Teaching Background

Bill Ellzey has been helping photographers come along the path of making better pictures since about the time he became a full-time working pro in 1972. From the most basic nuts & bolts of f-stops and shutter speeds, and now the exciting world of digital imaging, to examining what makes for strong compositions and truly meaningful images, to the delights of being in nature and sharing its beauty with others through photography, Ellzey’s down-home style, and experience, both as photographer and instructor, make him a highly valued workshop leader.

Beginning as far back as the early ‘70s Ellzey was invited to present programs for professional photographers’ conventions around the nation. A year after moving to stunningly scenic Telluride, Colorado he was handed the controls of The Autumn Eye photography workshop which, through Kodak grants, he developed into a large program under the name of Western Photo Workshops.

As director of WPW for eleven years Ellzey hired instructors in widely varied specialty areas and often filled instructor’s shoes himself. These workshops, as well as instructorships at Winona International School of Professional Photography, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and privately organized workshops to Egypt, Patagonia, the Atacama Desert, Bhutan and Tibet have provided Ellzey the satisfying opportunity to share his passion for photography.

In 1995 Ellzey dropped out of the teaching scene for four years to build a rustic, southwest-style straw-bale house for himself in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Now, with the addition of a large studio he also offers private and small group workshops at home.