if the suggestion of taking photos at home


raised your blood pressure, that would put you in the 90th percentile of families who end up hiring me to take photos at home. For really-reals!


The biggest concern prospective clients have about about photos at home is.... home! Extenuating circumstances are common: a recent move, a zip wall, a recently flooded basement, a tiny apartment space, a door the new puppy destroyed, the list goes on. But if you have viewed my portfolio you have already seen all of these things without knowing you saw any of these things.


Transition is normal, we're just programmed to think everyone else somehow has it more "together" than we do. (Trust me, we don't.) No offense to your space, I'm sure its really nice, but isn't the star of the show anyway.


I try to see your home as your children see it or will someday... not as an editor from Better Homes and Gardens. I see your home as your respite, your safe space and the hub of your life. I see the scene of new beginnings and I understand that your home is a work in progress just like mine. I don't take your trust in me lightly: I know that it's very vulnerable to let a photographer into the inner sanctum.


You may be wondering, why I bother if it's such a hard sell? Because I want your photos to bring it all back to you, year after year, anytime you view them. I want you to feel the season of their arrival, I want you to smell their new baby smell and hear their breathe go in and out as you both sack out on the couch. I even want for you to remember the hardship and monotony of long days and nights and to feel all the mixed up emotions that were bouncing around your chest. There is no other time like this, where the planet skipped right off its axis and realigned somehow.


Can you tell that this family moved in just before their son was born or that he surprised them by coming a week early? I'm fairly certain that all you see is love, connection, wonder, partnership, care and a beautiful baby. We took a few photos outside to remember the lush, cicada-song season that will accompany his birthday each year.


I know that these photos have a value that builds as time passes, as homes change, as life changes. I know we made visible memories that Baby F can't make for himself but will now be able to see and know one day. And you can't make that happen in a studio. - as perfect and tidy as it may be.


L & N, congratulations and thank you for inviting me into your beautiful new home and for trusting me to capture this time with Baby F! I already can't wait to see him again!


XO, Mel

A mother in a rocking chair holds her newborn and looks at her partner smiling
a mother reaches down to hold her baby's foot, he is. in a bouncy seat
new parents hold their baby on the couch and smile at each other
a new father holds his newborn and kisses his partner who is also looking at the baby
a father holds a newborn's foot in his hand and scale shows how small the foot is
a father kisses his newborn while holding him on the couch
a mother holds her sleeping baby and looks over her shoulder at the camera, smiling
a mother seated in a chair holds her sleeping baby on her chest
a mother seated in a chair holds her sleeping baby on her chest, the fireplace is behind her
a mother cuddles her newborn who is sleeping in her arms, the baby faces the camera
close up of a newborn's face, his eyes are open
a newborn stretches out on a colorful rug
a newborn on a colorful rug looks at the camera
a newborn is swaddled on a rug, his head is in the center of rug circles like a halo
a newborn sleeps swaddled on a textured rug
a newborn is stretched out on a colorful rug in his diaper and yawning
parents hold their newborn in front of their new home in summer
parents hold their newborn in the backyard amidst vines
parents look at the camera while holding their newborn, a. bloom from a vine is in the foreground
a father holds his newborn in the backyard while the mother kisses him, the tool shed is visible behind them
new parents carry their baby across the front yard seen through a summer vine bloom
a wide shot of a couple's backyard as they hold their newborn and look at him
a mother gazes at her newborn as he nurses
a father makes shushing noises while holding and bouncing his newborn who is looking at the camera
new parents standing in front of an open window hold their newborn and gaze at him, its backlit with dramatic light