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EllisonFrames
A couple standing together in a wheat field at golden hour
Lisbon, Portugal and anywhere else

The night you willwant to live twice

I am Mara Ellison, an event photographer. Weddings, live music, conferences and the parties that were never meant to be photographed at all, documented as they happened, without a single person being asked to do it again for the camera.

See the workCheck your date
Years photographing events
11

Years photographing events

Days documented
340

Days documented

Countries worked in
14

Countries worked in

Preview frames in your inbox
24h

Preview frames in your inbox

What I photograph

Four kinds of long day

Different rooms, same approach: arrive early, learn the light, disappear into the edges of it.

Weddings

Documentary coverage from the quiet morning through to the last song. No shot lists read aloud, no ninety minutes of group photographs.

  • Planning call and timeline review
  • Second photographer available
  • Gallery in under fourteen days

Live music and festivals

Stage, pit and crowd, shot on available light. Press ready selects turned around the same night so your team can publish while it still matters.

  • Multi stage and multi night coverage
  • Same night press selects
  • Artist and sponsor licensing included

Corporate and conferences

Keynotes, breakouts, headshots and the corridor conversations that sponsors actually pay for. Delivered graded to your brand palette.

  • Gallery sorted by session
  • Delegate headshot corner
  • Next morning delivery

Private celebrations

Birthdays, anniversaries, christenings and the parties that were never meant to be photographed at all. One camera, one lens, no interruptions.

  • Discreet single photographer coverage
  • Optional print box
  • Full gallery within ten days
Mara Ellison with her camera
The photographer

Hello, I am Mara

I started out photographing bands in basements in Porto, which is the best training anyone can get. Bad light, no second chances, and a room full of people who will not wait for you. Eleven years later that is still how I work, just with better cameras and slightly better shoes.

My job is not to direct your day. It is to know it well enough in advance that I am standing in the right place when it happens. That means a real conversation before the event, a look at the venue and the light, and a plan for the twenty minutes that actually matter to you.

I shoot on available light wherever it is possible, I never ask for a moment to be repeated, and I deliver quickly, because a photograph is worth the most in the week everyone is still talking about the day.

Based in

Lisbon based, working across Portugal and Europe

Shoots on

Two bodies, three primes, natural light first

Send an enquiryCheck your date
How it works

From first email to final gallery

Four steps, no surprises, and the same person on the other end of every one of them.

  1. 01

    Check the date

    Pick your date in the scheduler and tell me roughly what the day looks like. You will hear back within one working day, always from me.

  2. 02

    Talk it through

    A half hour call about the venue, the light, the people who matter and the two or three moments you would be gutted to lose.

  3. 03

    The day itself

    I arrive early, find the light, and then get out of the way. You will forget I am there, which is exactly the plan.

  4. 04

    The gallery

    A private, downloadable gallery within fourteen days, with a preview set in your inbox long before that. Albums and prints if you want them.

Collections

Straightforward pricing

Every collection includes the planning call, the editing, the private gallery and the licence to print whatever you like. Travel inside Portugal is included.

Half Day

Up to 5 hours

from€1,450

For intimate weddings, single session conferences and evening celebrations.

  • Up to five hours of coverage
  • One photographer
  • Around 350 edited images
  • Private online gallery for one year
  • Print and personal use licence
Check availability

Full Day

Up to 10 hours

Most booked

from€2,300

The one most couples and conference teams book. Morning through to the send-off.

  • Up to ten hours of coverage
  • Second photographer for four hours
  • Around 700 edited images
  • Eight frame preview within 24 hours
  • Planning call and timeline review
  • Private gallery for two years
Check availability

Weekend

Two to four days

from€3,900

Multi day weddings, festivals and summits that run past a single sunset.

  • Coverage across two to four days
  • Second photographer throughout
  • 1,200 plus edited images
  • Daily selects delivered overnight
  • Commercial licence included
  • Linen album or print box
Check availability

Multi day festivals, destination weddings and anything unusual are quoted individually. Tell me what you are planning.

Kind words

What clients say afterwards

Unedited, and every one of them from someone whose full day I photographed.

Read all
We booked Mara because of the work and kept recommending her because of the day itself. She was invisible for eleven hours and then handed us a gallery that made my mother cry in a supermarket car park.

Sofia Marques

Wedding, 180 guests · Alentejo

Our previous conference photographer gave us 900 usable-ish files three weeks late. Mara gave us 400 excellent ones, sorted by session, before lunch the next day. The difference in our campaign performance was not subtle.

Daniel Okonkwo

Atlas Summit, two days · Lisbon

She photographs a crowd the way most people photograph a face. Our audience images are now the only thing we use to sell tickets.

Rita Cardoso

Lumen Festival · Porto

Trusted by

  • Casa Aberta Foundation
  • Lumen Festival
  • Atlas Partners
  • Quinta do Vale
  • Norte Live

Is your date still free?

Availability is the only thing I cannot promise. Check the calendar, and if the date is taken send an enquiry anyway, plans move more often than you would think.

Check your dateAsk a question

Or email directly: studio@ellisonframes.com

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