Gallery at Springfield: Photographer Bill Hamm

Join us!
Gallery Opening for Photographer Bill Hamm
Penn Camera Springfield
Thursday, September 9th
7pm-8:30pm

Bill Hamm spent his early childhood in a small, rural town in Michigan. He enjoyed the river that flowed through his town, and all that the river had to offer him. Walking home from school he would always find a way to take a detour so that he could walk along the riverbanks and see what he could find. Frogs, fish, birds, baby raccoons, you name it and Bill would find it and bring it home. His back porch on his house was more like a zoo than a back porch. Thus his love of nature was born. On his 8th birthday he received a Kodak Brownie camera. Put the two together and what do you have - a nature photographer.





His father was transferred to Colorado Springs, Colorado for a short time, this gave Bill a chance to fall in love with the Rocky Mountains. Again his father was transferred, this time to Washington DC. This is where Bill finished high school, fell in love, got married, raised his family, and started his automotive repair shop in the Maryland suburbs.

During this time, his high school years, raising his family and starting his business he had no time for hobbies such as nature photography.

Fifteen years ago when his children started graduating from college, getting married and raising their own families, Bill found the time to get out the old Kodak Brownie, dust it off and then realize photography had changed a little since the fifties. He purchased his first Nikon FE from Penn Camera and started snapping away. He joined the Gaithersburg Camera Club and that brought his photography to a higher level.
Bill now shoots with a Nikon D300S and his favorite lens is his Nikon 200 / 400 Zoom and his 600mm for those long shots.

He and his wife love to travel to their “wild” spots. They love Alaska, Denali and Katmai National Parks and Kenai Fjords National Park in the summer. In the fall it is Yellowstone for the elk rut. Late fall it is north to polar bear country, Churchill, Manitoba or if they stay locally they travel to Chincoteague for the snow geese in November. February is time for Florida birds. Springtime is spent in Shenandoah National Park photographing fawns and black bears.

Bill is a past-president and an active board member of the Gaithersburg Camera Club. He organizes and leads photo trips to Yellowstone National Park, Montana, Canaan Valley in West Virginia and Chincoteague.

Bill is working on a wildlife photography website. Hopefully it will be on-line by Thanksgiving.