Ocean City, MD engagment photos

Kristian and Andrew are getting married in June 2010 and were in town for their engagement photos. Here's a sneak peek:

Kristian and Andrew are getting married in June 2010 and were in town for their engagement photos. Here's a sneak peek:

I've been falling off on the blog posts, been meaning to add one recently but just haven't had the time. I did two great weddings the past two weekends- both had terrible weather forecasts but turned out to be beautiful days! The weather doesn't look so cooperative for today's wedding though.





Here's a shot from Laura and Jamar's wedding at Salero in Rehoboth. They were so great to work with and I had a blast at the wedding (of course, I always have a great time at weddings).

Here's what Laura had to say on a wedding planning/review site called Wedding Wire:

I was immediately impressed by Sam when I visited his website. He is an amazing artist. The skills, knowledge, love and passion he has for his art makes every detail of your wedding a lifelong memory. For all the stress and lack of sleep the final days before our wedding day, I knew if anything went according to plan it would be with Sam. Our wedding ceremony was on the beach. For 10 days before (thats when I started hounding the weather channel every hour for updates) it was supposed to be rainy and stormy. Well, let just say it was completely opposite. 90 and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Yes, perfect and Sam captured every moment of it. Diving in the sand to catch the right moment. Switching from one shot to grab a split second shot just in time. I cannot wait to see the rest of our pictures. Not even 3 hours after our wedding was over, he sent me a message saying the preview was up on his website. I cannot express how grateful and pleased I am with Sam and his work. Please dont look any further, you have found your man, right here, with Sam Ellis! ~ Thanks Sam for the best wedding experience and memories to last a lifetime. I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks, Laura!

Birds of Prey

I first got truly hooked on photography taking nature photos after college. That's what started the whole better camera/better lens/better film obsession commonly referred to as NAS (Nikon Aquisition Syndrome). When I was asked if I could do weddings, I thought, "hmmmm, I could buy more camera gear." Little did I know that I would LOVE weddings and launch a career out of it.

Every now and then, and not as often as I would like, I go out and do some nature photography again. Today I found myself wandering around the area and spotted three osprey hanging around. FIVE HUNDRED frames later, I came away with some amazing shots! Below are some of my favorites, more can be found here. Double click on the images below to see them larger.

Sunset

I love sunsets. It's just cool to see how the light changes the look of everything. Even boring invasive plants like phragmites can look beautiful at sunset. These were taken spur of the moment across the street from my house. It would be nice if the houses weren't there, but I just went for a walk with Ryan and grabbed a few shots. I think next week we'll go on a photo shoot to a state park and do some nature photography together. Stay tuned.

Great timing!

I did a maternity photo shoot on Sunday, we were cutting it close because the due date was Wednesday. I found out today (Monday) that she delivered! Whooo, that was close! Now I can schedule the newborn photos :)

Here's the funny thing- I thought it would be cool to write the baby's top secret name in the sand along with the date. So I wrote the date as 4/ /09 under the name and a few feet over I wrote 1, 2, 3, and 5 figuring I could Photoshop the numbers in. Wouldn't you know it, she was born on 3/30/09!

Congratulations to Anna and Sean, I hear Charlotte (Charlie) is beautiful!

First wedding of 2009

And so begins the 2009 wedding season! Winter is generally a slow time of year for me, why doesn't anyone want to get married at the beach in December, January, or February? OK, I did have one in December, but that's rare.

The wedding took place in this little church in a tiny town outside of OC called Bishopville. After the ceremony, it was off to the boardwalk (via anything but a direct route) to get some shots at a place with some fond memories for them- Ripley's Believe it or Not! We got some shots on the boardwalk, then off to the Golden Sands for the reception. Eileen and the crew did a fantastic job with the food, DJ Rupe (well, his substitute, Rupe's probably in the islands or watching spring training somewhere) did a great job getting the dancefloor hopping, and we experimented with some new lighting techniques (the backlit dance shot for example).

I'm bummed because the next one's not for another month! I had an April wedding booked, but something fell through (I didn't ask questions). I'm looking forward to having a party every weekend again. Weddings are so much fun!

Sunrise at the beach

It's interesting that one of the things the pastor said in church this morning was, "If you live here and haven't seen a sunrise over the ocean, you're missing out." Well, it was something to that effect anyway. The year I worked at a bakery in Bethany, I would ride my bike to work and watch the sunrise from the boardwalk. It's such a beautiful sight and always different.
This weekend, we stayed at the Clarion in Ocean City. It's only twenty mintues away, but we had "won" a two night stay at a charity silent auction. I knew I wanted to see the sunrise so I woke up early and snuck out of the room. I took a series of photos but never captured exactly what I was looking for- the sunrise shining through a wave. Here are some of my favorites from this morning anyway.