Tom Ellis Photography

We happened across Tom’s site when searching for a photographer to capture a once-in-a-lifetime surprise proposal. With my son planning to propose during a spontaneous trip to Seattle, finding someone skilled at capturing the moment was crucial for them since they wouldn't have friends or family present. Tom was the ideal choice! He sorted out all the details through a brief phone call and text messages, offering insights about the area and coordinating everything behind the scenes to maintain the surprise. Post-proposal, he skillfully captured beautiful engagement photos of the couple in the gardens. Everything unfolded seamlessly, and the photos are truly stunning. I wholeheartedly endorse Tom Ellis Photography for proposal, engagement, and wedding photography! Tom is personable, flexible, creative, professional, and an exceptional photographer!

Tom was incredibly professional and so kind. Weddings are stressful and it was so great to have him as a part of our day. I didn't have to worry about how the photos would turn out, because he was all over it in the planning stage (what types of photos were we looking to have, how we wanted to feel on the day of so he could capture it all). They came out beautifully and he even researched Photoshop techniques for a particular photo we were looking for an effect on and he nailed it. Tom is amazing!

Tom was very creative and our photos came out beautifully. Tom was easy to work with as he is very engaging and a consumate professional.

Tom Ellis was amazing from beginning to end. So caring and easy to get a long with. Weddings are very busy for the Bride and Groom, I didn’t get to capture the memories as much as I wanted. The beautiful photos Tom took helped me see things I missed and gave me a chance to enjoy the wedding at a deeper level. He went above and beyond by putting the grooms and groomsmen boutonnieres on and he was a large reason the wedding flowed so smooth. He is more than a photographer; he is an amazing human being, and he made my dream of being a princess for a day come true. Besides the bride, Tom was my husband’s favorite part of wedding! Well worth the money spent.

Tom was amazing to work with! He was up for the adventure of our hot air balloon elopement and embraced it with enthusiasm. My fiancé and I have never taken professional photos and we were unsure as to how the process would work, especially in such a small, confined space, however, Tom made the experience simple, fun and we didn’t even notice he was taking pictures. The spirit and emotion Tom captured throughout is so raw, brilliant, and the photos tell the story of our day perfectly. We will be forever grateful Tom was available to photograph our special day.

Tom is absolutely AMAZING! Tom has a massive amount of experience, he is easy to speak with and is an excellent communicator. I am not the most comfortable person when getting pictures taken and Tom made both of us feel completely as ease from the first look, the ceremony, and through the reception. We couldn't be more pleased with our pictures. Tom captured the truly magical moments of the best day of our lives. For this, we are so grateful.

Tom was extremely professional and guided us throughout the process. We loved all the pictures he took on our special day. Ours was a small wedding in our house and was a combination of Indian and Western traditions, and Tom did a fantastic job in making sure he captured all the critical moments with a smile on his face! Our outdoors photoshoot in Bellevue beach park (Tom provides photoshoot in 2 locations) was just stunning. He made sure to capture longshots, close angles. Overall, we are very happy and satisfied with Tom's services and would highly recommend his work!

Tom was a joy to work with. My fiance and I have never taken professional photos and were unsure as to how the process would look like. Tom made the experience simple and fun. Highly recommend. We are in love with our photos!

Tom did an amazing job capturing our courthouse wedding in Seattle, WA. He connected with us well in advance of our big day and provided great insights about what to expect on the wedding day by walking us through the entire process. Being a camera-shy couple, we were a bit apprehensive about the photo shoot but Tom put us at ease, guided us through the poses and made sure he captured our best angles. It was raining the day of our wedding and he went the extra mile to get pictures on the rooftop that turned out great despite the weather :) He made the stormy skies look magical!! He was very prompt with providing us with a sneak peek photo and the rest of the album followed soon afterwards which was a huge hit with our family and friends. Thank you so much, Tom! Highly recommend him for capturing the best moments of your special day.

Tom was seriously the best. I scrolled through photographers for hours before landing on Tom and could not be happier. He made my small courthouse wedding look magical. He was available for questions, showed me photos during the shoot, and was just all around a nice guy. I enjoyed working with him a lot and would recommend him to anyone who wants beautiful and creative photos. 10/10

Tom is absolutely the best. He is an incredible photographer, captures the most candid moments, great with creating poses with the best background. His photo quality (digital, prints, and touch up) are some of the best I've ever seen. He is not only a great photographer, he offered much help trying to help us find a back-up venue when learned our venue was torn up with construction. He went up and beyond! If you want to capture the best moments of special day, whether weddings or anniversaries (in our case), do yourself a favor and talk with Tom first.

I fully recommend Tom! I wanted to plan a surprise engagement photoshoot in Sept 2021, and Tom was more than happy to help and brainstorm ideas. His professionalism and talent really made the day one that will will never forget. We are also looking forward to hiring Tom for our wedding, when that comes to pass.

Tom took our wedding pictures August 2021 at Ray’s Boat House in Seattle. He was wonderful to work with. Tom knew the venue well and made several suggestions on nearby locations for our wedding couple pictures, which we gladly accepted. Tom has a calmness about him and made the picture taking stress-free. He has a great talent for taking candid pictures as he moved invisibly through the dinner and reception. His pictures captured the emotions and enjoyment of our wedding, and we will forever treasure our pictures. Thanks Tom!!!

Wonderful, personable, would recommend to everyone! Tom was an absolute pleasure and our photos are once in a life time.

Tom was great. We selected him for our July 2021 wedding and for our engagement photos and he did a great job! All throughout the process Tom was exceptionally responsive. He responded to practically all of our emails within an hour even after 10 PM! He was able to touch up and share our wedding photos in less than a week which was such a treat. On the day of our wedding, Tom worked for 8 hours non-stop. He collected all of the photos we specified and had a knack for always being in the right place to capture the action!

Tom was our photographer for our wedding in North Seattle. We hired him pre-covid and he was very flexible in working with us as we changed both dates and venues. He was always quick to reply to any questions and happy to recommend other vendors throughout the planning process. He was very familiar with both our original and final venue and had lots of great suggestions of locations for various photos. On the day of our wedding, Tom was very on top of everything and made sure we got through all the photos on our shot list. Afterwards he had very quick turnaround, sharing a sneak peak in under 5 hours, having the albums online within a week, and surprising us with a video slideshow set to our last dance song. Thank you Tom!

Tom was amazing to work with, we were planning on an elopement and he worked well with us on ironing out the details before hand. The day of the wedding Tom was not afraid to go hiking up a mountain with us, and his pictures turned out lovely.

Tom did an exceptional job of meeting us where we were as we struggled to make our wedding happen in the midst of the pandemic. He pivoted his whole business model to create options for people in our circumstance and it would not have worked out otherwise. All communication and follow up has been exceptional. On the day of our ceremony, he was extremely flexible and creative in how he used the available spaces to create beautiful posed photographs which we and our families will treasure. His narrative photos of our outdoor - pandemic conscious picnic are treasures as well. He was safe, we were safe, and no one got sick at our wedding. Tom is the best.

Tom is our dream photographer. Since the beginning he was prompt to reply and extremely courteous. He gave us extra tips and things to think about even when we didn’t know what we wanted or what questions to ask. He was very patient and every few months continued to check in with us. Although, I told him he was the first person I contacted and intended to shop around he was nothing but cordial and encouraging. In the end, we didn’t end up booking with Tom simply because we had a smaller budget but Tom was very gracious and tried extremely hard to work with us and customize a package. I would highly recommend Tom not simply because he does beautiful work but also because his customer service was top notch. Thank you Tom, we appreciate every time you contacted us and all the wisdom you shared!

Tom did an absolutely fabulous job photographing our daughter's wedding. He captured all the important moments and so many spur of the moment details. Wrangling large group shots can be tricky, but he managed with an easy going grace that made everyone comfortable. The pictures are everything we hoped for and he was incredibly efficient about getting them on line quickly so we could share! I can't recommend Tom highly enough - if you need a wedding photographer, he is the very best you can get.

Tom is the best. He is very attentive to details and makes sure to capture ALL of the photos that are most important along with a ton more that you will LOVE. You will not regret hiring Tom as your photographer.

Tom did a fantastic job photographing our wedding. It was so comforting to know there was an expert paying attention to the details so we could focus on other parts of the day! He was both gracious and efficient in managing all the arranging of groups and truly had an eye for what would look well at the end. Looking through the pictures is a joy - remembering both how the venue looked, small unexpected moments, and some beautiful artistic shots! My husband found Tom originally through the Knot and I'm so glad he did - I would recommend him to anyone.

Tom is an expert professional with countless weddings under his belt. Tom clearly enjoys his art enough that he continued perfecting his skills over a long career. He still has lots of energy too. I cannot think of a single negative aspect of our experience, and in several ways he went beyond our expectations. – Photo quality: much better than expected! He manages to find all the perfect shots without hundreds of extra bad ones. In general everything looks better in his pictures than I remember from real life. I simply kept thinking this is what happens when you hire a real pro. – Interaction: very timely and thorough. Always a positive attitude! Got to know us beforehand even while I was out of state. He inspires and deserves a lot of trust that he will simply take care of everything regarding the photos and more, if you need any advice from his vast experience. – COVID matters: Tom did not appear at all worried about his own health during the process, but worked to make sure everyone else was comfortable and was very understanding, willing to abide any preferences and policies according to our wishes. He was also flexible and worked with our complete change in the wedding date and reception venue! – Timing: Tom emailed us “sneak peak” photos to enjoy and share with family just a day or two afterwards, while on our honeymoon, and offered the whole set online within a few days. The hard copies/thumb drive came very early too, even though he said it was slowed down due to COVID impacts at the print service. – We were extraordinarily pleased with a summary slideshow that came as a complete surprise, it included the best shots set to our first dance song with a perfect transition between ceremony and reception. This was a great thing to send to all our guests before we had a chance to sort through the whole set of photos.

Perfect photographer for my perfect day! I am very pleased with my stunning photos! Thanks again Tom! ~happy bride!

We hired Tom to take our engagement photos and he did a great job. After we arrived at Snoqualmie Falls, Tom met up with me and told me the best spot to do the proposal at. He captured the moment perfectly for us. After that we went to a few other locations around the Falls to get some more great pictures. He even took us to another off site location to shoot some more photos at. Tom was very professional and fun to work with. He did a fantastic job and I would recommend him to anyone else who is going to get engagement photos done.

My husband and I really enjoyed working with Tom for our courthouse wedding. Tom was not only very friendly, but he was punctual, well-prepared, and professional. It was immediately clear to us that Tom was very experienced and knew exactly what to do, in terms of what photos to take, where to take them, and how the courthouse ceremony would go. He was also very speedy with posting the photos online, which we really appreciated! We would definitely recommend Tom to others interested in a courthouse wedding - and probably traditional wedding venues as well. Thanks for working with us Tom!

My wife and I used Tom for both our engagement and wedding photos. I could not be happier with the experience with him. He has a great eye for pictures and listened to our ideas and came up with ways to make them work. We had a lot of fun with him and love the photos he took of us.

My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Tom for both our engagement pictures and our wedding and I can say without a doubt we were so lucky to have found him and gotten the chance to work with him! The pictures he caught are some of our favorite to date and we have many of them proudly displayed around our home. One of the great things about Tom is that he works with you as a couple – taking your suggestions or ideas you might have found from pictures you have seen – to get some really stunning shots, or if you have a particular word or feel you are going for you can share it and he has enough skills built up over his many years of shooting to pull out different tricks to help achieve what you want from your pictures. His style is realistic and in-the-moment, very much a journalistic style, but he can also do soft and loving, which is a wonderful range to have and captures some truly magical moments when you combine the two. He also can photoshop dragons into your pictures and who doesn’t want that?! :D His willingness to collaborate and work together, as well as how he explains the process of getting a shot (i.e. how lighting works, background, posing, etc. to achieve what we are after), is really what made us more comfortable; he has years of experience, which gives you confidence in his ability, but he also has a humility and easy going feel that puts you at ease and lets you know that you are in good hands. He also worked with us to create a custom budget within our price range and we never felt like we were being given lesser service because we weren’t paying top dollar. Personally, the thing I most appreciated is that I was able to share some of my concerns on my appearance during our engagement shoot and he helped coach me through how to hold myself so I could make sure I would be comfortable and happy with the pictures, which I certainly am! He was also very kind when I had reached my limit during posed shots during our pre-wedding pictures and he changed things up to help get me back into the swing of enjoying things once again. Tom is honest and straight forth, which is something we greatly admire in a person, and he is really just a fun guy to have around. His is the sort of presence you want on your wedding day; someone who is calm and in control while also being very competent at what they do and helping you capture the real and beautiful moments of your day.

We had a fantastic time with Tom as our wedding photographer! We were able to schedule an engagement session with him in the Seattle area prior to our wedding, and he thought of some fun ideas and came out with great natural looking photos in front of gorgeous backdrops. He was on the ball when it came to communicating and describing the plan for wedding pictures weeks in advance. We were able to book him for not only the wedding but also the rehearsal dinner, which really captured some photogenic moments of family and friends. He managed to be discrete with photo taking and capture wonderful moments throughout our entire wedding and reception. After the wedding was over, his photo curation, editing and album design was also beautiful and thoughtful. Would recommend Tom 1000 times over!

We have had Tom take pictures for us many times over the years. Our first experience was for our wedding, but we have also appreciated the baby pictures, special family pictures and graduation pictures that he always found a way to fit into his schedule. He always makes us feel comfortable and gives us the most amazing pictures.

Tom was the best- arrived on time, very professional, got along well with everybody and made what could have been a stressful time fun for all involved. While his photos were all technically perfect what really stood out was his ability to capture the special moments.......several of his pictures did indeed speak a thousand words, saying it all. We particularly enjoy the candid shots that show family and friends unaware, just being themselves in the moment. All in all a huge success- we highly recommend Tom for any occasion that needs a talented photographer. Thanks, Tom!

Tom is the ultimate professional. As a wedding photographer with decades of experience and skill, he will capture the essence of your momentous day with an artistic eye and consumate sensitivity and care. He is easy to work with and knows his stuff. What's more, he will find ways to record your wedding in ways that reflect your unique personalities and relationship. When I occasionally pull out and look at our wedding album, I am still amazed at how he made us look our best and how he captured all the love and fun that was shared that day.

Tom Ellis is extremely professional yet personable. Her has a real eye for setting up each shot using the light, the background, the event, that captures not just the appearance but the feelings of those in the photos. I HIGHLY recommend him to one an all!

Tom did a fantastic job photographing our wedding. It was evident how experienced Tom is at this, and he made the process as stress-free as possible. He knew exactly the right shots to take and was adept at improvising to take advantage of the unique features of the venue. Tom was punctual, professional, and most importantly, the pictures came out beautifully. We're very happy with how everything turned out and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to our friends.

Tom's communication with us leading up to the wedding and the day of was awesome! He was professional in every sense while keeping everything fun and we thoroughly enjoyed having him as the photographer at our wedding. Our photos turned out amazing. If you are looking for a photographer for your big day, look no further, Tom is your guy.

Tom was very friendly, professional and open minded! He has been working with us for months before the wedding to prepare every detail of the photo shoot. Tom had recommendations and was very open to new ideas and suggestions, going above and beyond to make sure the result is beautiful and what we wanted. We are very happy with the photos and definitely recommend Tom!

I contacted Tom the Monday before my Friday Seattle courthouse wedding. I was so happy to find out that he was available! It was obvious that Tom had done quite a few weddings at that courthouse. It was so nice being able to talk to him and know what to expect when we showed up. We arrived at the courthouse at the time he recommended and were the first couple called that day. Tom arrived promptly and was able to get several shots before we were called into the judge’s chambers. It was a rainy April day, so we did the ceremony inside the jury selection room. What a view! Afterward we braved the drizzle and went on to the rooftop deck to get some more spectacular photos with the city behind us. My husband and I now have some wonderful pictures of our ceremony and our friends/family who were with us that day! Tom was so easy to work with!

Tom is just wonderful. He is organized and so incredibly professional. He knows his job well, and as a result, asked all the right questions and made all the right suggestions to make the photos of our special day perfect! Tom produced lovely photos of our private courthouse ceremony. If I had to pick one favourite thing about Tom's photographs, it's that nothing looks staged... He offered some direction but never got in the way... He just let us be and captured THE BEST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS!!! I didn't even know I made faces like the ones Tom caught. I know just what I said or heard at the time, based on what his photos portray. Tom is just lovely to work with. I was never confused or concerned about where he was or when we would meet. He communicated everything very clearly from the beginning. (I worked with another photographer for day after photos, so I have someone else to compare him to.) Even thought wedding day photographs can be quite pricey in general, I found Tom's investment options very reasonable... Tom's experience and interpersonal skills made the photos of our wedding day just perfect.

Tom is hands down amazing. He understood our wants and needs when it came to engagement and wedding photos, even when we weren’t fully able to articulate them. I’m a pretty introverted person and the thought of being the center of attention, even at my own wedding, made me incredibly nervous; Tom was excellent at understanding this and ensuring that everything was calm and broken down into chunks when it came to stand front and center. We just got our photos from the ceremony back and couldn’t be more thrilled. We can’t recommend him enough!

We were so happy to have Tom as the photographer for our wedding weekend! Our pictures turned out incredible. Tom worked with us (and around the weather) to capture all the shots we wanted, and also spotted tons of other opportunities along the way. It's 100% true that weddings pass by in a blur, and it’s impossible to be everywhere at once. I knew that going in, so I made a point of soaking in as much as I possibly could and don’t at all feel like I missed out on anything important, but it was still so much fun to look through Tom’s pictures after the fact and see that he had captured several great moments that I didn’t see live, like our ring bearer turning around halfway down the aisle so he could throw flower petals from his sister’s flower girl basket, and my husband being followed by 10 little kids like ducklings as they headed toward an open space for a javelin demonstration. We loved working with Tom throughout the entire process, and cannot recommend him highly enough!

Tom was amazing during the entire process. My wife and I were trying to plan as much of our wedding on our own as possible, but we had no clue on what to do. Tom was the first person we hired and we couldn't have made a better choice. He's been in the wedding game for so long he was able to run us through all the steps needed to achieve a perfect wedding, and was able to recommend what to do and what to avoid. He was very professional and was able to capture every special moment on film we needed. He made the whole process as fun and enjoyable as possible and we couldn't be happier with Tom as our wedding photographer. If you want someone who loves what they do and has many many years of experience in wedding photography, Tom is the man for the job!

Tom was wonderful to work with - he gave us a great quote, was personable and professional, and provided quality photos. Both his formal staged shots and candid photos are superb. As a same-sex couple we had some worries about hiring the needed professionals for our wedding - Tom treated us with warmth, respect, and a great sense of humor. We couldn't be happier! As a bonus, when we told him we were having difficulty finding a boat for our reception, he recommended a company we ended up booking with. Thank you. Tom!!

If we could we would give Tom 6 stars. Tom's experience and knowledge of our venue helped create many beautiful and memorable photographs of our wedding day. Our initial plan for photographs did not include leaving the venue for any of the shots; but Tom's proposal of spending time at Volunteer Park prior to our ceremony was a wonderful idea, and he ended up providing some great shots of us there in the park. Tom is a joy to work with and we would recommend him to anyone without hesitation. Lizzie and Tony, Seattle

Tom was awesome to work with! He is very responsive over email, easy-going and fun to take pictures with, and most importantly took awesome pictures! His pricing was also much more competitive than most photographers we looked at, which is definitely a good bonus. I whole-heartily recommend him as a wedding photographer.

We hired Tom for our June wedding and he was fantastic. What we liked the most about him is that he was really good at giving us directions regarding the poses and types of photos to take since we were clueless. He was also great at communicating with us and always replied to our questions within the day. Overall we really recommend Tom as he has a great eye and is awesome to work with.

Tom Ellis was a true professional! We didn't know what to expect a wedding photographer to do. Tom knew how to make the photos really special. He told us how to stand, where to look and what to do to make each photo the best possible. We would highly recommend him! Brian & Irene

One of the nicest persons I’ve met. Tom was nothing but great since I called his office. Especially at the wedding he was very thorough and made sure we got the shots we wanted. He worked super fast n hard on our photos n making sure we were pleased and got them back on time. I couldn’t be happier with my outcome, money well spent with him. Thanks to him I can relive that special moment n share it with my friends and family

Tom is a wonderful person to have as your photographer! Tom did our photos for our wedding reception in February at Russell's Loft in Bothell and it was a such a lovely day (with the help of Tom of course!). We met with Tom beforehand to discuss what our plan was, and he is very knowledgeable of how the wedding process goes, and Tom helped us with whatever questions we had prior to the date. On the day of the wedding, he was very professional in guiding us to get the best pictures. Not only that, he was also helpful and engaging throughout the wedding (helping me figure out my bow tie!). Tom's packages vary to suit your specific needs and are reasonably priced. The one that we went for was perfect for our wedding. I cannot recommend Tom enough!

We hired Tom for a small wedding on very short notice. He was great to work with and made everything really easy for us. We had a small morning puja at the Bothell Hindu temple followed by a ceremony at the court house. My wife and I aren’t from Seattle so it was very helpful to have someone with experience covering weddings in this area. We definitely recommend Tom for weddings and other special occasions!

Tom was incredible! My (now) wife and I had our wedding on fairly short notice, meaning that we needed to get everything together very quickly. Tom was incredibly helpful, professional, positive, and friendly- he was extremely flexible and his experience showed in just about everything that he did- he had great recommendations for places where we could take photos, what sort of shots we might want to consider getting, etc. He REALLY shined when the day came, as well- our guests loved him, he managed to be both there for every great photo opportunity and never in the way, and the photos themselves were amazing. HIGHLY recommended.

From the first phone call to receiving our beautiful wedding album, and everything in between, my husband and I couldn’t have been happier working with Tom! He was so easy to work with from the engagement session to the day of the wedding. We had purchased his Collection Four package because our wedding fell on NYE, so I wanted to have him for hair/makeup and through midnight. It was worth every penny. One thing that struck me while working with Tom is how much I felt like I was working with a friend of the family instead of a complete stranger. His photography is beautiful and he is very particular about the shots, as well as making sure YOU are happy with the shots. There were many times where he came up to us after a shot to show the picture to us on his camera. For our engagement session he made sure to take many different photos at our two different locations, and his direction (since we weren’t sure how to pose a lot of the time) was great and not overbearing. Leading up to the rehearsal dinner and wedding he was great at communicating and giving any advice when needed. At our rehearsal dinner we were in a pretty small restaurant (seated about 30) and Tom was great about getting around everyone in a way that seemed like he wasn’t really there and was about to capture that special evening for us. Throughout the entire wedding day Tom was AMAZING! He honestly acted as another day-of coordinator in my mind – he took pictures that day from 8:30am to 1am! He was very great about rolling with our LONG timeline and working with our actual day-of coordinator for the event (Lake Union Café), as well as our DJ who MC’d, to make sure everything was going smoothly and that we were happy with everything that was happening. He was great about getting photos that he knew would be important to us and on the list, as well as corralling us for certain photo ops which I am now so thankful for! Tom was just such an integral part of this whole process for us from our engagement pictures right up until the last moments of our wedding (honestly I kind of felt like I was losing a limb when he left!), and we couldn't have been happier with the beautiful moments he captured for us, and his advice and assistance throughout the wonderful whirlwind of a journey it was to plan and put on a wedding!

We are so happy we found Tom to be our wedding photographer! He was extremely quick to respond to questions and helpful throughout the planning process. The day of the wedding went so smoothly and all of our photos turned out great! Tom was great about directing photos without being pushy and coming up with fun ideas for shots.

My husband and I truly enjoyed working with Tom. He created an easy going and fun experience for our engagement photo shoot and wedding ceremony. He took the time to understand what we wanted out of our photo sessions and made an extra effort to capture some amazing pictures. The quality of his photos far exceeded our expectations. Tom is a fabulous photographer who has a great eye for detail! We highly recommend him for any special occasion.

Tom was such a joy to work with, and so helpful throughout the process. He made sure to call and check on several times before the big day, and helped create a timeline to put my mind at ease. Everything went perfectly on the wedding day, and we now have beautiful photos documenting our perfect day. Thank you, Tom!

Tom Ellis was really funny, engaging, and professional. My husband and I had a wonderful time with him and we are looking for other opportunities to have him photograph us, haha. He definitely knew what he was doing, and he interacted exceptionally well with everyone else at our wedding and reception. He made the process of getting wedding photos seamless and he integrated that into our most amazing day in such a professional manner. He made it very clear that his responsibility was to take photos without getting in the way. He did a wonderful job of making our day that much more special. Looking back at the great photos he took and the work and effort he put in to his job, he is very reasonably priced and would be considered a steal compared to any other photographer. My husband and I would highly recommend having him help out with any special occasion.