William Gentry

Phantasy Photos

I'm William. I've been photographing anything and everything I find interesting for probably 50 years or more, starting with a Kodak 126 Instamatic camera. In middle and high school, I took photography classes where I learned about composition, lighting, camera settings, and more using an SLR film camera. I also learned to process film and prints in the darkroom.

After high school, I dabbled with photography, landscapes, wildlife, candid portraits, nature, macrophotography, and astrophotography. Although the photos were lost in one of my many moves during my USAF career, I took many photos of USAF aircraft in flight and on the ground.

In 2015, while I was out of work as a software test engineer, I picked up my Olympus C8080 and photographed some of Las Vegas' notable resorts, such as the Bellagio, Paris, New York New York, Luxor, Excalibur, MGM Grand, and the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada" sign. I also ventured away from the Las Vegas Strip into Downtown Las Vegas to photograph Fremont Street and the Arts District, to local parks, such as Floyd Lamb Park, Clark County Wetlands Park, and Exploration Peak Park, state and national parks, such as Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, and Valley of Fire State Park, and to other Southern Nevada Points of Interest, such as the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve and Nelson & the Teachatticup Mine.

In 2018, I expanded to photographing portraits with local and traveling models to learn to work with people, camera settings, lighting, set design, portrait editing, and more. I found it fun and rewarding, and I also noticed the confidence boost that newer models gained after seeing their photos. While researching this phenomenon, I found that boudoir photography significantly boosted people's self-confidence and self-esteem. In 2019, Phantasy Photos was founded on this principle: helping people realize they are perfect as they are. Boudoir photography can be a tough photographic niche for male photographers, but I was moderately successful at it until stuff hit the fan late in the year: an illness, a hospital stay, the COVID pandemic, the Nevada lockdown, changes in online advertising, and a demanding day job. By the time all those things were behind me, my momentum was gone, and my motivation to restart and rebuild disappeared. Until 2025.

Out of work again, this time for the longest stretch of my working life, I decided it was time to make my own opportunity. I attended a real estate photography webinar, and it just made sense. I launched a new company under the Phantasy Photos umbrella, Las Vegas Real Estate Media Solutions, and started offering real estate media to the Southern Nevada Real Estate market. To sate my need for creativity, I am expanding into several other niches: high school senior portraits, traditional and staged action youth sports portraits (high school, college, city, and intramural sports leagues, too), corporate headshots, corporate events, family portraits, children's portraits, pet portraits (including end-of-life), family reunions, class reunions, homecomings, proms, birthdays, anniversaries, Sweet Sixteens, Quinceañeras, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, product photography, a photo booth for parties and events, and more.

I also sell my landscape, wildlife, nature, and night sky photos online. Finally, I offer commission-based services for special photography projects.

During my time photographing boudoir, parts of my home served as my studio. Today, I no longer have a dedicated studio. Instead, my sessions are on location: remote, rural, and urban outdoor locations, rented studios, Airbnbs, hotel rooms/suites, client homes, and more. All of my equipment is mobile. I have multiple mobile power supplies, as well as a variety of fun sets that can be set up at any indoor location. I drive a 4WD 4DR Jeep. I can go anywhere, man.