Eli's Photography Blog

Tuesdays with Eli – I’m in Sunny Ol’ Mexico!

I’m super excited to be spending a week with my best friend, Jordan and his family in Casa Palmeras, Mexico for 7 days! I’m actually on the plane right now. I set this blog up yesterday release this morning. This will be the last trip I take as a single man, better soak up the señoritas while I can, haha.  Leslie knows I’m just kidding. I’ll be taking lots of photos to share with you all! Stay tuned!

Tuesdays with Eli – Arkansas Mosquitoes

Hope it’s not too late for a Tuesdays with Eli blog post…Today was a very busy day for me. Lots of running around and craziness, but it ended on an awesome note. I finally got to shoot an engagement session similar to the “boat scene” in The Notebook. More on that later. Can’t wait to blog those. Well after we survived the alligators in the swamp, we decided to let the sun drop down and take on the deadly Arkansas Mosquitoes. I’m pretty brave when it comes to most environments, but it only took about two minutes in the misquotes for me to say “That’s a wrap!” Here is one shot I got. Those are NOT stars, they’re deadly Arkansas Mosquitos. Enjoy!

Tuesdays with Eli – Wedding Details For My Big Day!

Les + Eli – St. Thomas Virgin Islands October 5th 2010!

Okay, so I’m guessing some of you who read my blog are just a little bit curious about my personal wedding plans ever since I proposed to Leslie in December. I know we’ve definitely had our fair share of questions about when, where, and who is gonna be our photographer. Leslie and I have given a lot of thought into our wedding. I’m sure I’ve probably been a little more vocal with some of the planning than other grooms, but I have seen my fair share of weddings, haha. Leslie and I are so excited to be getting married! She has had her heart set on a destination wedding from day one, and that was just fine with me! I really love the idea of doing a wedding/honeymoon all in one. The only downside is not being able to share the day with much of our friends and family. We gave some serious thought about it, and have decided to have a very small, immediate family only ceremony in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. We want to keep the wedding very simple and come back after our honeymoon and throw a big party for friends and extended family. Oh and of course we’re gonna bring some photos back to share. We’re not sure on the details for the reception yet, stay tuned…but here is some info on our wedding in St. Thomas!
The ceremony will be Tuesday October 5th at Sugar Bay Wyndham!

Here is where we will be staying. It’s got some character huh? It’s called Bluebeards Castle. The original section was first built in the 1600’s. Sweeeeeet!

I sure do hope that we can find some beaches just like this one!!!

Okay and now to introduce our team of photographers. Haha, I say team because we may have went a little overkill on the amount of coverage for such a small wedding, but you know me. I love wedding photos! All I needed was an okay from Leslie. Leslie and I looked at a lot of really great photographers. There are so many talented photographers out there, the decision was a challenge. My grandmother did suggest that I just take my own wedding photos, haha.
Leslie and I are so excited to have booked Collin Hughes and Spencer Combs as our wedding photographers! Not only are these guys incredibly talented photographers, they are also two of the coolest dudes ever. Super nice guys and way fun! After my first phone conversation with Spencer and our video chat with Collin, we knew we had selected the perfect photographers for us!
The complete icing on the cake to this whole package though, is that we are also getting one of the most talented wedding filmmaker’s we’ve ever seen. Matt Brue with Capture Studios!! Before we booked him, Leslie and I would sit together and watch his past videos with tears(Leslie) for couple’s we didn’t even know. There is no doubt that Matt has some serious talent.
So there you go! Please check these guys out. They are all based out of Minnesota.

Leslie and I are so excited to get married! Our initial date discussed was Jan 2011, we just couldn’t wait that long! So now the madness begins! Stay tuned for more updates!
P.S. I want to apologize to whomever I stole the St. Thomas photos from. I just did a google image search for St. Thomas Virgin Islands. I’ll have some of my own to show soon enough.

Tuesdays with Eli – Rehearsal Dinners

The rain last weekend keep me from going to the Buffalo River and camping with my family, so I had to come up with something else to blog for this Tuesdays with Eli. I’m hoping that I will have another free weekend at some point before it gets too unbearably hot to go camping, and I can share some photos with you guys. So yesterday I blogged my good friends Brent and Rachel’s wedding day. I was looking through all the photos that I also took on the rehearsal night and I thought, hey I can blog this right? Haha. I’m not sure how many other wedding photographers attend the rehearsal of the wedding ceremony. I assume, once you’ve done it enough it’s unnecessary. But I am still pretty new, plus I enjoy going to meet the rest of the family before the wedding day. As long as I don’t have anything holding me back from going, I sit in during the rehearsal of the wedding. I love weddings because of the environment. I love how happy everyone is. From my experience, the rehearsals are just as good. I can also scope out the venue for some cool locations to shoot. Plus, the best part, most of the time I get invited to the rehearsal dinner. I’m not gonna lie, I like to eat! And once again this gives me an opportunity to get to know everyone a little better and everyone can get to know me. What better place to open up to people that around a dinner table breaking bread? Most importantly, I want the bride to be comfortable with me on her big day, but it’s always nice if everyone else knows me too. Anyway, here are just a few photos from Brent and Rachel’s rehearsal dinner. I had a blast, even better, Leslie was able to join me for this one!


Brent, me, Leslie, and Rachel.


Brent and Rachel had this super great candy jar set up! They had some of their engagement photos framed on display and various candies for everyone to enjoy. Of course I just got my new iPad and I’m eager for new ways to use it. I just so happened to have Brent and Rachel’s engagement photos on it, so I put it on slideshow and let it roll. Of course everyone loved it. Maybe you’ll want one for your wedding?

Tuesdays with Eli – Two Wheel Road Trips

Last weekend I took a short motorcycle trip with my brother in law, Nick. This was the first Saturday that I have had free in a while, and with the busy wedding season coming up, I’m gonna take these opportunities as they come. Riding a motorcycle through the winding Arkansas roads on a sunny spring day is one of those experiences that cannot be duplicated. I love smelling the country air, and feeling the warm sun and wind, plus exploring the back roads of Arkansas gives me an opportunity to find more possible portrait locations. Win. Win.

I met Nick at the public parking lot at beginning of Cantrell road downtown. This is where are journey began. I think we road for about 8 hours total. Highway 10, then highway 9 and 7 to Hotsprings, where we had lunch. I had the “Eli’s Cheddar Cheesebuger”. The burger was named after the owner’s son, Eli. I thought that was pretty cool, but the burger was not that great. Haha.  After Hot Springs we took highway 5 back to Little Rock. Anyway, we had a lot of fun, I hope you guys enjoy the photos!