Sam Ellis Photography

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United States
Ocean View, DE
Sam Ellis Photography

Specializing in weddings, senior portraits, and headshots at the Delaware beaches or anywhere needed!

Beach weddings are the heart of my business, but I will travel anywhere my services are needed. I blend a photojournalistic style with traditional photography to give couples the wonderful candid moments they love while providing classic family poses with a lighthearted flair. I try to keep my photographs as clean and natural looking as possible without overprocessing them in Photoshop. In addition to weddings, I photograph senior portraits and family portraits throughout the region or in my studio in Ocean View, Delaware. As a high school Communication Technology teacher, I get to share my love of photography and design with my students. Several of my students have gone on to pursue careers in design and photography and have interned with me on many occasions. I am joined in business by my wife who handles managing the business, retouching, and album design.

10/13/2026

Wedding tip time! Just some observations from the past few weeks/months/years/decades:
1. Boutonnieres go on the left side "over the heart"
2. When a man and a woman are walking together (for introductions to the reception, etc.) it's "ladies on the left."
2a. Adding to that, when a woman takes a man's arm, she just holds the inner elbow, you don't lock elbows, that's for square dancing :)
3. Corsages go on the left wrist, but can be moved for photos.

I've seen DJs line wedding parties up and say definitively, "Women on the right because the woman is always right."
I've also heard someone tell the groomsmen that the flower goes on the right, "opposite of the pocket." NO
I bit my tongue because I didn't want to step on anyone's toes, especially the DJ who is a professional and must do this EVERY time!!! Yikes!

I used to do a Wedding Tip Wednesday blog with things like this, maybe it needs to come back.

08/10/2026

POLL: Is there any interest in Christmas card sessions on a blank backdrop where you can use AI to create your own scene? Photos taken in my studio so no worrying about weather or ideal sun.
This is an old photo of my family and I played around in Photoshop just as an example, but you would be able to do this with ChatGPT, or possibly even Canva.
The session would be $200 and you can pick which image you want to work with which will be fully retouched and ready for you to experiment with backgrounds to suit you.
I know AI is a controversial subject and I'm not debating it's merits or impacts, many people use it every day and this isn't the place for that debate :)

07/26/2026

Sam proposed to Emma at Tower Rd. which has sentimental history for them and she was ACTUALLY surprised! She knew it was coming, but expected it next month, she said she lost a bet LOL!
I love shooting proposals and actually booked another one yesterday before I headed out for this one. Keep 'em coming!!!

04/08/2026

I hear it ALL THE TIME...our little ones are in bed before 8pm so sunset portraits aren't good for us. I get it, it's tough to break that routine so I'm now offering SUNRISE MINI SESSION for family portraits! These will be 15 minute sessions, scheduled between actual sunrise and one hour after sunrise. Sunrise mini sessions are $200 and add you can add all the digital files when booking for an additional $200 (this is $300 when ordered after the session).
Sunrise minis are only offered between the Indian River Inlet and Fenwick Island :)
Start the morning off with a family portrait, then go out for breakfast or hit the beach while it's empty!
Here are some sample sunrise portraits, I used to RARELY offer them but I think it will fit some people's schedules :)

01/08/2026

It's probably safe to throw these hard drives out, right?
Although, I got an email recently from a 2009 client asking if I still had her images because some of her prints got damaged. I do still have them, they're on my website! I even have the record of what prints she ordered so she can get exact replacements.
But it's all online so I can get rid of these drives. Who knows if they even work.

01/03/2026

Recently engaged? CONGRATULATIONS 🤍

Your wedding photos should feel effortless, honest, and true to you. I focus on clean, natural images that capture real moments — nothing forced, nothing overly styled. Just your story, beautifully documented.

Now booking weddings for 2026 and 2027!
Inquire via DM or email [email protected] to check availability or learn more.

www.samellis.com

01/02/2026

I ended 2025 with an engagement session, 7 headshots in one day, and a wedding on NYE, so I've been a little too busy to do a full year-in-review so here's my Top 9 from Instagram :)
The first is a proposal, does this resonate with you or someone you know who just got engaged??? I have 2026 dates available and can book 2027, too! There's also a few senior portraits which are another big segment for me and I'd love to start booking senior sessions!

09/09/2025

Interested in a little before and after editing? This was a staged group photo to set up a marriage proposal, so I didn't spend a lot of time doing family portraits. After the fact, I was asked if I could remove the nephew and his now fiance from the photo. I'm always up for a challenge and put some of Photoshops advanced tools to the test. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with what was accomplished!

08/14/2025

Cleaning things out and came across my first sample wedding album!!! There's some gems in here but honestly, I think the images stand the test of time. Clean, true-to-color, sharp, properly exposed images will never go out of style. OK, ok, the crooked horizon bothers me LOL!
I officially started my business two years earlier and had been shooting weddings about ten years before that!

07/25/2025

Who needs a senior or family portrait? I had a cancellation for Monday, August 4th that I'd like to re-book!!! Please email me at [email protected] because FB messages don't always come through.

Address

Ocean View, DE

Website

http://www.samellis.com/

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