About Me

As a 27-year-old photographer in Southeast Michigan, one of my favorite activities is hunting. When I say hunting though, I don't mean it in the traditional sense. I hunt, but my rifle is my camera and my prey is the world. I can pass entire days away driving or walking around taking pictures. My passion for photography began when I was a young girl.

Some of my earliest memories involve both my father and grandfather with their cameras. I spent many a summer visiting my granddad in Tennessee wishing I could take just one picture with his camera. I remember the day as if it were yesterday, I was about eight years old and we were sitting out on my granddad's front porch. We stood up and then without a word, he knelt down beside me and let me take a picture--with his camera. Though I didn't realize it at the time, this experience was one of those life-defining moments, the ones that have the power to define fate.

I spent the next few years of my life preoccupied with adolescence in the little town of Auburn, Indiana. I always had a small point-and-shoot camera that I took to parties, summer camp, or just to the back yard but I didn't realize that taking pictures would become my obsession. For my 17th birthday, my mom & dad bought me my first "real" camera. It was a Nikon N5005. I can still remember holding it for the first time. I thought I had it all.

That following school year, my senior year, I needed one more elective to fill my schedule so I chose Basic Black & White Photography on a whim. It is commonly said that teachers change lives and because of Mr. Nagel, I know it's true. He believed in my work and saw my determination before I even knew it was there myself. He always took extra time out to answer my questions and give me that little push in the right direction. Mr. Nagel is a key reason that I chose to pursue photography as a career.

This is a shot of Mr. Nagel that I took for the high school yearbook during my senior year.

So how did I get to Southeast Michigan? I moved to Ann Arbor with my family after I graduated from high school in 1993. That summer I got my first full time job, which was in a daycare center working with babies. When fall came I began attending classes full time at Washtenaw Community College. My initial plan was to enroll in their nursing program so I took an Occupational Health and Sciences Introductory class. Though I can’t pinpoint exactly when I figured it out, something changed and I knew Nursing wasn’t for me. My next thought was to specialize in Child Care. After all, I had the part time job to go along with the program and I do love children. I actually took (and enjoyed) a number of classes in childcare but somewhere along the way my ambitions changed yet again. I decided to take a college photography class because I had enjoyed it so much in high school. Truthfully, my Basic Black & White class at Washtenaw was one of my worst ever. My teacher was very “old school.” He was harsh and cynical in his critiquing and grading of my work. I can still remember him giving me a B+ on my “Cold Cubes” photo (black and white gallery) that, even today, is an all time favorite amongst my friends and family, as well as fellow photographers. When I (and everyone else in the class) asked why my teacher graded the photo the way he did, his answer was that he thought my photo was fake and that the ice cubes didn’t look like real ice cubes because they weren’t “crisp” enough. I made up my mind then and there to prove him wrong so in a round about way I have good old Mr. Steinbach to thank for my perseverance as well! From then on, I took every photography class W.C.C. offered, from Basic Color to Advanced Studio and Darkroom Techniques. I absolutely loved my classes and most of my other teachers were excellent mentors! On top of it all, Washtenaw just happens to offer one of the top photography programs in the whole Western region! I think it must have been part luck and part fate.

In December of 1996, I graduated with my Photographic Assistant's Mastery Certificate, which was right in time to get married to my husband, Michael on December 29th. For the next year-and-a-half I continued to work at the daycare center with babies. Though I wasn't doing paid photography assignments during that time, I did take lots and lots of pictures of those sweet babies! I even documented a slide show for the North American NAECC conference in April of 1997. That was very exciting for me because not only did the center present my photos at their conference, all of the parent’s came to see a slideshow of their kids at school!

Seasons changed and time moved forward, taking me with it. In February of 1998 I made a big decision to accept a position that would mean a drastic career change for me. I started working as a Computer Support Technician with TechTeam Global on February 16 of 1998. Though this has been a full time, changing career for me for Four-and-a-half years, I have held to my dreams of someday becoming a full time professional photographer.

In February of 1999 I photographed my first wedding and have since had experience with a number of other weddings and covered a 10-year class reunion. In addition to these assignments, I have done, "natural portraits" and a few other special occasion shots for several people. Also during this time, several of my images have been published with the International Library of Photography. You can check out their home page at http://www.thephotosite.com. I also spend as much of my free time as I can focusing on photography simply because I love it.

Have a great day and please email me (melanie@photosbymelanie.com) if you have any questions or comments.

-Melanie