Check Out Chris Ellis’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Ellis.

Hi Chris, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story started at 18, during my last year of high school when I first created my photography business as a way to pay for my fun outside of school. I realized quickly that photography is always in demand, could be monetized, and in particular, wedding photography was a particularly lucrative opportunity. So I formed an LLC in 2010 and faked my way through the first year or two of wedding season. I say faked because I knew really early on that nobody wants to be your first wedding. Or even your second. They don’t want to be in front of your camera while you’re still figuring it out. They want an experience on their wedding day. But since I didn’t have any, I made up for it in some good old fashioned acting.

By the time I started at Occidental College, I had already started to hit a stride with weddings, families, and graduation sessions. While there, I studied National Security and Arms control within the Politics department.

Studying political science during the day, editing weddings at night.

It made for an interesting college experience that also included working for the on-campus newspaper and Yearbook (ultimately becoming the editor of the yearbook in my final year). The three photography jobs kept me busy when my studying didn’t. But at the end of college, I had shot over 150 weddings and had gotten pretty confident in my abilities to create great work for my clients. But I knew this wouldn’t be my only calling in life. I just didn’t know what else was in store.

After I left college, moved back home, and exclusively shot weddings for a few months, I met someone who gave me a new option in life – cars. I had fallen in love with cars when I was a kid but was starting fresh in another industry I knew nothing about. And so with a background in wedding photography and politics, I added yet another disparate skill set to my arsenal when I started at the advertising agency TBWA Chiat Day LA on the Nissan account. More than eight years has gone by since I started in advertising, with my days now including working on Nissan’s latest and greatest vehicle launches.  But over the last eight years, I have stayed committed to my wedding clients, continuing to fill my weekends with weddings, Bar Mitzvah’s and graduation sessions.

Now my life is working on Nissan during the day and editing weddings at night.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been incredibly lucky to be able to have the opportunities I’ve had along the way. Was it smooth? Hardly. But I have found a way to take my incredibly passionate, one-track mind and utilize it in a way that has allowed me to pursue my passions in life.

There have been a lot of detours, failed visions, and perhaps a bit of heartbreak along the way, but I’d say I’ve been pretty lucky.

One of the hardest things to do however, was to balance joining TBWA Chiat Day LA with absolutely ZERO marketing experience and continuing to do photography. The terminology, the processes, the goals, and the strategies were all completely foreign to me. That learning curve was steep. I made mistakes. And it didn’t help that I had a soul-crushing 3 hour day roundtrip commute.

I had no idea what I was doing.

But while I struggled with advertising, I found comfort in continuing to build my photography business. I branched out to new shooting new things like Bar/ Bat Mitzvahs, graduation sessions, and families. Ultimately, photography kept me sane through the rough patches.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When it comes to photography, I struggle to consider myself “an artist”. When I think of an artist, I think of stylish, creative types who wear the latest fashion from Paris runways and know the best brunch spots in the city. I’m not like that. When I photograph, I think of create beautiful, clean, crisp images that will become timeless for my clients.

The best description of my style would be: clean. I never heavily process my work, I don’t do trendy homages to film, and I definitely don’t believe in dutch angles. Instead, I imagine what my clients will want to put on their walls or in an album to share with their kids years down the road. No mid-90s selective color fads here.

Many photographers talk about how they arrive at their “creative vision”. A process or inspiration that leads them to see the world in a unique way. But my creative vision takes a backseat to the needs of my clients. I am in a client service industry that sometimes forgets who the clients are. I am accountable to those who in front of my lens; and their timelines aren’t accountable to me. The way this manifests itself is through my more laid-back approach to wedding photography wherein I reflect the priorities and personalities of my clients. If they only want 15 minutes for portraits – that’s completely fine with me. If they don’t want any formal family photos? Love it. If they want to include their dog? Happy to have a whole session with their four-legged friends. If they completely burn out on photos halfway through? I’ll blend into the background and capture their day from afar. I truly just want to deliver the clean, bright beautiful images that my clients want.

If I want to get artsy, I will do it on my own time.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
The biggest risks I’ve taken in my life are for things that I am deeply passionate about. I won’t take risks for things that I wouldn’t want to commit to for years. Because that’s how long I believe it takes to get good at something.

I am not the get rich quick kind of guy. I am committed to my passions. And when I get into my one-track mind mentality, I am willing to put A LOT of work into learning as much as possible about a topic. That way, I can remove as many unknowns as possible and in turn, reduce my risk.

I am also never afraid to put money towards making one of these passions work. Some would say my passions are some of the most expensive out there. And I’m not sure I could argue against that. But I do believe that in order to monetize anything, you do have to spend money to make money. So I have always been committed to getting the best photography gear and the most exciting cars (definitely not practical).

It still keeps my days and my nights interesting.

Pricing:

• Weddings Start at $2400

Contact Info:

• Website: chrisellisphotography.com / thewhiskystudy.com
• Instagram: chrisellisphotography

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