I've been making people look like themselves on purpose for ten years

For every body, every family, every person who's never liked a photo of themselves. For people who've never seen themselves the way the people who love them do.

You don't have to look a certain way to deserve a photograph. You don't even have to like being photographed. You just have to show up. I’ll make sure there’s good light, honest editing, and someone who actually sees you.

What you’re actually paying for

When you book Photos by Elliot, you're not just paying for someone to point a camera in your general direction. You're paying for —


( 01 )

Direction that meets you where you are. If you're stiff, we work through it. If you're a natural, I get out of your way. Either way, we get there.


( 02 )

Editing that doesn't sand off what makes you look like you. Your features, your skin tone, your actual face — rendered with intention, not corrected into someone else.


( 03 )

I've shot every body type, every skin tone, every person who walked in convinced they weren't photogenic. The camera doesn't have a type. Neither do I.


( 04 )

Most people don't dislike being photographed. They dislike being photographed badly. There's a difference and I've spent ten years living in it.


( 05 )

The photograph you've been putting off is always the one you end up wishing you had sooner. Ten years of clients have told me this. I'm just passing it along.

Families

Families don't look one way. They never did. Mine are multigenerational, blended, chosen, queer, interracial, and every combination of the above — and the photographs reflect that because I shoot what's actually in front of me, not a template of what a family is supposed to look like. An hour in good light, with someone who's genuinely glad you showed up exactly as you are.

  • Direction that works for actual children, not children who cooperate on command

  • Editing that sees every skin tone in your family correctly — no one gets flattened to make the palette easier

  • On-location wherever your family actually lives, plays, or feels most like itself

  • No making anyone stand still who doesn't want to

  • Chosen families, blended families, multigenerational families, two-mom families — this is all just family to me

Graduating Seniors

I'm a nontraditional student who took 10 years to get my BS. I know exactly what it costs to earn a degree — the years, the money, the relationships you rearranged, the times you almost stopped.

A graduation portrait is evidence. You did something hard and you deserve a photograph that looks like it meant something.

  • We can think beyond the cap and gown — and lean into whatever else actually represents who you are

  • On-location anywhere that means something: your campus, your city, somewhere in the mountains

  • Quick turnaround options available because you've got things to send to your grandmother and you were too busy with finals to book

Boudoir

The clients who have moved me most came into a boudoir session bracing for evidence of everything they felt wrong about their bodies. They left unable to stop looking at the photographs. I know what it costs someone to show up for this and don't take that lightly.

I've watched people's entire relationship with themselves shift in the time it takes to look at the back of my camera screen. That's not something I take credit for — it was always there. I just know how to find the angle that shows it.

Proposals

A proposal is the one photograph your partner will never see coming. The moment is over in four seconds and the photographs last forever, which is exactly why the planning beforehand is everything. You handle the location, the speech, the ring. I handle the rest.

  • Full advance coordination — location scouting, timing, positioning, and a signal system so nothing is left to chance

  • Hidden or discreet positioning so your partner never spots the camera before the moment

  • Fast turnaround because you're going to want to send these immediately

  • Coordination with venue staff or third parties when needed

THE EXPERIENCE

What it’s like to work together

( 01 )

Before the shoot

The pre-session conversation is where the good photographs start. I want to know what you're using these for, what's made you uncomfortable in front of a camera before, and what would make this feel worth it. By the time we actually shoot, none of that is still in the room.

I do my homework before you arrive. Location, light, timing, what you want and what you want to avoid — all of it settled in advance so the session itself is just the two of us doing the work. No figuring it out on your time.

( 02 )

The day itself

Whatever the session brings — kids who won't cooperate, nerves that won't quit, light that changed an hour before we started — I move with it. No visible frustration, no redirecting the energy onto you. My job is to stay loose enough that you can too, and to recognize the good moment when it happens whether we planned for it or not.

Ten years of portraits means I've worked with every version of camera-shy there is. I direct just enough to get you there and back off the moment it's working. The session will feel easier than you expected. That's not an accident.

( 03 )

After the session

I turn portraits around quickly because I know what it's like to be waiting. I edit with the same intention I brought to the session, not processing in bulk and throwing it into a gallery. What you get is exactly what I'd want to hand someone.

Sneak peeks within 48 hours. Your full gallery lands within ten days, fully edited, print release included, ready to use wherever you need it. No chasing me down. No wondering if it's coming.

KIND WORDS
KIND WORDS

“Elliot was an absolute joy to work with for a couple's photoshoot! They provided guidance and suggestions on positioning, while encouraging us to move around in the way that was most natural for us to catch genuine moments of connection and humor.

The afternoon itself was a fun experience that brought us closer together as a couple and the photos turned out to be such a beautiful testament to our relationship. I cannot recommend Elliot enough and will 100% be reaching out to them again in the future.”

MCKENZIE + KENNY

What Families Are Saying

“We are OVERWHELMED!!! These are beautiful and you captured our family so authentically. Seriously, wow.

I keep trying to type something more accurate to capture how we’re feeling right now.”

— MeGAN, FORT COLLINS

“We can’t stop talking about how fun that was!”

— LAUREN, Fort collins

Featured Galleries

Still here?

Let’s do this.

Look, I get it. Portrait sessions feel awkward. But unlike the photo your coworker took at the last company event, or the screenshot you've been using as your profile picture since 2019, these are photographs you'll actually want people to see.

Ten years of portraits means I've solved whatever problem you think you have with being in front of a camera. The lighting, the posing, the not-knowing-what-to-do-with-your-hands. I've got all of it. You just have to show up.

And the version of you that shows up in these photographs? That's not a better version. That's just you, seen correctly, probably for the first time in a while.