Top 3 Reasons you should do a First Look on Your Wedding Day We’re big fans of the first look on your wedding day. And I could probably list a dozen reasons why, but today I wanted to focus on the top 3 reasons you should at least consider doing a first look. Here […]

Why wedding photography is so important to me: A brain surgery story & the WHY behind Kivus & Camera Watch my awkward video up there! Talking about my experience with the diagnosis and surgery that changed my life (spoiler alert: for the better). Today is the 7 year anniversary of my surgery and I wanted […]

Everything you need to know about North Carolina elopements and small weddings Hi! I’ve been loving all the small weddings and North Carolina elopements we’ve had in the last year or so. I know a lot of it was spurred by COVID, but I do think smaller weddings (and elopements) are going to be a […]

Kivus & Camera answers the frequently asked question: How should I back up my wedding photos? Instructions for cloud backups and hardware backups.

Coronavirus (Covid19) and wedding photography Weddings for the near future – at this point up through May for us here in Raleigh, North Carolina – have been postponed and cancelled across the world because of Covid19. I know that it’s devastating to couples making that decision but it’s definitely the right thing to do. And […]

Helpful Tips about Wedding Details from Raleigh Wedding Photographers I’ve been to A LOT of weddings and I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say every wedding is totally different. That’s because every couple has different priorities for their wedding day. This edition of Elyssa Explains may be totally irrelevant to some couples, but for […]

Roaring with Megan Allen of Studio 22 Photography Y’all. Last week was one of the most awesome of my life. Four planes (eeek), a new state, a hotel with a corgi theme (!), a dozen strangers that are now friends, and dipping my toes into my now inevitable switch from Nikon to Sony. All of […]

EXCITING NEWS: We’re Bridechilla Wedding Photographers Hi y’all. I am so excited to share that John & I are officially Bridechilla wedding photographers! If you haven’t heard of Bridechilla, you are in for a treat. Because, honestly, if you like our vibe, the Bridechilla podcast (and community) is totally for you. Bridechilla is first and […]

Bridal Portraits – Um, why? We did some bridal portraits last weekend and I can’t wait to share them after Courtney & Ben’s wedding. Since I can’t share them yet, I thought I’d explain a little bit about the purpose of bridal portraits.    When people notice bridal portraits in our offerings, the responses we […]

Elyssa Explains This New Tag What on earth is Elyssa Explains? (tl;dr: It’s a way to trick myself into blogging)   Guess what I haven’t done much of this year! Blogging. It’s the easiest thing to put off because my priority is always focusing on our clients by: contributing to planning, getting ready for sessions […]