I’m Elissa | Elle | E

she/her/hers

A documentary wedding and elopement photographer based in Portland, OR.

I go about each day following small moments to live in joyfully. I’m a true night owl but still somehow fancy myself a morning person. But if I’m being real, morning sunshine and a fresh cup of hot coffee are the only things that really motivate me to get out of bed in the morning. I love to read though hardly find the time to make it through more than a handful of books a year. I could watch movies endlessly. One of my greatest loves is music, making it and listening to it; it influences the way I perceive, and subsequently photograph, the world. 

I deeply value my people and the richness we bring to each other’s lives. My husband Brian is my very favorite human, we have a dog Maeble who we love more like a child than a fur creature. 

I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was about 9 years old. Albeit, those cameras were disposable at the time, photography has always been an emphasis in my life. My love grew for making pictures when I was a Junior in high school and took my first black and white analogue photography class. I spent any time I could either in the dark room making prints or taking pictures of my friends at skateboarding at skateparks or finding a moody brick wall to pose them in front of. 

The snowball effect that was making photography into my career was a slow one. It was hard for me to focus only on one path, on just one passion, but photography kept pulling at my heart and eventually I followed. 

I’m incredibly fortunate to get to witness love and beauty every day and call it my job. I have no idea how I got so lucky. I’m grateful to be trusted with the enormous responsibility of documenting, holding and keeping safe what will be the memories you cherish for decades. It’s not lost on me how significant this is. For this, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.