ellis-photo.com Blog

Well the stork came to visit a couple whose wedding I shot last year. Not only did they get one baby they were blessed with two! Twins are exciting to shoot. It’s always fun trying to figure out which one I shot as they tend to look so similar even as fraternal.



Here are some shots from our session:

























Congrats on the new babies! They are adorable and I am honored to be one of their first photographers.

New 2009 pricing coming out for both portraits and wedding. Stay tuned….

I have a new flush mount in and wanted to share it with you. Flush mount albums are books designed and published just for you using photos from your sessions/events. The photos are mounted directly on the pages flush to the edges of the mount. Similar to a baby board book. These books are completely customizable from the covers, pages, page sizes, theme. You name it and it probably can be done.



This one is 12inX12in. When you open the pages up prints are 12X24″. This is one amazing coffee table book.



Here is the cover. This one is a canvas print and as you can see has custom text on it. Other cover options available are leathers, wood, metal, printed metal, plexi-glass and various fabrics. This is pretty solid as well. I was surprised on how heavy it is.




Detail of front. You can see the canvas texture. Canvas covers can come with a metallic sheen too.




When you open the book up this particular line has full panoramic pages. Meaning the image is not cut at all down the middle seam. Some flush mounts the spread of the two pages is cut and there is usually at least a millimeter of space between the two sides. On this one you can see there is a seam where the fold is but there is no actual cut line. Also, each page is graphically designed and you can go as fancy and plain as you want. I prefer a more plain page as not to distract from the images or be too busy. The image on this page is one full image the smaller images were not mounted separately. These albums have a scrapbook feel with the image collages but without being “scrapped” together.




Close up of seam. Look how flat this thing can lay!

Corner and page detail:




Detail of spine. This one is square but you can have a rounded spine.




Backside of book:




I have another book coming in soon and hope to share more images and details of this amazing product. Contact me for more details and information if you are interested. I’m going to redo my packages soon and include this line into the everyday package.



I hope everyone is keeping warm with all this cold! I almost drove into a ditch when the first real snow storm hit a few days ago. You think being from Montana I’d be a pro but ice is ice I suppose and it caught me off guard.

So my twins just turned four this past Sunday. We decided we better get their shoot in before the weather turns cold. This is the first time this year I’ve had a chance to really shoot them. People always think I must have a ton of photos of my kids. Actually it’s quite the opposite. There is some quote about the cobblers kids are the last to have shoes? That’s the way it works around here. My kids are the last to get squeezed in. You always seem to think you’ll have time and then time slips away before you know it almost a year goes by and the spring photos you were supposed to take end up being fall shots. As far as snapshots go I’m terrible about that too. We purchased a point and shoot this year so hopefully not having to pull out one of the big guns will make it easier to take more of those. Most mothers see their children doing something cute and pull out the camera and take a few snaps. I get too technical for that. It’s always is the lighting right, what extra gear do I need? It takes alot more thinking and most times a snapshot needs not to be thought about. Sometimes I just want to not be a photographer and be in the moment without glass in between me and them.

My husband came up with the theme for this shoot. He really wanted all three of them on a beach in wife beaters. So we were off to Maumee Bay again.

The next three shots are of my eldest. I took these for his school pictures. Somehow the ones I get from the schools just don’t do it for me. I don’t see his personality like I do in mine. He seems to smile funny for other photographers. He’s even claimed they are not his mother and he won’t give his good faces to them.



This one is my fave:

I still have yet another place I wanted to shoot with the boys. Hopefully I can get it in before it’s too late, otherwise I’ll just have to wait until next year to do it.

So the people who get to be our sitter usually get suckered into having me take their photos. It’s almost a given. This gal here is our current sitter and I absolutely love her. You couldn’t ask for a sweeter gal. The only thing about great sitters is they always run off to college and you have to find a new one. Some how being a sitter doesn’t pay well enough for it to be a career choice.



I refrain from giving names with minors for privacy.

This sitter was a joy to shoot for she has such a light bubbly personality. We went to Maumee Bay for most of these. We actually got rained on for half of it but it was still fun. The funniest part was the mosquitoes at the first park were relentless and ate me alive but somehow completely ignored her. I looked like I had the plague the next day but she had some great photos! Oh what we do for photography sake.