisonburg, VA, to gain more experience in a broader range of subjects. Much to her surprise, she loved portraiture more than she thought, while in school it was her least favorite type of photography. She learned however, that she really loved photographing people and especially enjoyed photographing high school seniors and children. She feels, “There is no amount of money that can be placed on the joy I receive from capturing people’s souls forever in a photograph.”

After more than a twenty years in the photographic industry it's still her greatest passion and loves getting to know her clients and telling their story through the lens.