Elise Beall Photography

May 17, 2012

Senior Madness Sale

Elise Beall Photography LOVES seniors!

senior madness-blog

Take advantage of my Senior Madness Sale. Call and schedule your senior portrait session by June 15 and choose your special . . .

1. Add a studio mini-session to the location session of your choice. At the studio mini-session you can select two backdrops and two clothing options. The mini-session will be held on the same day as the location session. For your location session, we’ll go where YOU want to go – the beach, the park, downtown, it’s up to you! Value ~ $75

OR

2. Increase your print credit by $75. Instead of a $175 print credit, you will receive $250 to purchase the prints of your choice.

In order to take advantage of the Senior Madness Sale, your must return your signed portrait agreement with a $150 booking fee no later than June 15. The session must take place no later than August 20. If you aren’t sure when you want to schedule your session, that’s OK! Just return the agreement and your retainer and we can schedule your session at a later date.

To view all pricing, click on the pink Portrait Pricing button above.

To book your session, call Elise at 910-389-2937 or send me a message by clicking on CONTACT in the menu bar.

Remember, at Elise Beall Photography, it’s all about YOU! Be yourself. Be extraordinary!

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May 13, 2012

Tabetha and Justin’s Wedding at Shell Island Resort, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Tabetha and Justin wanted a beach wedding and chose Shell Island Resort for their venue. Shell Island is at the very north end of Wrightsville Beach. Not too many years ago, we weren’t sure that Shell Island would survive the inlet migration that was robbing the resort of precious sand. At one point the water was mere yards from the resort. But dredging stabilized the inlet so Shell Island is going strong and is a beautiful venue for a beach wedding.

When I talked to Tabetha and Justin about their wedding, they were both adamant that they wanted to have a relationship with every guest at the wedding. They wanted a smaller, intimate wedding that was fun and personal. Since they have been friends since preschool, Justin and Tabetha have a lot of the same friends. Their parents are good friends so planning the wedding was a breeze. I love the beach details that made this wedding so special. I especially like the favors for guests. Tabetha and Justin gave each guest a scratch off lottery ticket. How cool is that? You get to go to the wedding, have a wonderful time, and maybe even win a bit of money. I call that a win-win-win! Penelope Morningstar was the officant for the wedding. She was warm and presented the loveliest non-denominational service that was neither too long nor too short. As usual, she was serious and solemn, but showed her utter joy for the couple throughout the service.

When I have a wedding coming up, I become addicted to weather.com. I started watching the long range forecast about 10 days before Tabetha and Justin’s May 5th wedding. It looked like it was going to be the perfect day. But as the wedding drew closer, the forecast started changing. By Saturday afternoon we were all very nervous. Charo, my associate photographer who photographed this wedding, and I texted several times during the afternoon. Charo is a pro at beach weddings and had everything under control – even if bad weather moved in too early. Luckily, it was cloudy and a bit windy at wedding time, but the rain held off until after the wedding and all of the pictures were finished. Whew! During the reception it didn’t just rain – it stormed with a vengeance. By that time everyone was inside dancing and having a wonderful time. Craig from Active Entertainment was the DJ for the evening. He kept the party hopping with a mixture of old line dancing favorites, hip-hop, and requests.

Now to share a sneak preview of the Tabetha and Justin’s wedding photographs. Just click on the right arrow symbol to start the slideshow. If you want to watch it again – move your cursor to the lower right of the picture and click on the right arrow symbol.

I had a great time working with Justin and Tabetha to plan their beach wedding. And I can’t believe how calm they were during the entire planning process. I just love working with couples who don’t get stressed out when their wedding day approaches. After our engagement session last month, even Justin said he had fun. And when they stopped by to pick up their custom designed Guest Book and prints, they both gave me big hugs. Tabetha told me that I had made everything so easy for them. That’s what I like to hear! And I’m so glad they chose Elise Beall Photography for their engagement and wedding photography.

Photographs by Charo Donohue for Elise Beall Photography.

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April 21, 2012

Footloose – The Cast

I spent some quality time with the cast of Jacksonville High School’s production of Footloose on Thursday. Our goal was to get a great cast picture and individual pictures of the those who wanted them. I always enjoy working with the kids at JHS and this year’s group was no exception. Every single one of them were polite, helpful, and a pleasure to work with. Honestly, I never saw one single eye roll in the 2.5 hours I was there! In my experience working with teenagers, that is just short of miraculous.

First I’ll show you the sneak preview of the individual pictures. We let each cast member choose the costume they wanted to wear in the individual pictures. I truly felt like I was back in the 80s. I fell in love with Rachael’s red boots and Taylor Rochelle’s Pink Floyd shirt. I have to tell you, Drew was about the cutest thing I have ever seen! Oh my, I remember him so well when I used to take pictures of his soccer team – back when he was in elementary school. Taylor Shockley sported her cowboy hat with such flair! We had to laugh because Ashley’s hair was so big, she couldn’t actually get her hat on. The kids who play adults weren’t nearly as excited about their costumes, but everyone looked great. When the gallery is ready, there will be about 5 to choose from – but for now here’s one. To view the slideshow, just click on the arrow. At the end, if you would like to view it again, put your mouse over the lower right size of the block and click the right arrow symbol. To view the pictures larger, click over the circle symbol on the lower right.

When it was time to shoot the entire cast, we had a little problem. The director and cast had trouble coming to consensus on what costume to wear. I stay out of it – I just photograph what’s there. Mr. Moe wanted the prom scene costumes while some of the kids really wanted the opening number costumes. So we compr0mised . . . we did both! When Mr. Moe asked if I could shoot the group twice, in different costumes, I told him we were working under some time constraints, but if the kids could change quickly I would do it. He gave them 5 minutes to make the change. I could hardly believe how fast those kids got off the stage, into their changing areas, changed and back on the risers in position. After I shot the 2nd group and walked through the chorus room on my way out, I understood how the girl’s changed so quickly. There were clothes EVERYWHERE. It looked like a tornado had been through there. In fact, it looked just like my daughter’s bedroom did when she lived at home

First, in their prom scene costumes.

And in their opening number, Footloose, costumes.

I’m not sure which I prefer – I like them both. The students who ordered group pictures will be able to choose the one they want.

On Tuesday I will be back at the school to photograph the dress rehearsal. I can hardly wait to see this show! Footloose will be presented on April 26, 27, and 28. To purchase tickets online, click HERE. You’ll be glad you did!

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April 18, 2012

Ramsey’s First Birthday Portrait Session!

I know I say this over and over, but time just seems to be flying by! It seems like only a few weeks ago that I was photographing Ramsey as a newborn. At that very first session, I fell in love with this family. Ramsey’s mom got me hooked on ETSY for baby accessories and it was this session that made me realize that I wanted to learn more about photographing babies and children. Two seminars and hundreds of dollars of props later, newborns have become one of my favorite sessions to photograph. Look at this precious baby and tell me you wouldn’t have been hooked, too!

In November, Ashley brought Ramsey and her big sister, Savannah, in for Christmas pictures. These girls are amazingly cute and well behaved. Both girls are so happy, they are a joy to photograph. And I absolutely love Ashley’s style. There are always bows and accessories to match every outfit. There are some sellers on ETSY that will go into a deep depression if Ashley ever stops shopping for these girls! Ramsey looks more like a one year old than a six month old in this picture.

Ashley contacted me about a month ago to schedule Ramsey’s first birthday session. How can that be? I was thrilled with her ideas. Think tutus and fairy wings. Then throw in pettiskirts and cupcakes. Oh my, the thoughts of these two precious little girls in all of their finery just made me happy! We started the session in tutus in a wooded area. Then we moved to the water. Dad’s job was to keep the children, especially Ramsey, out of the river. She may be only a year old, but she’s been walking since she was 9 months old and she’s a perpetual motion machine. When she first got out of the car, she gave Karen and I huge smiles so we knew we were in for a good time. By the end of the session Ramsey was getting very tired. We had been working and playing for about an hour and it was nearly her bed time. I just knew that when we let her dig into the cupcakes, she would get happy and devour them. She surprised me. She really didn’t want to eat the cupcakes – she was DONE.

To view the images, just click on thumbnail under the large picture and it will open in a larger view. Put your cursor over the picture and you can click the “next” and “prev” buttons to go forwards and backwards in the gallery.

It’s easy to tell when a little one has had all she can take. You can tell by the last picture in her session that Ramsey had reached the end of her patience. So we quit right away. We make it a point not to torture our child clients – even with cupcakes.

I’m already looking forward to our next session with Savannah and Ramsey. Can’t wait to see what Ashely comes up with next. I wish I could afford to pay her to style my newborn and baby sessions. She is wonderful!

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April 14, 2012

Siobhan’s Senior Portrait Session!

Siobhan decided to wait until Spring Break for her senior portrait session. She is one busy young lady! For the past several months she has been practicing for her role in Footloose. She has also been working hard to prepare for college. I was so happy to hear that Siobhan has decided to go to my alma mater – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We need more Tarheels around here. Even though Carolina is extremely competitive, I have had quite a few clients over the last several years accepted. Makes me so proud

Siobhan had a mixed session – partly inside and partly outside. This is something new I am offering seniors. It provides more variety than you can get either in the studio or on location alone. Normally, we wouldn’t use but one, or possibly two, backdrops for the studio portion of the session. But there were several things I wanted to try with Siobhan and she was willing to do whatever we wanted. I really love the images of Siobhan on the red backdrop. It’s great with her dark hair. This was the first time we tried the whitewashed wood backdrop and we love it! For the location portion of the session we headed downtown. It’s getting harder and harder to find really urban looking locations in downtown Jacksonville. I understand why building owners are cleaning up, painting and revitalizing their properties, but it’s wreaking havoc with some of my favorite locations! Luckily, we were able to get to two of the locations I’ve used before – but barely.

Siobhan is naturally quiet and a bit shy. I’m afraid Karen and I talked the poor girl to death. We having such fun with this session, I think we wore Siobhan out. I’m so glad we were able to get great shots for this Carolina Girl!

(The slideshow plays automatically. If you want to view it again, just put your cursor over the picture. Then click on the right arrow symbol on the lower right.)

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