https://danielellisphotography.co.uk/

Daniel Ellis Photography, 47 Drake Avenue, Teignmouth (2026)

05/12/2025

Well this was a lovely surprise for the end of the year! Top 10 in the UK and Top 30 in the World over at . Which seems like it must be some kind of a mistake!

A lot has changed for us in the last few months so looking back at these pictures of the boys they don't all feel like they were this year. They're the same boys as in the last image of them on the swings but in another sense they're both very different now too. I guess that's par for the course with young children.

I'm honoured to receive these awards, especially when the photos are of my own family. Long before I joined, I'd pore over each new awards collection and wonder at them. Congratulations to everyone who was awarded this year, I love seeing your work!

Thank you to the judges and for taking the time to organise such an inspiration set of awards and community. I hope you all have a lovely rest of the year and a relaxing holiday with your loved ones.

28/11/2025

At a recent wedding, I got talking to a guest who was interested in seeing my work, so I gave them my Instagram handle, and they looked me up then and there.

What they said instantly threw me: "Huh, you show a lot of family photos for a wedding photographer". I think I gave a slightly nervous laugh and replied, "I do, don't I?" and we swiftly moved on.

But now I've had some time to think about it, I have a better understanding of why it made me feel so uncomfortable and why I do it.

When I started my wedding photography business, most of the advice was to post frequently and only post photos that are directly related to weddings. I've never done either.

My posting to social media is infrequent to say the least, and I concentrate most of my efforts on updating my website with my best work and meaningful words about it. When I think that will translate over to social media, I post it there. Otherwise, I mostly stay away. This is because (1) I could never hope to understand or keep up with the algorithms that govern it and (2) I have two small children and not much time or energy, so I have to be careful where I spend it.

I see my social media having a single purpose - to interest the right couples enough to visit my website. As long as it does that, I don't pay attention to likes or comments. By 'right couples' I simply mean couples who are drawn to the way I photograph.

Because I show a lot of my own candid family photography, I attract a lot of couples who either have their own children or are having a wedding where they are having lots of young guests. It's now rare that a couple I meet with don't mention my family photography.

There's also a less immediately obvious reason why I think showing my personal photography works for me.

When I show my family photography, I'm showing you how much photography is part of my life. My cameras aren't squirrelled away in a bag between weddings. They wait in the living room, kitchen and by the door to capture everyday moments in my life.

In short, if I make good wedding photos, it's because I spend the rest of my time making personal photos.

08/10/2025

It’s always an honour to receive a award. There are thousands of entries, and only a very small handful win. I absolutely do not take them for granted. It’s a bit of recognition by other photographers I admire that my work is good, acknowledging that “good” when it comes to any form of art is highly subjective.

When it comes to my family photography, it’s almost exclusively focused on my own family. The photos and stories are of my boys, my wife and sometimes Morty too. Their relationships with each other, their laughter, tears and fights. These are the photos I print and put up in our house. And that’s what photography is about.

If you love a photo and treasure the moment it captures, print it and display it somewhere it will be seen. That’s where the lasting enjoyment is. The photo on the wall will make you smile or feel something every time you walk past it. I’ve taken, edited and printed far, far more photos I love than I could ever win awards for. Awards are a lovely, unexpected bonus. A little temporary ego boost, and not something to chase.

Anyway, today is actually my first child-free day where both children are at pre-school or school at the same time, rather than with one of us.

I’m off to walk Morty and get some coffee.

Thanks again and all the judges 😊

05/09/2025

"Let's have a wedding, the best wedding yet, a wedding that no one will ever forget" - The Scarecrows Wedding.

If you've had kids in the past 10 years or so you probably know where that line comes from. But swipe to number 3 to see why I've used it.

DIY weddings often land a little differently and Sarah and Owain's wedding on the Summer Solstice was no exception. It was an absolute honour to spend the longest day photographing them and their friends and family.

Their wedding was a real community event with the whole village both turning out for it and chipping in. Almost all the flowers were cut by Sarah and Owain's neighbours from their own gardens. And the reception venue was an actual cow barn the week before the wedding.

There were so many beautiful moments from their day that it's hard to choose only a few but these are some of my absolute favourites.

25/01/2025

Finlay is very into anything police related at the moment and Toby just wants to be like his big brother.

We only have one police tabard and hat though so Toby gets the adult sized fluorescent jacket from the car breakdown kit and a shark swim cap instead. He's very happy with this arrangement, running after Finlay claiming to be the "Shark Police". 🥰

It does make it look a bit like I'm leading some kind of tiny school outing or possibly just that I lose them a lot 😁

07/01/2025

Not every wedding has a dance floor, and neither should they. It’s your wedding, and if you’re not into dancing, you should do something else instead*. But if you do have a dance floor I’ll be on it photographing the fun for as much of the night as you want me to.

This year I’ve been on the dance floor when the groom has been playing on stage, a guest has been up singing with the band and where the kids have taken it over as their own space. I’ve had tremendous fun photographing all of them.

Like the wedding itself, no two dance floors are the same. Some are a bit quieter, some are completely packed from start to finish. Whichever yours turns out to be, as a candid documentary wedding photographer I don’t change my approach.

I don’t set up multiple flash stands that get in the way, I don’t get in people’s faces or try and change what’s going on. As with the rest of the day, I’ll quietly move amongst your guests to observe where the next photo is, take it and move on again making sure to never interrupt or intrude on the fun.

These are some of my favourite dance floor photos, all taken in my candid and timeless photography style. Some are packed, mid-dance moments others are from quieter moments when the dance floor is largely empty.

I particularly love the two young girls dancing as mum watches in the background (7), the mother and father of the bride together on an empty dance floor (8), and the energy the guests are bringing in number 9.

Do you have any favourites?

*My wife and I had a pile of board games instead, with Crokinole (a dexterity game of flicking small wooden disks into a hole) proving an excellent hit amongst our guests. It’s fast, simple and perhaps most importantly, you can play it whilst holding a drink.

03/01/2025

There are almost always a lot of hugs at a wedding. While looking through my 2024 weddings for my favourites, I noticed a common theme: men of all ages and from all generations outwardly showing affection and love for their friends and family.

That doesn’t sound like much, it almost sounds like a stupid statement now I've written it. But when I was growing up, public shows of affection, especially between men, were not all that visible. Maybe it has always been there and I’ve just not noticed before. Maybe we’ve collectively become more open. Maybe it’s just the effect of weddings.

Whatever the reason, this year I’ve witnessed a lot of hugs and affection between male guests, the groom and his friends, fathers and their young children, fathers and their not-so-young children, and grandfathers and their grandchildren.

Some were in quiet moments, some were centre stage during the wedding. They were all beautiful moments and I couldn’t think of a better way to open 2025 than with my favourites.

02/01/2025

I meant to finish and post this before the new year but life and the holidays got in the way. Most of these photos are taken on mundane and otherwise unremarkable days and not of special occasions or moments, but they are no less special for it. I hope they act as a reminder to take more photos of your family.

If you’d like someone else to capture the uniqueness of your family in a relaxed and candid way, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

These candid family photos (in no particular order) bring me joy because they each have a story attached to them. It’s the memory associated with them that makes them special to me rather than anything else. I hope you enjoy them too.

1 - Copycat

2 - Good Morning Brother

3 - Little Feet, Little Shoes, Little Hands

4 - A Play-Time Pit Stop

5 - The Garden Tent

6 - Where Did Mummy Go?

7 - Small Boy Acrobatics

8 - Can You Have Too Much Ice Cream?

9 - Mine!

10 - Childhood Memories

11 - Best Hug

12 - Bonus Good Dog

20/12/2024

I’ve had a great time photographing big and small weddings, both at beautiful venues and gorgeous DIY creations. I loved all of them.

As the year comes to an end I’ve put together a post of my favourite candid wedding photos from 2024. The full post is up on my wedding blog.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Have a fantastic time over the holidays!

1 - Favourite Dance Floor Kiss
2 - Favourite Hands
3 - Favourite Kiss
4 - Favourite Unexpected Moment
5 - Favourite Groom Prep Moment
6 - Favourite Bride Prep Moment
7 - Favourite Hug
8 - Favourite Party Moment
9 - Favourite Unexpected Moment during the Ceremony 10 - Favourite Detail
11 - Bonus Favourite Non-wedding Photo Taken at a Wedding

01/10/2024

Time flies! Unbelievably, it was Toby's 2nd birthday last weekend.

He enjoyed the balloons and cake the most, although being able to scoot outside like his big brother was a highlight too.

Finlay spent most of the day hyping Toby up about his birthday but he's only 3 so there were a few altercations as well.

Anyway, here are 10 fairly random frames from the day.

01/09/2024

Ten more frames of the boys enjoying the summer.

30/08/2024

I had a wonderful time photographing Caroline and Tim's wedding. It was so full of love and everyone was clearly having a fantastic time.

Here are 10 moments from the day, captured candidly.

Daniel Ellis Photography

05/12/2025

28/11/2025

08/10/2025

05/09/2025

25/01/2025

07/01/2025

03/01/2025

02/01/2025

20/12/2024

01/10/2024

01/09/2024

30/08/2024

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