Who are you?

Hi my name is Melissa. I was born the day after Thanksgiving 1976, got married labor day weekend 2002, had my daughter memorial day weekend 2005, had my son christmas weekend 2006. That makes my kids 19 months apart and for a whole lot of holidays that overlap with birthdays in this house.

I am a mother of 2 (currently ages 5 and 3.5), a self-taught photographer, and before all of that a naturalist and geneticist by training. I have always loved photography, I bought my first camera, a point and shoot pentax, with some of my high school graduation gift money, I wanted a camera, like that bad, totally. I purchased my first digital in graduate school, I took it everywhere. I took lots of pictures.

I got pregnant and talked my husband into an upgrade for my digital camera, you know, for the sake of the baby (I recently got my next upgrade, you know, for the sake of other people's babies). I had my daughter, I started a blog and taking lots of pictures for it. Then I had my son, and started doing some homecare, I was taking pictures of children every day. It was a natural progression to try and take portraits of them, because I've always loved fancy expensive custom photo shoots that I couldn't afford.

I believe in taking lots of pictures to get only 30 good ones. I believe if you see something special you take as many pictures of it from as many different angles as you can, as long as it lasts. I think everyone should have the choice to have photos that aren't some pre-designed pose or generic setting that a photographer or studio picks out for them. That's not to say you can't get awesome photos at a studio, but everyone feels awkward under those lights being told to turn their head "just a little more to the left." I want you to be where you can feel comfortable, feel relaxed, and be yourself, if that's on a backdrop, then rock on. I also love it if the photo shoot is an experience, a memory, for you and your family. That you can tell stories about it akin to remember when baby almost caught the butterfly or we all trudged through that stream. I want to follow you on an outing, one you'll have lots of pictures to remember it by. I let children lead the way, they come up with the best ideas. You can't get enough practice, or ever be done learning new things.

A camera makes you slow down and that smile, that pout, that sticky face devouring an apple, those are the moments I want to preserve for you. I want you to be able to look back on your photos and remember exactly what every person in the photo was like on that day, who they were, not just what they looked like.

Circle the Sun Photography is more than just some pictures to me, it is a journey.
Follow your passion, it’s the only way you can find yourself.