Cast a light on your story.

Torch pictures:
a snapshot

Torch Pictures is a woman-owned, full-service photo & video production house based in Northern Virginia. With over 15 years of experience in advertising, art direction, and international news, we specialize in visual storytelling and creative content creation for high-impact brands, documentaries, and people.

Why we’re here

To deeply connect the world to the beauty within it with a bold perspective on photography, videography, and storytelling.

What makes us different

We see what others can’t. We’re passionate about sharing the essential perspectives (yours!) and take the necessary time to listen, learn, and fall in love with your brand. We love serving as a fresh lens for in-house teams who are too close to see what truly makes you stand out.

We focus on what matters. We provide immersive imagery without attitude and ego (we’ll let the actual shots have all of that).

We hand-select our clients. And we’re picky. We are hand-crafted and small-batch, which means we tackle one project at a time. We give each client the time, development, and attention they deserve—while letting us fully tap into our passion, curiosity, intuition, and empathy. These softer skills drive a hard bargain—our evocative and emotional storytelling creates the powerful marketing, advertising, and documentary productions we’re known for.

We love working with ground-breaking people and brands who are as excited to inspire others as we are.

We have a soft spot for human-centric storytelling, artists, small businesses ready to evolve their brand, and larger brands who want to light up the world.

“I FILTER EVERY BRAND MESSAGE THROUGH BOTH A CREATIVE AND STRATEGIC LENS. I LOOK FOR LITTLE DETAILS THAT OFTEN SPEAK VOLUMES—BECAUSE THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO CONNECT US TO THE BIGGER PICTURE THAN BY SHINING A LIGHT ON THE LITTLE MOMENTS.”

— Elyse cosgrove, founder

Meet Elyse

Founder Elyse Cosgrove loves capturing the heart of the story.

With over 15 years of experience in photo/video content creation tacked onto her international news and brand work, Elyse Cosgrove is setting the world on fire. Highly intuitive by nature, her unique eye captures the natural grace notes that define and connect us.

Her creative spark ignites brands. Her down-to-earth personality puts you instantly at ease, and her quirkiness makes smiles and laughter effortless. With an adventurous spirit, a small carry-on, and 25 different stamps in her passport, Elyse enjoys traveling the world to share the stories of compelling brands, experiences, and people.

Born into a family of entrepreneurs, she also “gets” business and start-ups.

Elyse studied advertising and broadcast journalism at Chapman University's film school, then worked for Sundance Film Festival. She got her start in front of the camera modeling for Nike, anchoring the news for an online broadcast, making appearances on numerous network TV shows filmed in New York City—and teaching her firsthand how to identify and direct talent. She transitioned to “behind the camera” when she moved to DC, working as a broadcast news writer & producer for a global television network. To add to her big-picture lens, Elyse recently became one of a handful of women to be certified by the FAA as a drone pilot photographer.

This offbeat career path led Elyse to discover what she loves most—visual storytelling for creative individuals and businesses.