Hi, my name is Ilene Olson.

As owner of Lightweaver Photography in Powell, Wyoming, I have more than 20 years of experience in photography and photojournalism. I live in Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin, just 80 miles from Yellowstone National Park, and within an hour’s drive of five different mountain ranges.

My love of photography came through the example of my father. Although he was legally blind, he became a competent amateur photographer, and it was he who recorded my childhood in photos, as well as vacations, family reunions, flower gardens, landscapes and mountain vistas. He used slide film, because slides allowed him to enlarge the photos enough that he could enjoy them, too.

I earned my associate degree in journalism from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, in 1997. While taking photo courses required for that degree, my passion for photography was ignited as well. During my nearly 21-year journalism career, several of my photos won awards in annual Wyoming Press Association competitions.

The more I worked with a camera, the more photography called to me, and I took a photography class every time I had an opportunity. After more than 20 years, I will earn my associate degree in Photographic Communications from Northwest College in May 2021. That program, consisting of 16 college-level photography courses, was ranked as eighth-best in the nation by Wallet Hub in 2015. As a photography student, I had 13 photos accepted into juried student photo shows, and I won first place in the composite photography category in April 2021.

Thanks to my experience and training, I am skilled in a variety of photographic areas. I love helping people and families look their very best in beautiful portraits that will become lasting memories and part of their personal and family stories. I enjoy helping businesses with all their photographic needs, and I’m skilled in digital photo preservation and restoration as well. And whenever I’m not busy doing those things, my inner photographer calls me to grab a camera and capture the beauty of Yellowstone National Park and all the other beautiful places around me.

Every day I spend behind a camera is a good day!