The D Family Card

The D Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The H Family Card

The H Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

Abstract Art: Part 2

See I didn't forget, just been too busy to shoot anything personal. Maybe we'll do more of these over the slow months - when are those again?

Rules:
You must guess exactly what this is.
I will not be giving any hints or comments until someone guesses correctly.
Guesses must be submitted by commenting on the blog.

What you can win:
Option 1: Mini 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 upon my availability and not on weekends. 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!

Option 2: Signed Print
Of this image minimum 8x10, signed and mounted.

The B Family Card

This is the B Family printed on metallic paper 5x8.
CA

The M Family Card

The M Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The TL Family Card

The TL Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

Happy Holidays 2006!

I hope you are all enjoyed your holidays. After Micah and Jaclyn's wedding on Sat I came home and did the download and back-up (which I photographed to share with you later) and finally got to bed about 2am on the 24th. Ayden woke me up later that morning- he was ready to go to grandma and papa's house. We managed to make it there in plenty of time for the meal. I was draggin' and didn't think I'd make it. We ate a wonderful dinner full of seafood. Ayden liked the scallops best. Then we opened a few gifts and took a couple of images. There is one of all the greatgrandkids from Roger - just one of Grandma Ellis' children.

That evening we headed to Lake Madison for our own little family time. Just Andy, Kaleb, Ayden and I. We played games, watched Pirates of the Caribbean, rode motorcycles and played on the ice. And on the night of the 25th we went out and lit fireworks on the ice - left over from the 4th of July. It was a great time with no phones, cable or computers.
CA

Kaleb and Ayden playing a bit of hockey.

Ayden on the ice.

Kaleb on the ice.

Andy on the ice.

Sunset on the 25th.

Fireworks on the ice on the 25th.

Great Grandma and the kids.

Micah + Jaclyn 12.23.06

What a way to end the season! That's right this was my last wedding of the year 28 by myself and one as a second shooter for Heather.

Jaclyn and Micah were amazing. They are two of the most beautiful people I know. Inside and out. Their love for each other was abundent and obvious the whole day. Not only that but the love and support of their family and friends was wonderful also. It truely was an amazing wedding.

The ceremony was held at the already beautiful and wondrfully decorated First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls and just as before Pastor John Christopherson was wonderful. Many comments were made about his message to the couple. This image is during the ceremony- now this is the reason why I think it's important that the church allow the photographer to get up on the altar where they can have a clear view of the couple.

If they would not have allowed me on the altar the whole series of these would only be the back of their head. This image is Jaci and Micah exiting after the ceremony, you can see the joy on their faces and the beautiful church behind them.

I don't normally show formals (because I want you to hire me for the other stuff), but I really like that we did these formals a bit different. In the aisle with the pews. I think it's a much more interesting image than at the altar. Look at the BM dress aren't they lovely too.

The reception was held at CJ Callaways and the appetizer meal was wonderful. The stuffed mushrooms were by far my favorite. The hit of the night had to be Micah and his rendition of Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight" accompanied by the Dakota Jazz Collective. But of course the whole evening was wonderful.

Congratulations you two thank you for choosing us to be part of your special day!
CA

411:
Church: First Lutheran Church
Reception: CJ Callaways
Entertainment: Dakota Jazz Collective
Florist: Joyce Naber
Photographer: AC Ellis Photography

The S Family Card

The S Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The S Family Card

This is the S Family printed on metallic paper 5x8.
CA

The B Family Card

This is the B Family printed on metallic paper 5x8. I love the simplicity of it.
CA

Chris + Leigh : The Slideshow

And here is another show. This image below is of the super cool roses Leigh picked out. They were such a deep red with this soft velvety look to them. Anyway there were the aisle decorations turned gifts sitting in a box ready to be distributed and lookin all cool. I have it in color too, but I like this one.

Chris and Leighs slideshow.
CA

Amber + Spencer : The Slideshow

I'm almost- not yet there, but getting very very close, to being caught up and so I'm posting some of the slideshows that I previously didn't get up. I think the getting ready images from Spencer and Ambers wedding are my favorite all year. And here is one of them.

Here is their slideshow, please enjoy.

Leah + John : The Slideshow

My gosh this wedding was hard to edit. Why, becuase there were so many darn images and it was so hard to narrow down. You see I traveled out to Rapid City for the wedding and since I had nothing better to do than sit in my hotel room I stuck around and took more images. So Leah and John got a little bit extra coverage, but it was worth it.

This is one of my favorite exiting images. There is so much going on, the last toss of the helicopters, John looking on as Leah smiles to her parents and of course all the guests, the sun beaming in from the left behind the couple. I just love it.

Enjoy the slideshow.
CA

Blog Update

Have you been noticing any changes?

Well the blog has gotten a little overhaul. Not a big one, just some small things. Like the labels/categories. So if you don't make it here all the time, but your wondering hmmm does CA has any specials going on, simply click the "studio happenings" label on the right and it will narrow down to only those posts. I love this feature!

And bigger images. Well it is about the images right? Right. So now they are going to be bigger. I already think it makes a difference.

So yeah that's it for now, off to edit a bit more. Just thought I'd point those out. And as always in the off-season I try hard to implement all the ideas that I get during the rest of the year, so please stay tuned after the new year. And please let me know what you think when you see these changes or have an idea, request anything. I love to hear from you all. And I'm going to be lonely and bored (yeah right) now that I only have one more wedding this weekend and then a break until March.

Ok, so maybe I'm off to bed I just realized the time. Night.
CA

Yummy soup at Hagman's.

Amber and Spencer's Card

Amber and Spencer's card printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

Laura + Chris 12.19.06

They didn't pick the shortest day of the year, but they got very close. Laura and Neil came up for their engagement session with a whole about 20 minutes of light. But that's ok, cause we had fun getting creative. I had a great time you two and am looking forward to the wedding.
CA

The Greenleaf Cards

The Greenleaf facility printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The P Family Card

The P Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The F Family Card

The F Family printed 5x8 on matte paper.
CA

The J Family Card

This is the J Family printed on metallic paper 5x8.
CA

The P Family Cards

This is the P Family printed on metallic and Matte paper 5x8 and 4x8.
CA

Cards... The B Family

Are you ready for the showing of the cards? Well get ready one a day until they are all shown.

This is the B Family printed on matte paper 5x8.
CA

Intimates for Valentine

It's time to start thinking about your valentines. With products like books you need to plan ahead so if your thinking you would like to do an intimate session you may want to schedule your appointment now. I'm not taking anymore session in 2006, but am currently booking sessions for 2007. Call or e-mail if you would like anymore details.

Here are a couple from a recent session.

South Dakota Boudoir Photographer

Betsy + Mike 12.08.06

Last Friday Erin and I went to Lennox to photograph the wedding of Betsy and Mike. Whoever said you can't have weddings in SD in Dec was wrong (I still have one more wedding this year too). It was a beautiful day and wedding. They were married at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. They did a lot of little things that made it their own one of them was the candle lighting. At the end of the ceremony they each took the pillar candles that the parents had lite, then they had early used for their unity candle and relite them from the unity candle. Then they walked down the aisle lighting the small candles (passed out earlier) of each end person, so the whole room was only lit only by candle light. It was very nice. I took this first image with just available light on the tripod, but in the second image someone else was using their p&S and their flash lit up the bride and groom a bit more.

The reception was held at CJ Callaways and I stayed long enough to eat the yummy food, get images of the guests and photograph all the speeches. Betsy wins as the most giving bride I've seen. She presented Mike with a gift of tickets- plane tickets to leave 2 days after the wedding to go to a football game in Florida. He was awe struck and should be. Talk about cool.

It was a great day, thank you for choosing us to be part of it!
CA

Winter and Ice

Well I've been so engrossed in the computer that I just realized I haven't blogged in over a week. I bet some of you think I dropped off the face of the earth. I'm almost caught up, not yet we still have orders to send out and some weddings to edit, but we're almost there.

Anyway amongst the chaos last Tuesday I took a quick break and watched Ayden take his first ride on the ice. Andy prepped their bikes by putting screws in the tires so they don't skid. I come from Cali and the water doesn't freeze there, so while I find it totally cool. It still scares the crap out of me to walk, fish, drive and ride motorcycles on it. Everyone assures me that 6" of ice will hold a pick up truck and I shouldn't worry but I still do. So I hid behind the camera. Here are the boys on the ice. Ayden loved it and Andy was so proud.
CA

Texas Bride

While in TX we also had the privledge of photographing in groups of 3-4 with a real bride. It was different to photograph in groups, we all saw something different, had a slightly different style and had to find was to work together. Jen Bebb who is in the post from earlier was in my group and I found we worked very well together. You should see this one image she got, it was amazing!

Actually there were 11 groups and they all created some amazing work, it was very humbling to see what they all could produce in a couple of hours with a bride. And these brides were so willing to do anything we asked and get those dresses as dirty as we asked. While doing this shooting exercise we had a shot list to work from, certain things we needed to get it was a good exercise. Here are a few from it.
CA

Rylan 12.2.06

After my plane flew me in at a very late hour I was so happy to be greated by my little boy smiling and waving and my handsome hubby, gosh I missed them. We stayed with some friends friday night so we didn't have to drive back to Brookings and I got a few images of thier little girl Rylan in the morning. Here's the little cutie.
CA

Miss Me?

I haven't been blogging for two main reasons... I've been working hard to get things ordered, created, printed and all that for the holidays and I had to go and learn last week. In my absence the girls got so much done. It was nice to know that the office could run in my absence. Many of you should have received orders and many more will be recieving them soon. I of course came home to a pile of more orders and some weddings to work on. I will be in the office working all next week so if you need anything e-mail or call. I will be going down the list.

Anyway I was in Texas this last week at a workshop. It was called the anti-workshop and it was put on by two of the most amazing husband and wife teams, The Coopers and The Boutwells. I learned a lot, made a bunch of new friends and am ready to work my butt off to implement new techinques and business practices after the new year (have to get through the holiday rush first).

We had some shooting exercises and one of them with with another wonderful husband wife photog team the Bebbs of Tying the Knot in Vancouver. Here are some images from the Bebbs.
CA

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so many things. I thought I'd share a couple... My family, specifically my little Ayden Clyde, for having a loving husband, a successful business, a job I enjoy, customers who appreciate what I do, a good town to live in, good friends, Erin who works her butt off for me and listens to all my ideas ranting and crazyiness, a car that runs, an education, health, and the list can go on.

Thank you everyone for helping to make my life better by allowing me to photograph yours. I hope your day and weekend are great.

My sister-in-law just redid her home and that combined with the nice light coming in just meant I had to take some images. Here are her kids and Andy's parents.
CA

Stephanie + Dustin 11.21.06

30 minutes of perfect light and a cute couple = a great e-shoot and some yummy lens flare. Yes I took some with out flare, but I'm not showing those cause I'm likin' the flare right now. You can never have enough flare right? Gosh that makes me think of Office Space.
CA

Real Beauty...

Ok you really all need to watch this. Talk about a wake up call. And for the record no I can't do this.
CA

Campaign for Beauty

Farm and Ranch Living

Every once in a while I do some commercial photography. Usually I can't show the images until after they are used and sometimes not at all. But this one is now published and I can show you. I traveled North to the Horter Farm and got to have a little fun for a morning. John restores old tractors, works on the farm and for this issue he journaled his month. They said they were going to use about 8 images and choose from 11. Then they liked them so much they requested 15 and ended up using 14. So here one of John (ladies I believe he's single and I have his number, he he) and some pics of the spread, see I even got credit.
CA

Zoe 11.19.06

I don't often need to do a reshoot and while they did have some great images I just had to go back when the light was good for more. So here is Zoe. She's beautiful.
CA

Holiday Reminders

I do still have plenty of work in front of me... weddings to edit and orders to fill. But there is still time to get your orders in for the holidays as I am focusing on completing all of this and not taking any new sessions (plus I have help now). Please just place your orders by December 1.

Don't forget your cards. Erin has been busy designing for many of you and they are looking good! You all know that each cards from AC Ellis Photography is custom designed for you right? Well you do now. Here are a couple that Erin has already done this year. I will be designing a few only to break from the other stuff or until I'm caught up.

If you want to wait and do a family session in the new year and do a Valentines or Spring card this is a great option as it's fun to get cards all year long. And I will have openings in the new year for session.

Some AC Ellis Changes...

Ok well this year I grew more rapidly than I had planned and could ever have imagined. And while all work is being completed, it's not being done in the time frame I would like. So some changes are going to be made to help me run this business smoother and with the excellent customer service I want to give. Thank you everyone for your patience during all of these growing pains. I tried to forsee it, but just didn't and I'm sorry.

- First meet some staff:
Erin has been working with me for some time. Erin has assisted on weddings, done office work, and does graphic design. Her responsibilities are now more in the invoice and billing and graphic design areas. She will be training in Photoshop and may help process print orders in the future.

Next is Krisitina. Krisitina is now an office assistant/errand runner.... She will be taking over a lot of what Erin was doing so that Erin can be freed up for other stuff. She's a great girl who I've worked with before, a student at SDSU and we're excited to have her on board.... Erin's glad she won't be filing any more.

If you hear from either of them, please don't be surprised as they will be following my instructions and everything they do I do still have a hand in. Call me a control freak. You are still always welcome to call and speak to me or e-mail. They will only be working a couple of days a week each so often you will still communicate with me.

- Cory Ann' schedule:
I have found that the reason I fall behind is a couple fold, I am not able to sit and edit and photoshop print orders. This is because of the mass quantity of office work and that I overbooked my portrait sessions. Because of the nature of my portrait sessions and the amount of time I spend with each subject it takes me out of the office for most of the day and I loose the ability to sit and edit.

The solution was first to hire some help and second I will only be taking sessions and meeting two days a week. That way I will only be out of the office two days a week. I am not going to specify days, but rather take the first two days that fill up. So please keep this in mind for your future sessions. And because of this limited availability reschedules are going to be treated a bit more harshly.

- Sessions:
Sessions are often conducted in the home and due to this we will need to reschedule in the event of bad weather. It can be a bit overcast, but it cannot be stormy black out. I can fit a couple of sessions in each day, especially during the long days of summer. Outside open area sessions will still need to be conducted in the sunrise or sunset hours, but home sessions can be any time of the day while it's still light out.

- Fees:
I now have one sitting fee for my sessions. I may add a in studio mini session option over the summer when we can work around the studio, this will be a lower fee and available only to those that have had a home or location session first. The reason for this is to make it easier for those that do sessions multiple times a year, but still allowing me to get to know the children and other family members. Please ask for the current rates everytime you prepare to schedule your session as things change and new products get added.

- Now Hiring:
I am looking to hire someone as a shooting assistant for next year. Now that Erin is doing other stuff, Kaylla is a kick butt athlete, and Becky is well.. I don't know if I can tell, but she will be busy. So anyway it's usually Saturdays, sometimes on Friday. You need to be available all day, carry bags, get random stuff, take care of me and just do all that stuff. You must keep a smile on your face while doing it - preferably a real one. Dress appropriately. And for the record you will not be taking images. You are there to assist me, not to train to become a photographer and run your own business. We can discuss pay when you inquire. Weddings usually run from March-December. Heavy months being May-Oct. Must be available at least one Saturday a month. O one other thing - you need to have a valid drivers license and know how to drive a stick, because I usually ride with the couple. Call if your interested.

Again thank you all for being patient during this growing process. It is greatly appreciated. Keep an eye on the blog in the first few months of the new year for some specials.

Ok back to the grindstone.
Cory Ann

The S Famiy 11.18.06

Last week Ayden got a bit sick and since it was contagious he couldn't go to daycare. The S Family was nice enough to reschedule their session so that I could stay at home with my baby. I think it worked out well as we ended up with some beautiful light and wonderful images here are a few.

Colton

Erin went with me to Sioux Falls yesterday for my session and watched Ayden. Afterwards we did some running around. Well when we came back Colton needed a bath. I managed to get some good ones.

From Corrina

It just makes me smile when I check the mail and have a nice thank you note.

I got this today.

Cory Ann,
I just wanted to say thanks again for an amazing afternoon and gorgeous photos... it was so hard to choose. You're an incredibly gifted photographer and we were so lucky to find you. Picture #121 of Matt is my most favorite photo of him ever! It's so him. You'll come highly recommended from us and I look forward to working with you again in the future.

All the best.
Corrina Beck

Corrina,
Your welcome. It was a pleasure working with you also. Thank you for making my day.
CA

Here is that pic she mentioned. Isn't he handsome.

Happy Ayden's Birthday To Me

Yesterday was Ayden's birthday and we went to Sioux Falls. We stopped at Barnes and Noble where Ayden spent some of his birthday money on a new book. And I got some research material. Then we went to the Washington Pavilion. I didn't realize how big the Kirby Science Discovery Center is and how much cool stuff they have for kids to do. They also have children's performances in the Great Hall about every other month. In Nov. They have a Franklin Christmas show and in Jan. they have Berenstain Bears. After checking out the Science Center we got lunch down the road at Michelle's and then came back to watch Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees in the Cinedome. You should have seen Ayden's face- it was priceless. I left the camera at home though so I could just enjoy the day with him.

So afterwards we did a little shopping:
I've always thought hey so we carry the child for 9 months and then go through excrutiating pain to push them out. But on their birthday every year we throw them the party and buy them the gifts. Why I ask? Why when we do all the work? See you can't come up with a real good reason either can you. So Ayden and I went downtown to the Red Shoe and bought mommy a little gift for all her hard work and dedication. Yep I bought myself a little something. The newest edition to my shoe fetish. Aren't they so cute. I'm going to find some long skirts and I'll also wear them with my skinny jeans from Tuli.

400

Ayden's 4th Party 10.12.06

So his 4th birthday isn't until tomorrow but we had his party yesterday. It is now a 4 year tradition to have a wild game feed. Andy the chef made some fabulous dishes that included squirrel, phesant, duck, goose, deer, antelope, rabbit and snipe. The cake from Hagman's was commented as the best many had ever had. It was shaped like a large dirt mound. And I have a lot of left overs to eat. The ice cream from SDSU was a hit with grasshopper being the favorite (although unlike Andy's dishes there weren't really any grasshoppers).

So after a great meal Ayden got to show off his gift. He rode in on his Yamaha TTR50. The crowd applauded and Ayden was beeming. We decided to corrupt everyone else's kids and gave them rides. I told Holly and Luke that I was training Isabelle to be Ayden's girlfriend as I took her on her ride.

Thank you everyone who came. Ayden loved it and it means so much to us to have you all show him that he is loved.

Special thank you to Dan Elliott of Dan Elliott Photography who came as a guest but took a bunch of images for us.
CA

Megan + Nate 11.10.06

This weekend was Nate and Megan's wedding. It just started out wonderful. I arrived early to find Pat from Gustof's Greenery waiting patiently to show the bride her flowers before he left. Talk about a wonderful person and he knows his stuff too. The flower were beautiful! He comes highly recommended from me.

This first image was taken right after Megan got her dress on. I know you can't see it in black and white images, but it was a simply lovely deep champagne color. O I loved it so much. The light was so perfect and she started to tear up. It really did set the ton for the rest of the day. Erin even mentioned that I get the best couples. I DO! They are in love, have taste, class and just make us so happy to be able to be part of their day.

We this next image is when Megan and Nate finally got to see each other for the first time. I simply told them ignore me, enjoy your moment and I will capture it. Take as long as you want and do whatever you want. Look at how tight he held her. You could just feel all the love and excitement just by being in the room with them.

There are a lot of images I could show you during the rest of the day. Like the rockin' images we got during their portrait time. Or the ceremony at St. Joseph Cathedral with another wonderful performance by DAPA String Quartet. Or the super cool and roomy Sioux Falls Trolley ride to Stogeez and then to the Washington Pavilion for their reception. O wait that is the next image I'm going to show you.

This last image is from their first dance. I just love the feel you get from it. Often I'm told my images have an intimate feeling to them. It's because you all let get intimate with you. That's just part of my style. I love to get in there and make and image that shows how you feel.

The Pavilion is by far my favorite venue to photograph at. They do the absolute best job in town with reception lighting. Each table was individually lite. The backgrounds are wonderful as they are either the black curtains, the guests, or the seating in the great hall. I love it! Plus the staff does a great job of taking care of you. The food from Leonardos Cafe was very good as usual.

Ok so that is it for another fab wedding. I have a three weekend break before the next wedding. So I will be working hard to edit, get prints and albums done in time for the holidays and after.

Megan and Nate, thank you so much for choosing us to be part of our day. I feel like I made some wonderful new friends!
CA

Wedding Tip #5 Servers/Speeches

Time for tip #5, below are the first 4.

Wedding Tip #4 - Preparation/Hotels
Wedding Tip #3 - The DJ
Wedding Tip #2 - Talk to your officiant
Wedding Tip #1 - The head table

You know all those important images during the speeches. You know the ones of not only those sitting at the head table with you, but of you parents. Where they are cracking up at the tales your friends tell. Well I love to get them. It seems this is about the only time your parent's and grandparents really relax, ignore me and show real emotion. Sometimes they cry, sometimes they laugh. But really it's just a great time for me to get images, not just of them, but of everyone.

I've included a bunch of favs of mine from the speeches. Now here is the tip... your waitstaff/servers should NOT be serving, refilling glasses or anything during this time.

Why? Because they get in the images, they distract the guests, and then what do you think everyone does with that fresh piece of cake that was just set in front of them? You guessed it, they eat it. Now I have a policy to edit out eating images. They just don't look good, but you can imagine instead of listening and laughing they are chewing.

Or at just the right moment they are laughing and a server walks right in front of me and I get them and not your dad crying as you thank them for raising you so well. Sometimes I just want to scream.

Also people are attracted to movement. So while I try to minimize mine, I find it interesting that they are all over standing up (taller than the seated guest) and they therefore get some of our attention.

I do move around, but I try not to do it too much. And I like to sit back at this time with a good view in a spot where I'm not to distracting. Manuevering around tables is not easy. So when the servers are all over, it really does take away from an opportunity for me to capture true emotion.

Do you ever wonder why there is that clause in your agreement that says I can not be held responsible for any specific images..... because circumstances beyond my control. Yep this is one of those.

So, my recommendation is to talk to your staff if you have them. Family if they are doing it and try to instruct them that they should serve prior to and after the speeches. And on your part be sure to do those speeches at a time other than when dinner is being served. From my understanding once they start serving they really can't stop. I'm thinking this has to do with your dinner getting cold. So work with your caterer or event coordinator to help work these logistics out.

These first four images are all taken from the same wedding during the speeches. The first and second are in sequence of the father of the bride reacting to what his daughter had said about her parents. It has me in tears everytime I see them. The second two are the parents of the groom reacting to the grooms and the brides words. Have I ever mentioned I LOVE emotion. Just let it out!

This last image is the most unincriminating image I can find with a server walking right in front of