History

Nellis Photography was started in 2008 by us: Britney and Scott Nellis. Britney has always had a passion for photography and loves capturing special moments that mean something to both her and the people in the photographs. She was and is a shutterbug around friends and family, taking thousands of pictures at birthdays, holidays, Bible studies, and other gatherings. She always wanted to practice photography as a profession as opposed to just a hobby, so when we got married, we started planning. We are now proud to offer our services to the Springfield area (and any other place as long as you pick up the travel tab).

When we started, we planned on doing a lot of family shoots, a few senior shoots, and maybe a wedding here or there. To our surprise, a lot of our business has been in real estate: we've shot a few dozen houses and really enjoy the process. We have also get a steady stream of wedding requests, and are happy about that. Our growth in the senior picture arena has been slow since we basically haven't advertised yet, but the ones we've had have been a blast and word of mouth has kept us busy enough. Peppered through all this has been family shoots that range all the way from multigenerational groups to one three-day old little boy.

After three years of being in business, we have had some measure of success. We believe this is due to our flexibility, affordability, and focus on our clients. We are still happy to travel to almost any location, we offer the option to buy the license for full-resolution images on every package, we still don't limit you with pre-defined print packages that force you to buy prints you don't want, and we still don't care how many times you change clothes during a shoot.

Senior and Family Shoots

We have had a lot of positive feedback regarding our family and senior sessions: many clients who inquire about a shoot expect to have to navigate the normal maze of clothing change limits, tight time limits, and location limitations only to find we are pretty laid back about the whole affair. You shouldn't expect a photographer with a canvas gear vest who wants you to tilt your head just right and feels like they have a personal style that you need to fit into. We are relaxed on shoots because that helps you be more relaxed, and that makes for better pictures.

We basically measure our senior and family sessions by time and/or location. We will travel to locations of your choice, offer the ability to buy original pictures on all our packages, and don't care how many times you change clothes. By doing this, we believe you get more freedom in the shoot and will result in you getting more personalized photos than you would have gotten by having all your pictures taken at a photographer's studio or grounds; I traded senior pictures with more than one person who went to the same photographer I did, and some of them were basically the same print.

Weddings

For weddings, we meet with you to find out exactly what you want from your wedding pictures. Want a photojournalistic approach where we capture every detail of the day? Great. Just want pictures of the ceremony and wedding party? We can do that. We want your pictures to capture the things you want to remember about the day. If you don't tell us anything specific, we'll get everything and let you pick out the ones you like.

All our wedding packages include two-person coverage for the time specified. That means both of us will have cameras capturing everything from multiple angles. Britney normally gets close-up shots of you, the wedding party, and little details while Scott normally gets wider shots from the edges of the ceremony. The end result is a full spectrum of pictures from two different points of view.

Real Estate

We never intended to do real estate photography, but when we were asked by our neighbor to shoot a few houses for him after his photographer moved across the country, we enjoyed the process, and after he saw the results, he asked us to be his primary photographer. Since then, we have shot dozens of properties that have ranged from starter homes to properties in some of the nicest developments in the area to quaint rural plots with acres of field and forest. He claims our pictures are one of the major reasons he has survived (and even thrived) during the slowdown in the housing market. Many of his buyers comment that they got a much better feel for his properties from his pictures than others listings'.

We offer a truly complete service: if you prefer, you can simply give us the contact info of your client and a date when you need the pics; we'll take care of the rest. That means we'll schedule the shoot, take the pictures, process them, include high-quality resized versions (to your specifications), and deliver them digitally so you don't have to wait on a disc being delivered through the mail. We are accustomed to shooting with or without you or the client there, and vacant/new properties are obviously the easiest of all: just make sure we have a key or garage code.

At the end of the day, pictures are one of the primary factors in whether a prospective buyer will visit a property. You hire a carpenter to make the cabinets look their best and a painter to make sure the walls look good; why wouldn't you hire a professional photographer to make sure the pictures showcase the property?

Notes

If you want an extensive indoor shoot, we probably aren't for you. We have a small indoor studio with lighting, but we do not offer a huge amount of backdrops or props. We really focus on environments in which you're comfortable, whether that's your home, your favorite hangout, your uncle's barn, or your school's practice field.

We also do not recommend hiring us if you want to brag about how much you spent on your photographer, though we will happily accommodate you if it's what you want.

Philosophy

Through this whole process, we make sure to not take ourselves too seriously. When people start booking us almost two years in advance, a house we shoot sells in two days, or we get a spread in 417 Bride, there's always the temptation to think we're getting to be something pretty special. But we are called to be humble, and we always remind ourselves that every shoot we've done is worthless unless we give our current client what they want. Since we are far from the most prominent photographer in the area, we know our reputation is on the line every time we do a shoot.

So look around, check out our plans and prices, and send us an email if you have any questions.

Updated 2011-11-04