Sweet newborns
Kiddos
Couples 
Family
Posted on January 6, 2011
Hello Hello! Well, today will be the first day of our new feature here at Melanie Ashcraft Photography. It’s called Talk To Me Thursday. What is it you ask? I will tell you. Every week, I will be featuring a photographer here. I send over questions to them, have them fill them out, and send them back. Along with that, I also ask that they provide images to be shown. I ask some photography related questions, and also non-photography related. I’m extremely excited about this feature and plan to have it going for a whole year. WOW! Oh yes, and I already have January filled. If any photographers would like to be featured here, please shoot me an e-mail through my contact section and we will get you set up.
You may be wondering why on earth I would want to feature a photographer on my website. My husband was quite curious as to why I chose to do this. So I will explain and then get to the first featured photographer. The reason behind this is a win-win for both photographers. For the photographer that is being featured it allows for them to get their name out there more, and also to kind of reflect on themselves. Some of these questions may be light, but others may make them really think about things. Now the reason, why it’s a winning situation for me. Well, it allows me to get more readers as well. People will see their name being tagged for the interview on Facebook, and then want to come check it out. Another reason why I was wanting to do this. I love getting to know other photographers. Seriously. I love getting to know them, and also hear how they got into photography. It’s going to be a fun feature, and one that I hope everyone will enjoy. So….onto the featured photographer for this week.
I figured that some people might like to get to know me as well, so I’m kicking off the feature. So onto my interview. It was quite interesting interviewing myself. I had some awkward moments of talking to myself. Ha! Totally joking…And here we goooooo. Who can guess what movie that line is from? Anyone? Anyone?
Melanie Ashcraft
Richmond, Texas Photographer
1) Where are you from? I was born in Missouri. I’ve lived in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas.
Where do you currently live? Currently, I’m living in Richmond, Texas. I’ve lived in Texas the last 13 years, so I guess you could consider me a Texan now.
2) What does photography mean to you? Photography to me is a way of freezing the emotions I see and feel in certain moments. You have memories of what has happened in your life, but pictures are a way for you to be able to be in “that” moment forever.
What attracted you to photography? I love that with photography you have the ability to freeze time. You will always have those “moments” that you want to keep for a lifetime. I always loved taking pictures and would take tons. I got the real attraction to go further than “just taking pictures” when my youngest daughter was born. That is when I bought my first DSLR. A pretty Canon Rebel xti. I was in love.
3) Describe the area of photography you specialize in? I currently shoot families, newborn, babies, younger children, and have dabbled in engagements. Why did you choose this area? I love interacting with people, and watching how others interact with each other. I love that I can interact with other families, and watch their dynamic. I love that I can take pictures of a sweet newborn or a shy child and help freeze those moments.
4) How long have you been a photographer? I’ve been in business for a little over a year. I’m really excited to continue to grow and be able to have my wonderful clients along for the journey.
5) Are you self taught or have you attended formal schooling? Self-taught, but have learned a ton from other photographers. Like a massive amount. I would love to one day have some type of schooling, and plan on becoming a CPP one day.
What workshops/seminars have you found useful to you? I absolutely love Sandy Puc. She is a fabulous photographer, and is able to keep bring a room alive. There are a ton of workshops/seminars that I want to attend though. That list is pretty long. I will be heading to the wonderful Imaging USA next Sunday with 3 other photographers, and am really excited about that!
6) Morning or night owl? Night owl sometimes, morning owl….not so much.
7) If you could describe your style of photography in 4 words, what would they be? Fun, relaxing, clean, with a little bit of a vintage feel.
8 ) Who is your family? My family includes my husband Brett, who has been a great support to me in this journey. Then we have Miss Molly who just turned 8 and is all about DSi’s and Ipods, and Lily. Lily will be 3 in March, and is one of the most easy going kids. She loves everything and anything. Can you please include some pictures of your family, since we know that they are always on the other end of the lens.
Here is my wonderful husband Brett. He is a little easier to convince to sit down for a shot. I don’t have to give him a snack, or a sucker afterwards. Every now and then he likes to try to grow out a mustache. That quickly gets nixed.
Now we have Molly and Lily. They have the best relationship. Molly is so protective of Lily, and Lily adores her big sister. This is one of my favorite images. This was the image that was on the front of our Christmas card this year, and will soon be blown up and hung on our wall.
9) What is a project that you would like to do this year with your photography? I’m trying really hard to do Project 365. That’s where you take a picture everyday for a year. I’m kind of falling behind (yes, I know it’s still the first week of January). I may end up going towards Project 52. I’ve also really liked seeing what is going on over at Marta Locklear, but haven’t had a chance to participate yet. So maybe I’ll play catch up soon.
10) How do you balance work, and your family? Do what? Balance what? Well let’s just say that there are late nights on my end quite often. I will try to do some work during Lily’s nap, and while Molly is at school, but the majority of it is done at night. When everyone is asleep and it’s quite. My family is my number one priority, and I don’t let things become more of a priority than them.
11) We all want to know…what’s in YOUR bag? In my bag I have a Canon 50d with a battery grip, and a 24-70mm 2.8L attached to it. I also have a 50mm 1.8, and a 70-300 IS USM lens in my bag.
What lens could you not live without? As of right now…my 24-70mm. That might change once I get a macro lens however.
12) If you could photograph any person in the world, who would it be? Why? If this person were still alive. My grandmother with my grandfather. I was very close to her and my grandpa. I would love to be able to photograph her and him together. I took a photo of my grandfather the other day, and realized how I would love to be able to photograph them, and be able to see the love between them “frozen” in time.
13) If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be? Other than a stay at home mom, which I already am…I would love to do something marketing related. I love the marketing side of things, and my husband said it’s because I don’t care how much something costs, as long as it’s beautiful. Which is wrong. I do care how much something is, but I also understand that it takes money to make money. In order to make money, you have to make something pretty, and appealing.
14) What are 4 words your husband would use to describe you? Beautiful, talented, loving, kind. Such a sweet guy he is.
15) What helps keep you motivated with photography? All the new things that I learn every day. Also, wanting to provide clients with beautiful images that they will treasure for a lifetime. I love hearing the first reaction from a client when they see their images for the first time.
16) Tell us about some of your long term goals (with photography or personal life)? Photography wise – keep learning. Don’t ever stop soaking everything in. Personal – Be happy with my family, watch my kids grow and enjoy them soaking up life.
17) What blogs do you love to stalk? Oh goodness. This list could be huge…The Picky Palate, The Savvy Photographer, Clickin Moms, Creative Mama, The TomKat Studio, and Jasmine Star.
18) When you’re not shooting, what are you doing? Hanging out with my family, and probably trying to plan our next cruise. I’ve been on 8…love them.
19) Where is one place you would love to travel to? Fiji, it looks absolutely beautiful and seems very romantic.
20) What is one thing that you want to do in your life? Always strive to be a great mom and wife, and continue to live life. Try to not be so worried about things I can’t control. Also make sure that I never take anything for granted.
21) What is a quote that means a lot to you? I can’t remember where I heard this but it’s so true…
“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”
22) If you could pick one photographer in the world to do a session for you, and your family, who would it be and why? Jasmine Star, she actually shoots engagements and weddings, but I would love to have her photograph my family! She is amazing and has an awesome personality. I think she would be a blast.
23) If you could photograph one area of photography for a day, what would it be, why? (Something other than what you photograph, i.e. architecture, food, boudoir, birth, etc.) Honestly… Boudoir. I would love to get into Boudoir photography. It’s very mysterious and I’m just drawn to it.
24) If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in photography, what would it be? Don’t think that it’s just the camera that takes good pictures. You have to have a knowledge of what it takes for an image to turn out fabulous. Practice Practice Practice, and soak up any and all information you can. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
25) What magazine could you not live without? I have a couple. I love Professional Photographer for my business magazine. For just good, easy reading…Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and anything celeb gossip.
Please include some images of your work…..
I hope everyone enjoyed the first interview of this new feature. Make sure to join us for one of my favorite photographers next week. This one is dear to my heart and she has helped me so much along this journey! Who could it be…..
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Posted on October 27, 2010
Wall Displays.
What are they? How do they work?
Those are two questions you might be asking.
Wall Displays are fabulous. They help me show my clients the possibilities that we can do with their wonderful images. I have numerous ones that I can show. It helps to also show that an 8×10 on a wall is just not big enough to an image justice. With framed artwork, frames that are big definitely help. However, if you have an image inside a big frame, it can still sometimes be swallowed by the frame. So showing these can also help you see how a gallery wrap, float wrap, or standout can look without the faming. Those 3 items are items that are meant to stand alone without a frame. My favorite product have been the float wraps. I also love the new product I’ve started carrying, which are the standout mounts. Gallery wraps have always been a classic to me. The float wraps and standout mounts are NEW and fabulous.
Newborn Wall Display- this option shows 12×12 framed images. However, you could do this also with 4 20×20 gallery wraps, float wraps or standouts for an even bigger statement. Obviously if you choose to the un-framed option, it would give you more space on your images as well, as you wouldn’t be covering up detail with the frame.
Until next time,
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