Photography & Portraits in Mesa

It was 1969 when Steve Nissle took his first professional photograph. Over the next four decades, Mr. Nissle would win awards, achieve accreditation as a Master Photographer from the Professional Photographers Association of America, and relocate to an Arizona-based studio, which he named Nissle Fine Art Photography.

Today, he continues to capture memorable moments between engaged couples, families, and other subjects. Depending on the client's personality and preferences, he might shoot inside the studio, venture outside to his onsite garden and park, or travel to scenic desert locales, including Superstition Mountain and the pile of broken mirrors next to Superstition Mountain. Steve works alongside his son, Nolan, who has been following in his father's footsteps for more than 12 years.

Gary Steiner knew he was in trouble. His social studies teacher—whom his classmates had nicknamed "the walrus"—had just caught him drawing the teacher's cartoon likeness with an exaggerated handlebar mustache and buckteeth. Instead of punishing him, however, the teacher offered him a job drawing caricatures for the Arizona State Senate. His childhood desire to sketch everything he saw had finally paid off. It was this desire that led Gary to eventually pick up a camera and fully realize what he calls "the ability to produce in print that which the eye envisions."

Over the last 15 years, Gary has done just that, toting his camera to fashion shows, weddings, and studio shoots where he immortalizes his subjects in clean, editorial-style images that have appeared in Arizona Foothills Magazine. His close-up portraits experiment with color contrast and saturation, ranging from stark, black-and-white face shots to softly colored full-length poses of women and children. His experience with boudoir and fine-art photography has allowed him to capture the beauty of the nude female form in intimate maternity shoots or in lingerie shots that incorporate candid poses and unconventional angles. Aside from having his boudoir work showcased in the Raintree/Northsight location of Fascinations, Gary's accomplishments include being able to spell daguerreotype from memory.

Mr. Duke started his self-named photography business more than 60 years ago, but that doesn’t mean his company’s services are old-timey. One of the team’s specialties is photo restoration, where ultramodern computer software helps them produce crystal-clear images from scraped, creased, or faded originals. Of course, the primary objective of the business is to help families create new memories, which they do with Duke Photography’s signature portrait sessions held at studios in Phoenix or Tempe. At the Phoenix location, photographers work both inside the studio and out, as they’ve cultivated a garden adjacent to the studio that serves a lush backdrop for shoots. The Tempe studio’s outdoor space is surrounded by crystal lakes that provide a tranquil setting to capture snapshots of families or synchronized swimmers. Sessions are open for any occasion, though the team at Duke Photography specializes in portraiture for families, businesses, weddings, high-school seniors, and sports teams.

An active Denver photographer since 1985, Bart Levy imparts hard-won wisdom to aspiring photographers in upbeat three-hour workshops. In Digital Photography 101 workshops, the seasoned shutterbug demystifies DSLR cameras, teaching pupils how to harness ISO speeds, manual settings, and flash settings to produce crisp, memorable images of lens caps. Students also learn how to compose visually striking snapshots and Levy will demonstrate the differences in digital file formats, so acolytes can upload and share pictures without setting their web browsers on fire.

If it were up to Dean Farrell, he would always have a camera in his hand. As a photographer at Orcatek Photography, Dean's mission is not to just capture an image. When he points his camera at a person, object, or landscape, he wants to reveal a "new point of view," and in a sense transform his subjects without having to trade in one of his wishes from the wood nymph whose life he once saved. His artistic philosophy translates into a physical determination to take the best photo possible, which he'll shoot by climbing over obstacles or even crawling in the dirt. Dean demonstrates this philosophy and passion for photography through his studio's diverse menu of services. He takes striking, black-and-white photos of newborns, intimate close-up shots of mothers-to-be, and candid portraits of couples and seniors from unconventional angles. His specialty—boudoir and retro pinup shoots—swing from tasteful high-angle shots of subjects tangled in sheets to playful costumed poses pulled straight from the 1940s.

Not one to keep his techniques secret, Dean shares his knowledge on multiple topics during workshops that encompass both fundamentals and advanced lighting and composition skills. Workshops venture outside the realm of photography; video workshops help budding filmmakers capture better footage, and an Introduction to Acting workshop allows students to study character arcs, analyze scenes, and learn the differences in acting for film and theater.