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  Photo by Stephen Elliot

After Saturday’s wedding I got home at 1:00 AM, re-charged my batteries, imported the day’s photos, and packed my bags to catch a plane the next morning. I landed in Portland, Maine at noon and went straight to Sebasco Harbor to start shooting Jamie and Jonathan’s wedding. Given the tight schedule, let’s just say we could all breathe a little easier when I got there.

I had no idea Maine was such a beautiful place! It was almost hard to take a bad picture. I feel so blessed and honored to be given the opportunity to photograph weddings like this. Thanks for letting me be a part of it, friends! You can find your photos here later in September.

Lastly, I gotta give another shout out to Emily Chastain. Those who frequent this blog will know that she and I have worked together a couple times before. She was actually a bridesmaid in this wedding and I probably owe her a bigger thanks than this for putting in a good word for me with this couple =)

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Whew! What a weekend! Saturday was spent shooting Janet and Anthony’s wedding on both sides of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. They treated me like family and were so easy to work with. I don’t think I ever got bored in the 12 hours I spent taking pictures. It was a long day for sure, but we got a lot of great photos and had fun doing it! Check their online gallery in September to see the rest of their wedding photos.

Gotta give a shout out to Dan Hogarty and Jeremiah Gruber for their help shooting and filming this one with me. Those two fellas worked hard and made me look good!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

A couple friends of mine are getting married today, and I have the privilege of photographing the wedding. We shot their engagement photos several weeks ago around the DC landmarks. Check out the photos here!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

It’s kinda crazy to think that this is the fifth year that I’ve shot this event, yet I still look forward to it every time. It takes place on the beach at sunset, which always makes for beautiful pictures. Add in a strikingly visual religious experience and it almost becomes difficult to take a bad photo. Perhaps my favorite thing about it all is capturing these moments to serve as reminders for the people who publicly declared their faith in Christ.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Most of what I photograph is happy and pretty: weddings, galas, private events, festivals, etc… Rarely do I get an opportunity to work on something dark and dramatic. So when I posted an Open Call photo shoot I had an opportunity to shoot whatever I wanted. Truthfully I had no idea what I was going to do, but I grabbed my dive knife and tried to get creative. You can see the results here. *Note: the photos may be disturbing, just so you know.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Happy Fourth of July! I’ll be shooting the fireworks and fun at Gaylord National today. This picture was taken a few weeks ago just off the trail along the Woodrow Wilson bridge. It was certainly no walk on the beach but well worth it to get a good photo.

P.S. You can see fireworks at Gaylord every Saturday night this summer. Check it out if you’re looking for something fun to do one weekend!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Yesterday morning two notable Presidents checked in to the Gaylord National hotel, and I had the joy of photographing it. George and Abe are on loan from Madame Tussauds wax museum, and they will be calling the hotel home for the summer.

The shoot was a blast! So creative and fun escorting them around like VIP guests at the hotel. Gaylord’s PR team deserves a shoutout for their clever ideas, as do the folks from Madame Tussauds for being so pleasant to work with. Thanks for making it a great shoot!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I got to try my hand at some candid fashion and runway photography thanks to the Crystal City BID. Last Saturday the models and event organizers came together for the final rehearsal for Crystal Couture.

They didn’t have any specific instructions for me –literally, “Find whatever is happening and then photograph it,” so I had free reign to get creative. =) I love the way some of the shots turned out, and it was a great introduction to that industry.

The big event is happening this week, but those details deserve their own post…

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I’ve had an unshakable urge to create something lately. It doesn’t seem to matter what; just so long as I do something. I’ve been on the artists’ roller coaster that slowly climbs up frustration, rushes down inspiration, and then goes around practice and patience, through the dark tunnel of questions, and then one last rush of exhilaration before arriving at the place it started.

That was my week. And yesterday I made these.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I consider myself very blessed by the work opportunities I’ve been given. The Gaylord National hotel has been responsible for some of the coolest shoots I’ve done, and this week has been no exception.

I’m not sure if they “let” me in or “pushed” me in, but either way I’ve spent over 9 hours in the ICE! box shooting photos for their marketing team. Despite being 23 degrees below freezing, it’s been a blast to get a sneak peek of what will most certainly be the talk of the town this Christmas season.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Last night I had the privilege of photographing a private event for NPR, celebrating 30 years of the Diane Rehm Show. BizBash was my client, and they wasted no time in posting their story. I love seeing my photos get put to use so quickly!

Relatively speaking it was a simple event, so I had to get a little creative at times. I wandered back into the kitchen, up on the balcony, and just about anywhere else I could find an interesting shot. As usual, you can find some of my favorites here.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Three days ago I tweeted about the new Photo Jojo book. I had never heard of it, but David Hobby (aka the Strobist) highly recommended it so I figured I’d take his word and put it on my Amazon wishlist.

Unbeknownst to me, a friend saw my tweet and wasted no time in ordering the book for me. Needless to say, I was surprised and stoked to find the book in the mail yesterday!

I figured this random act of kindness deserved a random act of creativity –not to mention that’s the theme of the book. This simple photo took an hour of my day, but I’m grateful for the chance to exercise some creativity. =)

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

It’s kind of a long story, but the short of it goes like this: I wanted to experiment with Christmas lights in a photo shoot. I wanted to get a big, poofy background full of out-of-focus lights, (Uncle Rico would call it “billowy”) and I wanted some really interesting catchlights in their eyes.

If you check out the photos then you’ll notice that I didn’t accomplish either of those goals. I did, however, learn a lot from this experimental shoot. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful too.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Apparently I’m an attraction at Gaylord National this weekend.

They are offering a host of free activities for hotel guests this weekend, and one of those items is a “family souvenir photo.” Basically I setup a photo studio at the hotel each day so I can shoot and print photos immediately.

Today was the first day and we’ll be doing it again Sunday and Labor Day. Surprisingly it’s been one of my biggest (read: gear intensive) photo shoots yet. If I’m feeling particularly ambitious maybe I’ll blog about my setup. Come check it out!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I shot a wedding with a small army of photographers this Wednesday, namely Emily Chastain and Dan Hogarty.

I’m so appreciative of these two for their hard work and professionalism. It’s a lot of fun to have two other photographers to collaborate with in real time. I hope we get to work together more often!

After the wedding we grabbed some smoothies and talked shop for a while. I love connecting and sharing experiences with friends on a professional level. Many thanks, Emily and Dan!

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I rented a 10.5mm fisheye lens yesterday for my assistant to use at a wedding. Around 2:00 AM (long after the wedding) I was packing all the rental gear and I thought, “Ya know, I’ve only got this lens for a few more hours, I should make the most of it.” Here’s what I came away with in the wee hours of the morning.

In all honesty, I didn’t feel like taking any more pictures. I already spent about 7 hours on my feet shooting a wedding, and all I wanted to do at that point was go to bed. Even still, I made myself get out and experiment, and you should too! Chances are, the inspiration you’ve been looking for is waiting behind an ordinary opportunity.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I had the privilege of shooting some family photos for my good friend David Russell. They were planning to move back home to Alabama, so they wanted some photos to remember their time here with their toddler son and a baby girl on the way.

We spent almost two hours snapping photos around Upper Senate Park. It’s amazing how fun and spontaneous a shoot can be when you have a toddler rock star to contend with. Be sure to check out the rest of the photos; I think you’ll like ‘em =)

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

At least once a month I get bored with my style of photography. I feel like I always do the same, predictable things over and over. It leaves me feeling like I’m not creative enough, or that I’m somehow less of a photographer.

It’s important that I don’t let these thoughts consume me, but rather that I channel them into something productive. Such was the case with my random photos from Jazz in the Garden.

I made a point to avoid my usual editing techniques and instead to try something different. I did everything wrong in hopes that something would spark some inspiration. Can’t say I’ve met with any raging success so far, but if nothing else it has confirmed that maybe I like my style of photography better than I thought.

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Every year my church spends a summer afternoon at Sandy Point State Park playing games, eating, worshiping our Creator, and celebrating baptism.

It is hands down my favorite church event to photograph every year. It’s always a little nerve racking to be waist-deep in the Chesapeake Bay while carrying thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment, but the pictures are well worth it! Check ‘em out!