The Beginning and the Now

I so appreciate all the love from my first post. How thankful I am to those who have read this. For me it is always incredibly uplifting (and yes, comical) to see my early work and compare it to what I create now. Let me show you a few more pictures of my very first photoshoot with my sister, Marianne, and give you a little history.

Still a sheet dress with a curtain as a shawl

These were taken where we grew up in the small town of St. James Missouri. We lived on a dirt road in an old farm house on a little less than 5 acres of land. My sisters and I would roam the back woods of our property and have adventures. Back in and amongst the overgrown trees and just past our property line was a little stream. It was the most incredible thing when I was growing up. In my mind, and still to this day, it was magical and perfect. I still feel this sense of wonder when I’m around flowing water.

If you look behind her you can see a little bit of a blue towel sticking up. It was a squishy, wet quagmire back there.

Now I live in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. We’ve been here for 3 years. I was talking to someone the other day and I said that I loved living here! They scoffed and asked why. My answer was simple- Its beautiful. But more importantly, a place is always what you make it and I make this place wonderful and choose to see the very best of the people and environment around me.

What a difference 12+ years make. My sister with my daughter.

Its funny how the place you stay or the place you grow up looses its shine and magic. You start to think other places are better. The place you are in now is the worst and offers you nothing. This was my as a teenager. I remember talking to friends about how I was going to get out of our small town because it had nothing and was boring and blah. I did get out of our town. But I’ve visited a few times. Let me tell you, there is something beautiful there I never appreciated when I was growing up. I dont have words for it. I dont know how to express it. But that little town I so desperately wanted to leave when I was younger now holds a special place in my heart. And I never thought it would. I’m not a poet and I’m sure not anyone with any type of human relations degree. However, I have met a lot of people from all over the world. I’ve learned that the happiest people bloom where they are planted. No perfect place exists. There are only imperfect people trying their best to be happy and make the place they are at beautiful.

These were all taken in my new home studio over Christmas 2018

I’m a portrait photographer living in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania and the small town of Athens right along the boarder of New York. To the passer-by it offers little. But to me, it offers everything because this is the place I choose to call home. This is the place I choose to run a business where I remind people that they have worth and value by creating for them a transformative experience of beauty and service. This place is what I make it and I choose to make it great! Love, Melinda

Going for a bit of a Vanity Fair style here.

Love, Melinda

Studio in Athens PA.

Serving Athens Pennsylvania, Towanda Pennsylvania, Corning New York, and Twin Tiers aria.