ellis-photo.com Blog

Well Mother’s Day was yesterday. I hope all you mothers out there had a good day! Lately I’ve been itching for the sun to arrive and already started planting things in my flower beds. I have some seedlings going but the sun has been hiding behind some rain clouds lately and they are not growing too well, though one of my marigolds bloomed and it’s silly how one can get so excited over a tiny little bloom. My husbands tulips are still in bloom so I have to wait for those to clear out to really get planting. Some are already on their way out and I captured a few yesterday. I prefer to shoot flowers that have aged. I love the old school still life masterpieces. They actually waited for the fruit or flowers to rot slightly before taking the picture or painting them, so it’s a theme I’ve been trying to revisit in my own work. I find the subject has a bit more character to it when you let them take on their own forms with time.

One of the flowers I planted this year are sunflowers so hopefully later in the year I can get some shots of those.

Yesterday I went outside to watch the kids play and took my camera with me. We are dealing with my father-in-laws passing right now. He’s not gone yet but it’s just a matter of time. This past Friday he had suffered a heart attack while mowing the lawn. People were right nearby and saw him go down and immediately went to help him. A heart doctor had actually been at a nearby restaurant and got to the scene before the ambulance. However, with so many there to help right away it didn’t stop the damage. The heart attack was minor and he came through that just fine, it was the lack of oxygen to his brain that has caused the problem. Right now he is brain dead and we have been waiting for a miracle to happen. It looks as though his time has come. They will be doing another brain scan today and if it shows no improvement we will have to turn the machines off. It’s going to be a tough week this week trying to explain to the kids where their Pa Pa went. I’m hoping to find some photos I’ve taken of him and in the future tell you more about him. He was a wonderful grandpa and father-in-law, you couldn’t ask for better.



This tree is in my front yard. Only a few days ago I was with Pa Pa and the kids right next to this tree. I was thinking of him as I took the shots. He was a beautiful person.

Mother’s day is just around the corner. For this family they did a surprise photo shoot for Grandma. Here are my favorite shots from this shoot:



I love doing vintage themed edits:








Here she was thrilled about running away from me!




On this shot she wanted to be different and not sit with her family:




Cousins make for alot of fun:




By the end of the shoot she seemed quite comfortable with me:












This little girl was quite a ham. She wasn’t shy like our other friend but showed me her magnificent talents like her super high jumping powers:




In the end we took the most favorites from the day and put them together into a collage. It was too hard to pick out just one and this way they could feature special photos showcasing each persons personality.

Well my photo buddy John Williamson invited me down to his studio to try out his new lights he just got a hold of. He asked me to bring a model so I grabbed my friend Susan who happens to be a model. John has a great studio downtown and this is the first time I’ve had the chance to get down there and check it out. We had a great time.



Here are some test shots I took:
















As it turned out our good friend Kyle White (whiteywoman.com) was playing just around the corner at the Boar so we kidnapped her and I got some shots of her too:



















I shoot Kyle and Susan a lot as whenever I get a wild hair to shoot something new they’re always around to ask to go out and play. I first met them as clients for shooting and we have become good friends over the last few years. This last shoot I told Susie she can shoot some frames of me since I shoot her all the time. It felt weird being on the other side of the camera. It was actually hard to keep a straight face. In this next shot I was trying to play dead and make fun of the editorial shots you see in the fancy fashion magazines. I didn’t quite pull it off but I suppose that’s why I’m a photographer and not a model!







Everyone keeps thinking the camera on my shirt is real at first but it’s just the print on the shirt…

I entered a shot from this past fall wedding season into PDN’s (Photo District News) Top Knots School of Wedding Photography contest. Well it placed!



This is the first time winning a spot in this competition. Its very prestigious and tough as some of the top wedding photographers in the nation often enter this contest as well. It is such an honor. The judging panel included editors from magazines such as the Knot, Elegant Bride and Brides magazine.

Much Gratitude to Mike and Adrienne for having me be apart of their special day and having a great image to enter into the contest! The photo features their chihuahua Chuco waiting with Adrienne to get his tux on. Yes he was in the wedding too!

To see the winners circle go here: http://www.pdngallery.com/contests/topknots/2008/ –Select-> Click Here to View the Winning Images
My photo is in the Getting Ready category and of course has my name listed: Michelle Ellis.