ellis-photo.com Blog

So spring is my favorite time of year. I like to work on my flower beds. I especially get excited with new blooms. After all the drab and monotony of winter it’s nice to have some punch of color and smells pop into your life. I have flowers up my walkway and I make a point to stop and “smell the roses.” I think it’s important in life to remember to do that especially in this day and age of fast food everything and the instant gratification mentality that has been going on. I also enjoy the smell of a spring rain and how it affects the look and feel of the beds and flowers. Overcast is the perfect lighting and the freshness the rain adds gives everything a clean and new feeling. All the bugs are hiding and I tend to bring a camera out if I have a minute.



I’m still recuperating from the round up incident if you remember that story from last year. I didn’t like my arrangement last year so I’m trying some new perennials this year. I think I finally have something I like but I won’t know til next year when everything comes up the way it’s supposed to. Some of my new plants include Annabelle Hydrangea, Delphiniums, Coneflowers and Sweet William. Some of these I’m starting from seeds. Here are a couple of shots I took this morning from flowers that are growing now and after it rained today:



My Chihuly rose I got this year. Yes, it’s named after the artist, not by me but it really is named after him:
I got this at a local nursery in Rossford on route 20. I can’t remember the name of the nursery off hand–I don’t think I ever looked for the name!– but I have visited there often and they have a farmers market where you can buy some good homegrown food. It’s right around Meijer’s and Kohl’s there. You can also find this variety here: http://www.heirloomroses.com/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?page=item&cat=37&item=779



Here is one of my peony buds. I love the peony. I wished it would bloom more than once a year:




And here we have the Robinson Red Chrysanthemum. Though it’s more magenta then red, and this photo happens to be black and white and you can’t even tell which red it is:




Here is a color version of the same type of flower:




I hope all your flowers are coming up and adding some color into your life. Remember to pause, smell and enjoy the flowers in your life!

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These girls were super cute and weren’t camera shy at all. I had a hard time picking out my favorites and a selection to blog. I had a lot of good shots to share.























This one I love how the light dappled from lens flare. I really try and lay off with posing. I’ll fix things if they look awkward, maybe move some legs around and straighten a back, but mostly I let people do what they do naturally. I don’t focus on how they’re sitting so much but focus on the moment, that split second where everything just lines up perfectly. When she sat for me here on the boardwalk I told her which way to face but the rest was all her natural movement.

















Of course sisters are for wrestling too! At the end of our session I let them just cut loose and run. You can get some fun candids of kids being themselves by just not fussing over sitting still. I like going back to these shots of my own children. Interactions are what you remember a lot of when you reflect. I like to have a few of these style shots in a session if I can to capture some of the dialogue of movement and the essence of who they are.









Thanks girls for a great session!

Eddie and Lacey’s girls are getting big! You may remember them from a few posts ago. I got to shoot them over mother’s day weekend. It’s exciting with regular clients to see the families grow. I still can’t tell these twins apart but they are double cute. I noticed with my own twins once they started developing more of their distinct features I could go back to their baby shots and pick them out right away.

One of my landscapes made it into the TMA show. That’s the Toledo Museum of Art Area artist show. It’s a juried show with entrants all over local counties. Congrats to any of my fellow artists that made it in! More information on the Area Artist show can be found here: http://www.toledomuseum.org/Art_Exhibitions_main.htm. Though the show is not up until July. Show dates are July 10th-August 23rd at the Toledo Museum of Art. I like going to the show and seeing what neat things the local artists can do around here. Check out the website calendar if your looking for something interesting to do on Friday nights. The museum features many events and classes.



The piece that made it in: It will be a 20×30 canvas print. TITLE: Buffalo Console.




I took this shot at the Montana Bison range just north of Missoula, Montana on our vacation last year.