Mel Marie Photography

For the past couple months I have been playing around wiht photography, trying to learn as much as I can about my camera and how to use it to it's full potential, lenses and which ones are best for the pictures I'm trying to take and everything about how to take a good picture. But not just pointing and shooting, I want to understand the nitty gritty and how to make my pictures look the way I want them to, for the most part, before any editing even comes into play. It's been so much fun just playing around with my camera, but the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!! Photography is such a huge world with so many tricks and so much to learn, I don't know if there's a way to ever know everything, but for now I'm enjoying being able to take pictures with some artistic flair and creating something I first see in my mind then being able to see the image printed out. It's a pretty rewarding feeling when you are able to create what you had imagined, and even more rewarding when other people appreciate it as much as you do. Like I said, I still have so much to learn, but I think with what I've had to work with, I've been able to take some pretty fun images :) Here are a few of my favorites I've been able to capture this past year...

 Love these warm summer days down at the Lake, you just can't beat it :)

NYC is one of my favorite places. There are so many amazing things to photograph, so much history and culture. We were lucky enough to be able to get a tour of the NYC fire fighters training facility which was amazing. We were actually able to participate in some of the actual training they have to complete to become firefighters. It is hard work, I definitely gained a new respect for firefighters during our visit!! I loved the images I was able to get while on my trip, I only wish I had more time. I could have spent days walking around taking pictures!!

 
My Beautiful cousin got married this past summer and let me practice while she was getting ready. Her dress was beautiful, which made it hard to take a bad picture :) I loved all the details with the beading and the special sentimental things she added to her dress. It was a perfect day with a prefect bride and some pretty pictures too. 

Here are my babies on my oldest daughters fourth birthday. I probably got a little too close in some of these pictures, but afternoon lighting is my all time favorite to shoot in. I love the warm glow from the sun. It makes everything look so soft and almost magical. Kids are tricky to photograph because they can be so quick and they have their own agenda. If they don't want to look at you and smile, they won't. The best pictures are taken when they are in their own element and busy doing something they love or are interested in. I love when I am able to catch real emotion on their sweet faces. 

Here are some of my mom's horses, Dakota and Spencer. These were some of the first pictures I'd taken with my camera, but it was still fun to do. I have a lot to learn, but when you have such beautiful subjects it's hard to get a bad picture :)