Micah + Jaclyn 06.28.06

Another fabulous evening for an e-shoot. Micah, Jaclyn and I had fun around Brookings last night. Again poor Jaclyn as Micah and I talked shop. These two were so much fun... I think it was the wine. Just kidding. Here they are all smiles and so cute.
Cory Ann

Amber + Spencer 06.27.06

Yesterday I had the pleasure photographing Amber and Spencer's engagement photos. We had fun out in the grass and trees. It was a lovely evening and we found some wonderful light. Poor Amber had to listen to Spenser and I talk shop... Here they are... no kissy kissy. he he.
Cory Ann

She said yes!

Wow, what a rewarding day it has been! Let me tell you the story from the beginning.

Dustin and Candace are friends of Andy and I and when things started to get serious I told Dustin that I wanted to shoot the proposal for him. This is something that I have been wanting to do. I keep thinking what a fabulous additional surprise that would be. Well like most of my ideas I say it and just hope that someone will take me up on it.

About 2 weeks ago Dustin called me from WY, where he has been working. He picked the date. Today Thursday the 22nd, the anniversary of his parents and both of his grandparents. He thought at first that the McCrory Gardens would be nice since she is was a horticulture major. Then decided that being outdoors and kayaking was more them. So Oakwood State Park it is.

Fast forward through a few phone calls to yesterday. We went and scouted the locations, created my little blind to hide behind and cleared sticks so I wouldn't make too many cracking sounds. Coordinated times, approach and a friend to stop possible interferences.

Well today I got to see the ring (which is awesome by the way) and Dustin in the afternoon while he was putting the finishing touches on everything. He was so excited you could tell. It was awesome. Then I got my equipment ready and came home to work while I waited. I left here a bit early and headed out. I needed to get into position with out being seen.

Ok so here they come approaching the shore, Burton sitting on Dustin's lap. I was so nervous I'd be seen and ruin the whole thing, so I shot conservatively in case she would hear the shutter. Then it happened he took her out on the dock, sat and cuddeled with her, got up then got down on one knee, asked, she said YES, and they celebrated with hugs, kisses, smiles, jumping, cheers, and tears. I had to hold myself back from crying and jumping with them.

I stayed hidden for a full 20 minutes before she finally heard me. By that time it was too late, I got all the natural emotion. O it was fabulous! What a wonderful day and Candace was so glad I got it all on camera. Later I joined them at Skinners Pub with family and friends. You see the surprises didn't stop there. We told her we would be meeting later for drinks, but really it ended up being dinner with all the parents. Then they were going for a drink across the street and surprise- all their friends were there waiting. Candace and Dustin where both just beaming, ear to ear smiles and lots of hugs. Have I said yet this is fabulous?

Be sure to follow their story here cause we have a lot more planned. Your own AC Ellis love story or whatever we end up calling it. Can't wait for the e-shoot and wedding!

Love you guys! Thank you so much for letting share and capture such an incredibly special moment. It was amazing!
Cory Ann

You know you want to see the whole thing!

Jack 06.21.06

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing Jack for his one year portraits. I also did some of Jack and his brother Carter when he was 6 months. It's always so much fun to do the repeat customers and see how the children have grown. Jack is walking and I just love this image with mom letting go and dad there to get him. He was a speed racer, crawling super fast.
Fun.

Shawna + Brian 06.17.06

Saturday I traveled out to Clear Lake for Brian and Shawna's wedding. It was a wonderfully overcast day, perfect for pictures. It did however try to rain down on us during portrait time, but we made the best of it when it cleared up and got some great images.

This was a challenging ceremony at the pastor did not want anyone to see me at all during the ceremony. But with multiple cameras, an assistant who can push a button and the ability to walk completely around the sanctuary in the halls made it possible to get coverage just like normal. But I was worried at first.

After the ceremony we rode out to get a cool image I had in mind, but the rain decided against that. Then we found a dry location for some portraits and back to the ceremony at the Clear Lake Community Center. Brian put together a nice slideshow of their images with a little message to Shawna at the end. It was sweet.

Here is the couple and look how beautiful Shawna is. Not that your not handsome Brian, but she looks good.

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your day.
CA

Happy Birthday Wyatt

On Sunday I had got to have some fun photographing and helping celebrate Wyatt's 3rd birthday. He was such a happy boy. His first arrivals, other than Ayden who stayed overnight, were grandma and papa who pulled up on their motorcycle in their leathers. Now where was my camera for that?

He enjoyed his presents and all his visitors. And of course his cake. Here he is looking out at all his guests, changing to try on a new shirt, and eating his yummy cake.
CA

Clearing the air

Since I have been the only photographer in downtown Brookings for the last year a number of people have been assuming that the new photographers that have opened up down there or are displaying down there are affiliated with me in some way. They are not.

Currently I am located above Sonnie's and do have my images on display in the windows of Tuli. I hope that if you look you will notice my quality and style and you will know mine from the others. I am not currently displaying in any other downtown locations, but be sure to ask for my cards and coupons in a number of businesses.

Also I am not sharing space or branching out with these other photographers. They are completely on their own. This includes the one that moved into the building I am currently located in as well as the one down the block. Yes someone is in the same building (4 doors down) and another on the same block.

I will continue to work as hard as I can to create distinctive work that is my own. I will continue to invest time and money into education so that I may stay creative and offer my clients the best quality and products.

Look for the AC Ellis logo along with wonderful quality, style and color, that is a sure way to know it is mine!

Have a great day!
CA

Heather + Eric 06.10.06

On Saturday I spent my day at Heather and Eric's wedding here in Brookings. The ceremony was at the beautiful St. Thomas More Catholic Church, and even though I've photographed there before I was able to find some hidden spaces and light during our private portrait session that I hadn't used before. We did record formals in record time and were able to get so many more fun stuff in.

I knew the ceremony was going to be a happy, but wet one the second I saw Heather starting to tear up on the way in. Of course when Heather cried others had to follow. I love it when everyone gets emotional. The ceremony was followed by a limo ride downtown and a reception at the Brookings Inn. Each table had it's own cake as a center piece that was made by family and friends.... that's a lot of work.

Garner a friend who is a great DJ got the reception dances off to a wonderful start and Heather was tearing up once again. There were some proud parents in the room. These two are so fortunate to be surrounded by such a wonderful supportive family on both sides. As I was heading out the dance floor was full and from what I hear they stayed until 3am.

Congratulations you two, have a blast in NY. Thank you for choosing us to be part of your day.
CA

Ceremony: St. Thomas More
Reception: The Brookings Inn and Convention Center
Florist: Bloomingvilla

Wedpix Magazine

So I'm in an informative mode lately. I know planning a wedding can be a daunting task. There are resources out there, but sometimes the good ones are hard to find. So here is a bi-monthly newsletter from the WPJA (Wedding Photojournalists Association), which I am a member of. It of course talks about photography. So I thought I would share it with you as I find it rather informative and in line with my non-traditional way of thinking and shooting.

Wedpix Magazine

Wedding Tip #1: Head Table

For all you up and coming brides, well I'm going to start to sporadically put some wedding tips in here for you. Not that you have to take them by any means, but since I've been to more than I care to count I thought I'd share some of the cool stuff I've seen. Of course they will mostly have a photography... you know how to make your photography better and such. I'd love to hear feedback on the idea also.
CA

Wedding Tip #1: The Head Table

It seems that the norm is to make the head table this really long series of tables on a riser or the floor and push it up against a wall. I don't know about you, but a bridesmaid (BM) at my last wedding mentioned not liking to eat in front of everyone. And me, I just think every one struggles to decorate that space behind the table, and no offense, but it never look really good. So last weekend I saw something I have been waiting a long time to see...

The head table in the middle of the room.

It created a wonderful backdrop for the bride and groom while they listened to the speeches, made them easily accessible to their guests and to my camera. No one was watching them eat and no horrible attempt to decorate the space behind the table. It was a fabulous idea! Here are some of Ellie and Cloud listening at their centrally located head table, with friends and family as the backdrop.

ETA: Heidi and Marty had their head table in the center of the room also, and Hiedi commented that it was a good way for attendats to be able to sit with their spouses instead of sitting all alone. What a fabulous point. Thank you for sharing Heidi.

Frequent Viewer Reward

I announced when I hit the 100 posts and forget when I hit the 200 posts, and decided to do something special for 300 posts and on. So here is the deal. I've got about 30-40 posts to go to hit the 300 mark. When my 300th post is posted I will put a little 300 at the bottom of the post. The first viewer to see it and comment on the blog will get thier choice of a free 5x7 from a past or upcoming session. If you are one of the ones who have been viewing from a distance, but don't have any particular images you want, well you can pick a fine art image from a gallery. When you comment be sure to let me know who you are so that I can get back to you.

So how does that sound? I know some of you read everyday. I love it and I want to say thank you! I've got the best clients and viewers!
CA

Ellie + Steven 06.03.06

Saturday I photographed my fourth wedding at St. Thomas More here in Brookings. It really is a beautiful church and Father is great. Ellie and Steven (Cloud) kept it simple while implementing in some little details that made their day unique.

Of course Ellie was a beautiful bride in a fabulous dress. I could not get over how great Ellie looked. She chose everything just right. The hair, shoes, mom's garter (wink wink), and of course the dress that was both delicate and elegant. Now Cloud impressed me with his kick butt socks to go with his pink shirt and tie and Hugo boss suit. They knew how to dress!

The ceremony had almost everyone in tears. A friend preformed the best solo I think I have ever heard. It was absolutely amazing. I'll have to get his name, he lives here in Brookings with his wife and daughter and have a music studio.

We all rode in a horse drawn trolly to the reception at the Old Sanctuary. The flowers were done by Bloomingvilla and let me tell you they were simply georgous! And then there was the cake by Hagman's, now you know that was yummy. It was almond and fudge in different layers and decorated so wonderful. Ok so you know the reception wouldn't be much with out some great tunes. Those were provided by the Watertown Big Band (15 pieces) and they were awesome! The speeches and the dances rounded off this spectacular day.

What a wonderful, wedding, celebration and group of people who came in from all over the globe to celebrate this union. Thank you Ellie and Cloud for choosing me to be part of day.
CA

FAQ Help

I'm compiling some information for new clients including a Frequently Asked Question sheet. I would love it if any of you would share any questions that you would like to know prior to hiring me for either your wedding or portrait session. Please e-mail them to coryann@acellis.com.

Thank you.
CA

NY Times

Ok so this is odd. I'm sitting here downloading the cards from this evenings wedding and a photographer friend in MI e-mails to tell me nice image in the NY Times. I was like what. Well she's right of course....

Ellie and Steve can be found here. Weddings and Celebrations

I find it awesome that while the Argus, Brookings Register and Lake Preston Times all refuse to give photo credit, the NY Times did with out me even asking. Cool!

Here is a link to Steven's comic strip: Boy on a Stick and Slither
And to Nancy Grace which Ellie works on: Nancy Grace

Matt & Starr 06.02.06

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing Starr and Matt. Of course they were good sports, but Matt went above and beyond by getting very wet. They wore two differnent outfits, but I love Starr's dress so you only get to see this one.
CA

Amanda 06.01.06

Talk about fun! Graduate season has kicked off with Amanda. And she was wonderful and did all the crazy stuff I asked her too. Here are a couple of my favs.

Hope 06.01.06

Today I had the pleasure of doing Hope's 2 year portraits. She is such a little doll, with eyes that just called me in.