Trick or Treat 2006

There was a great turn out this evening. I was so happy to see so many of you and all the little ones dressed so cute. I think they should dress like this all the time. Here are some of the images. Shall we make it a date for next year also?
CA

Wedding Tip #4 - Preparation/Hotels

Time for tip #4, below are the first 3.

Wedding Tip #3 - The DJ
Wedding Tip #2 - Talk to your officiant
Wedding Tip #1 - The head table


Some amazing images come during the preparation time. There are so many expressions, emotions and your closest friends and family are all around you. I've seen people get ready in churches, their home, a bathroom, hotels, etc. I have to say my favorites are your home, if it has enough room and a hotel. Now let's look at the hotel, I think it's an amazing idea to book a room, especially one that has a shuttle/limo service.

The wonderful perks of doing this is by paying for the room you are getting wonderful transportation and that frees up many logistics. Most hotel rooms have more space than your home or the church, they are normally decorated beautifully and they typically have some great natural light.

Andy and I tested this theory on our 5 year anniversary. We booked a room at the Club House Inn in Sioux Falls and took the shuttle out to eat and for a drink. It was so great. Neither of us needed to be the DD since we had the shuttle. The room was so spacious (and it wasn't even a pres suite), the fee was very resonable and way less than a limo would have cost. The decor in the room and throughout the Inn was so beautiful.

I don't know if any other hotels in the Sioux Falls area offer this, but even if they don't I think that this would be a great investment in your day. The images that we could make at this hotel are so vast. I have posted some images here from Amber and Spencers wedding. It just so happened that they did this the week after Andy and I went out. So I just waited to post until after their wedding.

Here are some images from Spencer and Amber's wedding. They got ready at the Club House Inn. These images were all taken there. Their wedding was in Brandon (outside SF city limits) so they couldn't use the shuttle, but it was still a very spacious and well decorated place to start the day.
CA

A Day off

I finally had one full day of no work stuff. Ok I did have one phone call to Erin (who was manning the fort) but it was only about 1 minute long. Andy, Ayden and I headed out to Kennebec for some camping and motorcycle riding. Ayden's birthday is next month, but he got his present early. He got a real motorcycle a Yamaha TTR50. It is so cute, and he's even cuter on it.

We were joined by a wonderful group of family and friends. Ayden was the only kid so he was spoiled with attention and wiped out on the way home. The hills out there are huge and they climb them with the motorcycles. I only took a few images. If you find the horizon you can almost tell how steep they are.

Here are some images from the weekend. It is beautiful out there. Sunrise and then sunset are the first two images. Then dinner at night with Milt and Jen. Andy climbing a hill. Andy climbing a hill with Ayden. Ayden on his motorcylce.

Back to work.
CA

Dennis + Kate 10.26.06

Dennis and Kate are the parents of one of my brides from this year and one for next year. I fell in love with them at Sara and Jack's wedding. They are so incredibly cute and in love. I just had to photograph them. I wish more married couples would celebrate their love in images. We had so much fun and I am so happy that I get to see them again next year - and maybe a family portrait this winter also!

Eric + Lisa After Shoot 10.22.06

Talk about troopers. The temp had to be in the 30's or so, with winds making it colder, but Lisa and Eric did a wonderful job! Their wedding was last Dec. and we were waiting for snow for their after shoot, but it never came. So we just finally got a date that worked for both of us. And since they were such troopers I'm going to share a few extras.
CA

Halloween Portrait Session

Who: Friends and Family of AC Ellis Photography

Where: Old Sanctuary

When: 5:30-6:30pm on Tuesday Oct. 31.

What: A free portrait session

I will set up a simple backdrop and lights. It's nothing amazing, just simple good images of ladybugs, ghosts, superheros, etc. I'll post the images after in case you want to purchase any. But mostly I wanted to get some good images of Ayden and Kaleb dressed up and thought it would be fun to do some others as well. So please come and join us, I'd love to see you.

And you don't have to, but if you think you might make it if you'd please send an e-mail or comment on here that would be great.

Now don't you feel special you know me.
CA

Isabelle 10.24.06

She is getting so big and is changing fast so I grabbed a couple of images after arriving to pick Ayden up.
CA

Amber + Spencer 10.14.06

On the 14th I had the pleasure of photographing Amber and Spencer's wedding. It was a beautiful day and I think everything just went great. We started at the Club House Inn for the preparation- this is a great choice, look for wedding tip #4. Amber is a beauty and I loved that she left her long hair down. I took so many images of her, but of course needed to give a bit of attention to Spencer too. After all he was looking very handsome and has a great smile.


The ceremony was held at Risen Savor Catholic Church in Brandon. After we were there and waiting for everyone to begin formals, Spencer came up to me and asked how many pictures this was going to be. I just smiled and told him his list was short and it would go fast. My formals normally do. We tied for the record, 11 minutes. I think Spencer was pleased. I was, more time for candids. With formals going so quickly everyone had time to eat, finish setting up and relax.

After the ceremony we took a bus to Westward Ho Country Club for the reception. The bus was a large greyhound type bus with plenty of room for everyone, and while I did not stay for the reception I did stay long enough to know that they would be having a great time.

Congratulations, thank you so much for choosing us to be part of your day. I will post a slideshow as soon as I can.
CA

Leah + John 10.07.06

Well this blog is a long time coming. It always takes longer to blog a wedding becuse I need to find time to do the slideshows. Since those are complimentary I'm just going to have to come back to them as these two weddings need to get up here. I will get some slideshows up in the future.

This is one amazing story how we came to be together- the couple and myself. After photographing the brides sisters family I noticed a dress hanging in the home. I knew she was going back home for the weekend and asked if she would be in a wedding. Angie told me no, it was for her sisters wedding in Oct. Oct last year was busy for me, but I happen to be fairly open in Oct. this year. So I told her to have her sister call if she didn't have a photographer. I figured this close out she did.

About a day later I get a phone call. It's Leah and she has seen my site and wants me to photograph their wedding. We just connected on the phone and I love her sisters family so I was so happy to book them. Even more so as this would be my first wedding in the Black Hills, which I love. That weekend we did their engagement session and it made me even more excited for their wedding.

Saturday started at the apartment prior to heading to Sunshine Gardens in Piedmont. The site and owners were very nice. The ceremony proved to be even better than the location. It was filled with personal letters, tears, smiles and the hundred faces of John. I was able to get in so close and capture some amazing moments. They exited to the guests throwing helicopters.

After formals we headed downtown for some kick ass images and one bad ass bartender. OMG this guy was amazing I can't remember what the drink was called, but the preparation of it rocked! So this was one of those times I gave in to peer pressure and drank on the job- Leah and John told me too.

Anyway the reception lasted into the morning, but not before breakfast was served. You heard it breakfast, what a great idea it was yummy. Although I was about to start eating and had to go and take a pic. I told John no problem- what till you see whtat the pic ended up being. The speeches were great. I think John gave his parent's and Leah the best compliment ever... he said his parent's did a wonderful job raising him and he knew it because Leah wanted him and Leah wouldn't settle. Leah gave a tearful speech as well. Her dad had me in tears as she had him in tears.

Ok so that's enough for now- you already saw a couple of images from the after shoot and I'll get a slideshow up in the future. And a shout out to my wonderful little helpers! Becky, Erin and Kaylla better look out.

John and Leah and am so happy you decided to switch to me. I was truely honored to be part of your day!
CA

Zoe, Don and Amy 10.20.06

With the light fading fast I didn't get to play in their home as much as I would like, but I still got some fun ones. I loved their dog Cooper and I just had a blast. People often ask me what I like best about photography, I think they expect me to say something mushy like creating amazing images for them (which I do love), but really it is meeting new people. I love to meet new people, make new friends, experience new things. What better way than to do it while photographing you. I have the best job!

Sleeping Boys

I woke up early today to get a bit of work done before Andy and Ayden got up. I know you all think I just slack around here, but really I have been working hard to get everything done and caught up. This is my first weekend with out a wedding since June and what am I going to do, but work of course. I'm hopeing for some down time around Feb.

Anyway I just had to grab the camera. They are so sweet when they sleep.
CA

The S Family 10.19.06

This evening I traveled to Volga. which by the way is a cute town, and photographed the S family. I really do love getting time with each kid, it gives me an opportunity to get to know them. Like Jace here plays guitar, Logan is into fashion - I wanna take her shopping and have her model, and Nick is the jock, he plays more sports than I did.
CA

Audra + Jake 10.18.06

You wouldn't know it from the images, but it was chilly out. At the end of the session my trigger finger was almost numb. These two handled the weather with smiles and lots of love. It was fun. Of course I can't help but love them when they change their date so I can photograph their wedding - man that makes you feel special.
CA

Corrina + Matt 10.13.06

Corrina has been reading my blog for a while. I swear she knows half of my clients. Well Matt agreed and they came to Brookings for a photo shoot. There were fun and Corrina has so much energy and is so bubbly. Matt was happy when I said he could put his hat on. Here they are. Four years- see we should all do anniversary sessions.
CA

Kyrsten + Joe 10.13.06

I know I'm a bit behind. I've been editing and all that. Here are Kyrsten and Joe on a cold and windy morning, so we didn't get to play as much as normal, but aren't they cute.
CA

I turned 30.

Ok so Monday I pretty much took the day off, cause well I had issues with my new age. Although I did pull my birth certificate and I did not turn 30 until 11:24pm California time. See. I have to give Andy so much credit, he tried to help make it a smooth transition. I woke up to a card and a gift certificate. I had an appointment at The Ritz for noon. The Escape Package- didn't escape 30, but it was nice. I got my first manicure, a facial and a massage. I get to go back for the rest. When I got in the car to go I found another gift certificate to Tuli - my favorite clothing store. And while I was there Cookie from Bloomingvilla delivered some flowers. Now that is timing. I came home and recieved my anniversary necklace. Andy had a sitter set up so we took my motorcycle and had dinner at George's and a drink at Skinners. It was a good day. Thank you honey for going through all that effort!

Now in recognition of me getting older I thought I'd share what I looked like when I was younger. Hope you have a good laugh.
CA

My birth certificate

3 months old

I'm not sure how old, but that's my little sis Cassidy

4 years old, I remember always being told to not crinkle my nose.

5 years old in Kindergarden

Me as a cute little softballer (played all the way into college)

Joye (one of my bridesmaids) and me in high school. I think sophomore. Joye do you know?

About a year after high school with my truck which Magnum (my sis) just came and picked up. It's hers now. It's sad seeing part of your youth go.

My friend Heather from junior college and I in a photo booth at UCLA. Love those things.

Candy (my other bridesmaid and I) dancing at 815L in Sacramento. Loved that place.

And last a bunch of my old ID's now these are funny up close.

Ok one more this is funny, I obviously didn't like someone, guess who? 4th grade.

5 years continued...

Ok, so it took a little bit of time, but I finally rounded up the single image of Andy and I from the day we were married. I took it with my D80 on a tripod. Here we are. And this second one is the day we met. This third one is the wonderful gift he got me, a platinum necklace. And I've had some questions from readers so: Spezia's is great! The food is good as is the service and atmosphere. The Club House Inn and Suites is affordable, very nice and best of all they had a shuttle that took us to dinner, pick us up and took us to drinks (while putting our food back in our room) and then picked us up from drinks. This is the way to go, no one needs to be the DD this way.
CA

Knock Knock...

I'm sitting here focused on editing - deteremined to finish editing Elizabeth and Evan's wedding today. Well I hear a knock on the door. A nice lady tries tells me I have a delivery and starts to hand me stuff... I asked, "for me?" She said "You are Cory Ann aren't you?" Yes I am. So I got a package and say thank you, she tells me there is more. I ended up with two packages and flowers. It's fun to get gifts when you don't expect them, especially from your friends and especially when you like them (the gifts that is). So I took a break and opened them. The flowers are pretty and the present where from the wood wick candle line. One candle and one cool thing that is sented oil with sticks and the sticks carry the scent into the air. These are cool, actually you can see my old wood wick candle in the background. They were wrapped all pretty too by Flowers on Main.

Thanks Kristi I love it all!
CA

The S Family 10.11.06

Jack just couldn't keep his eyes off of me. He was so curious to figure out who I was and what I was doing. I didn't mind as those big brown eyes just draw you in.

The Browns 10.11.06

Michael gave me a run for my money as a mobile one year old always has something else in mind other than smiling for a big black box. But we still got many great images. And I can't believe how vibrate blue his eyes are. You know true blue eyes because they are even piercing in black and white.

The S Family 10.10.06

Yesterday I traveled to Sioux Falls to photograph the S family. The light went away way to quickly as the black sky made it dark around 6pm. Note for the future: if it gets this dark we are rescheduling.

Still we got many great images. These two brothers got along so well and I loved finding light in their beautiful home. And Nancy here, well I just love this image of her and we all need that one good image of us.
CA

Nick 10.10.06

In the early morning cold we headed out for Nicks grad images.
CA

Leah + John: Day After Shoot

Is was a beautiful morning after another wonderful wedding. We had so much fun around the Black Hills. I'm telling you everyone should do this!
CA

The Hazards 10.09.06

And my second session for the day... The Hazard family. I had a great time using their home as the backdrop. The walls were amazing colors (which you can't see cause I'm in a black and white mode), the furniture lovely and the light streaming in the windows perfect. Here they are... look close enough and you'll notice that this first images is actually of the entire family.

The Fords 10.09.06

We wanted to beat the sun this morning so we did a shoot bright and early. But it wasn't so bright as the sun stayed hidden behind the clouds. That was fine with me and we still had some good light and a few leaves still on the ground. Here are the Ford children.

5 full years with my hubby

Yesterday was 5 full and wonderful years with my hubby. We celebrate 2 anniversaries every year. This one is the day we were actually married. We had the wedding in May.

Five years ago I was a graduate teaching assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. Andy came down for a visit. We had been engaged since Feb that year. We thought it would be a good idea to legally get married ahead of time since we were both in the military and Sept. 11 had just happened. I kept going back and forth on what to do. Well on Oct. 5 when I woke up I said ok, let's do it. So we went down to the courthouse and were married. With one witness, one of my ball players. It was raining and great. Later, that day the team had a game and they introduced me as Cory Ann Ellis. It was weird to hear.

We didn't tell the family. It think their still mad about that. We still wanted all the emotions and such on the wedding day. That was to be the day we shared with them. O well stuff happens. So anyway we went out. It was great we ate at Spezias, had drinks and played darts at McNally's and stayed at the Club House Inn.

I love you Andy- Here's to a whole lot more!
Concubine (inside joke)

400 Posts....

It's right around the corner.
Less than 50 posts to go. Gosh that went fast.
Not going to tell you how many, but the winner gets a free session.

There is a little bit of small print. The session must be in Brookings area, will only last up to an hour, and must be done between Jan 10, 2007 and March 1, 2007 on a Tues, Thurs or Friday (my normal session days). I will send you a gift certificate, so if your not in this area, but know someone who is you can send it to them. What a great gift!

How does that sound?

Who's in?

The winner is the first person to comment on the blog.
You should be looking for a small 400 after the post, it is not it's own post.

Stephanie + Paul 09.30.06

Two weekends in a row I traveled into MN. Last weekend the trip started in Hutchinson where Paul and Stephanie had their ceremony. They had two special people stand up with them, their brothers. It is so fun when I see untraditional wedding parties. This is about the 3rd time I've seen it. Stephanie and Paul both had a best man. No bridesmaid or groomsmen what so ever. And you know what, those two held flowers and fluffed the dress better than any bridesmaid I've seen. I always say it's your wedding, do what you want - it's good to see it happen.

They departed the ceremony on an old John Deere. It was a fun ride through town and a great photo opportunity. The fall colors were out and the sun bursting through the trees and around buildings gave me so much to work with. I love this image with the sun flare. If you look hard you can see Paul and Stephanie getting ready to come out the doors.

This last image is from the groom and mother dance. This had to be one of the most emotional groom dances I've seen. There were tears through out the room. I think I was even choking up - as usual. The reception was held at a rib house in Litchfield. Paul and Stephanie won me over with their choice to include smoked salmon as an appetizer. Yummy, made me think of my dad (a commercial fisherman).

As I was leaving they were enjoying the dancing with friends and family. Thank you Paul and Steph for allowing me to be part of your day. Click here for your slideshow.
Cory Ann


Music in the slideshow provided by Snakebeard Jackson

My little man

Ayden is getting so big. Every day I look at him and can't believe he's my little boy. He turns 4 next month and I can just feel the time slipping away. Since I loved Wyatt's images so much I decided to take Ayden out for a shoot. Yeah. that lasted a whole 5 minutes. O well I still got some good ones. Here he is, I love the laughing image. Anyone who knows him knows how contagious his laugh is. It comes from deep down and makes you smile. I love this little boy.
CA

I've been published...

... and so are Dustin, Cari and Amanda. Who's images were selected by the magazine staff. I found out earlier this week that I have been published in Studio Photography Magazine Sept 06. It is a mini profile on my senior images. Here are some photographes of the article. It was cool to be chosen to do this, I was so surprised when they asked me, but now it's kinda a rush.

You all know how I am with copyright so I have blurred the other images as they aren't mine. The fabulous cover image also isn't mine, but I got permission from Claudia Kronenberg to use it, check out her work.
CA

Wyatt 10.04.06

Yesterday Jody and Wyatt came to town for Wyatt's 3.5 year portraits. I was so excited because the leaves were still out and I just so wanted to get some wonderful color in the images. You know how kids are... they seem to want to act up anytime you put the camera on them. Well a nice little trick of mine is to let the parents go for a while. Once Jody headed off Wyatt and I had some fun and he behaved beautifully. We have some great images to choose from. Jody- thank you for being so excited about new images of your boy. It always makes me feel to appreciated I really do love to create for you. Your are the best SIL.
CA