Featured fPOE Photographer - Melissa Lund

Meet Melissa of Melissa Lund Photography!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have been living in Portland, Oregon for almost nine years and I love the City of Roses. I grew up in Michigan and it’s where I found both of my true loves – my husband Michael and photography. I discovered photography my first year in college and I met Michael a few years after that. Six months after Michael and I were married, we were off to Oregon. I miss my family, but I love living in Oregon.

When you’re not photographing lovelies, what else fills your time?

I love spending time with my little “family”, my husband Michael and our two kitties – Hanna and Maggie. I love to learn, so right now it’s sewing. I took a couple of classes and bought a sewing machine from a friend to practice on. I enjoy reading, and I’m a salsa addict, so I’m on the hunt for the world’s best salsa. I also work full-time as a graphic designer.

How would you describe your creative process?

I don’t really have a process; I’m kind of all over the place. Sometimes I will randomly set-up up a photo shoot in my home, sometimes I spend a little more time preparing. I usually go by the mood I’m in and if I feel inspired. Editing my photos is the same way. I like a lot of different things, so I just experiment until I get an end result that I like.

Tell us about your cameras and favorite lenses.

I use a Canon 7D and an iPhone 4s to capture my vision. I have a few lenses, but I don’t really have a favorite. I’m trying to use them all equally so I become comfortable with each of them. The Canon 50mm 1.4 is a great lens. I also love the Lensbaby Composer Pro with the Edge 80 optic. It’s a huge learning curve, but will be great to get out of my comfort zone.

Where else can we find your work besides your Etsy shop?

I have a shop on Society6 and I have some plans to expand to other sites.

My work will be available for sale on Minted in the next few months.

You can also find my work locally at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery in downtown Portland.

Any advice for those just getting started as a photographer?

Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Play up your strengths and improve on your weaknesses and remember that we all have one thing in common – we were all beginners with no experience.

Favorite photographer?
I really like the work of Diane Arbus; her photographs are unique and interesting. I read the book Diane Arbus by Patricia Bosworth and was really intrigued by her life and who she was as a person.

Featured fPOE Photographer - Jessica Chevalier

Meet Jessica Chevalier of LostInTheValley!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a vegetable farmer living in the Adirondacks with an addiction to photography!

I love sewing and have a bit of a fabric obsession. Gardening is another love of mine. I’m also a Begonia dork. I have a bunch of them lining my windowsills with the occasional orchid squeezed in. 

 

Describe your creative process and what inspires you.

I love to go for hikes. There’s lots of inspiration in the deep woods! Thankfully my boyfriend doesn’t mind that I’m constantly interrupting our hike to stop and take a picture. He has the patience of a saint as I stop frequently!

I get the photos onto the computer as soon as I get back from a hike and immediately pick out my favorites. I wish I could say I’m good about editing right away, but I have hundreds, if not thousands of potential photos that need editing. I try to get at between 1-5 photos edited a day.

Outside of the forest, I love food photography. I’ve started a little culinary ‘adventure’ where I invent a dish or pick something out of a cookbook, make it, and then photograph it. I have a little ‘stage’ set up in my studio that I go running to when the food is fresh off the stove and I photograph it.

Tell us about your camera and favorite lenses.

I own a Canon 5D Mark III and I love it! It’s hard to choose just one lens as a favorite. 

My top three fav’s are my 100mm f/2.8L IS macro, my Lensbaby with Edge 80 attachment (the sweet 35 is pretty great too for certain things!), and my ‘boring’ nifty 50mm f/1.8. 

Where else can we find your work besides your Etsy shop?

I have a website, www.lostinthevalleyphotography.com, and am working on creating a website just for my food photography.

I’ve had some success entering juried shows at various art galleries around the Adirondacks. Recently, two of my food photographs were published in the fall/winter issue of LOCALadk magazine (pages 57-58) from a shoot I did with a local food Co-op.


Any advice for those just getting started as a photographer?

Learn to use your camera in manual mode! Read your camera’s owner’s manual front to back. Practice, practice, practice! Practice indoors and out, with morning light and evening light, with different camera settings, etc. You’ll never really stop learning and I love that about photography. Compare the photos you took today to those you’ll take in a year. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how far you’ve come if you keep at it.


Any favorite Etsy shops or “finds”?

If I were to look at my favorite shops, there seems to be a theme: Pottery shops, jewelry shops, photography shops (of course!), and illustration shops. I seem to gravitate towards artfully made hand-crafted pieces. I love how diverse the people of Etsy are even if there are many others doing the same craft! I may have several pottery shops (for example) ‘favorited’, but they all have their own unique style and I love that!

Featured fPOE Photographer - Andrea Hurley

Meet Andrea Hurley of My Sweet Reveries!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I've loved photography since I can remember and even carried a photo album in my very first purse! My journey into photography really began though 14 years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer at age 20. My prognosis was excellent (it was only stage one cancer that simply required surgery - no chemo or radiation was needed) but I was considered high risk for recurrence. I was already a mommy to a 14 month old baby boy at this time and the realization of how precious life and our time on Earth is overwhelmed me. I began to photograph every moment of my son's life I could to attempt to preserve every memory that I could of him.

As the years passed and I became interested in scrapbooks, I taught myself to edit and even to design my own digital papers, etc. to improve my craft. Eventually I realized that my favorite thing to do was to photograph not only people but nature and still life subjects. Photography had become my passion. I wanted to further improve my skills so I began to research equipment and technical information. With lots of studying and practicing I gradually taught myself to use a camera properly hoping I could someday turn my love into a career. I opened my print shop almost two years ago and have loved every minute of it.

When you’re not photographing lovelies, what else fills your time?

My work day is filled with balancing editing, designing, working on my Etsy shops, fulfilling orders and networking. While I'm doing all of that from my home corner office or my laptop on the couch, I'm also busy being a homemaker: I'm a married mom of two boys ages 3 and 15 so I spend most of my time entertaining the toddler, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry.

I'm terrible at managing my time and there is always a list of things that are unfinished. On the rare occasion that I'm not working or doing chores, you might find me participating in a dance aerobics class, reading or painting abstracts. (Usually I'm just wasting time on Pinterest, though!) 

How would you describe your creative process?

I'm completely and constantly inspired by everything around me. In fact, I am easily distracted by the beauty of a scene and envisioning how I would like to capture it. I photograph something everyday and I often lose track of time when I'm inspired to go shoot. When my family notices me missing, they know I'm somewhere nearby wandering around with my camera. 

The photos I take usually sit for a week or two before I find time to upload them. Sometimes I edit a few of my favorites and add them to my shop immediately but 90% of the time my editing is months behind. When I feel inspired to edit I peruse my huge stock of waiting photos and whatever catches my eye is what I work on that day. I recently created several prints from photos that I took while on my honeymoon over 4 years ago! 

 How would you say your style has evolved over time?

My style has evolved so much over the last two years since I began shooting professionally. In the beginning I was primarily interested in textured imagery and much of the work I completed was pastel toned. I was inspired by those things but I think that primarily I was trying to produce what I believed everyone wanted or thought I should do.

As I've grown as an artist and improved as a photographer I've gained the confidence to show more of who I am and express other moods than what I call the 'cotton candy' side of myself. I also love minimalism and really dramatic or moody themes. A lot of the inspiration to try to be more myself artistically came from a friend and local Kentucky mixed media artist, Donna Williams. She doesn't shy away from illustrating darker moods in her pieces and I admired her for that so I challenged myself to begin digging deeper with my own art. 

Tell us about your camera and favorite lenses.

Many people are surprised to hear that I'm a Sony girl. I currently shoot with a 65v which I love. I am looking to upgrade to a full frame camera soon but will stick with Sony. My favorite lenses to use are my Sony 85mm, Lensbaby Edge 80 and a 30mm Sony macro. 

Where else can we find your work besides your Etsy shop?

Currently I primarily focus all of my attention on my Etsy shop and websites:
http://www.andreahurleyphotography.co 
http://www.sweetreveries.co

You can also follow my Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/andreahurleyphotography 

Any advice for those just getting started as a photographer?
1. Study. Practice. Repeat. You need to know your equipment inside and out and you can never practice too much.
2. Shoot what you love. If you don't you are far less likely to succeed.
3. Know and invest in good lenses.
4. The most important thing you can ever do for yourself is to be original. I can't stress that one enough. 

Any new photographic projects on the horizon? 

I'm currently working on several projects revolving around the action and texture sets I will be releasing for sale in 2014. I'm working on releasing my abstract work which until now I have kept entirely to myself and I would like to explore more fine art portraiture and food photography next year.


Who are your favorite inspiring photographers?

I have many favorite photographers! Early on I was greatly inspired by several wonderful people and fine artists I discovered on Flickr such as Lisa Epp, Sarah Gardner and Silvia Otten-Nattkamp. I also really admire the work of Irene Suchocki, Laura Evans and Susan Fox.

Featured fPOE Photographer - Helen Makadia

This feature is the first in a new series aimed at getting to know our fPOE photographers more in-depth. I'm excited to learn more about the talented women who make up this vibrant group.

Meet Helen Makadia, owner of Helen Makadia Photography! (and her adorable 2-year-old daughter!)

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My photography journey has been a bit unconventional. I have always had an interest in photography, picking up my uncle’s Canon A-1 every now and then. I went to Wellesley College and studied Economics and Political Science and worked in the investment world for about 10 years.

In my spare time, I took a film photography workshop at the New England School of Photography and just fell in love with photography all over again. I found myself looking at light through a different perspective, really picturing images as I saw objects and people.

I decided it was time to try something different and marry my love for photography with business. I attended Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts and pursued a Digital Photography program.

Upon finishing the program in 2008, I started Helen Makadia Photography focusing on Wedding Photography and Portrait Photography while dabbling in what I call “photography of objects that don’t move” in my spare time. 

A wise photographer once told me that the one way to avoid burnout is to spend about 10% of your time photographing things that make you happy. I took this advice to heart, which has grown into my current Etsy store.

Any other interests besides photography?

I have many interests besides photography, although many of my interests you can see through my photography. I love food and capturing it. Self-admittedly, I am not the best cook or baker, but it's fun.

I do love to visit new places, although dislike flying, so it takes some effort to get there. I love animals and have volunteered at the MSPCA in Boston taking photos of the small animals and cats for the adoption profiles. I also have an active two year old daughter, so am immersed in that on a daily basis.

I would say that although I do have many other interests, they all seem to feed my love for photography. 

Describe your creative process and what inspires you.

There are so many things that inspire me, its difficult to single one thing. However, when I do think about the creative process, light has always been something that has captured my eye, even as a young child. As a photographer, light is the most important element in making a photograph. This is true across types of photography (people or objects) and whether photographing in natural or created (studio) light. My personal preference is for natural light, although I will work with a created light look if necessary.

When I look for what to photograph, I cover a wide span of subject matter, from abstract to food, architecture and nature. I bring my camera with me everywhere I go, as I never know where an image can be made. I look for inspiration in what is around me.

I do have have an electronic journal where I take notes of images I would like to create. Sometimes I am successful at creating the image I pictured in my mind and sometimes it takes a different direction. It is important for me to be open to allowing the creative process to evolve in this manner. 

Tell us about your camera.

I work with the Canon line of cameras and lenses. I have had several camera bodies and my latest is the Canon 5D Mark III. I’m a firm believer that it is not the camera or lens that makes the photo but the photographer behind the viewfinder.

While I do think camera bodies are important, its the lenses that matter most to me. The macro 100mm L series 2.8 IS lens is one of my favorites lenses. I love shooting details and so the macro properties of this lens make it essential in my camera bag. I love two all purpose lenses - the 50mm 1.4 lens and the 24-70mm L lens. Both are great all purpose lenses, with the 50mm being my lense of choice when I need a light and small lens.

I have begun playing more with the Lensbaby Composer + Edge80 and see using this lens more and more. 

Where else can we find your work besides your Etsy shop?

Here are some ways to follow my work and keep in touch:
Website: www.helenmakadiaphotography.com

Blog: www.helenmakadiaphotography.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Helen.Makadia.Photography
Locally, the Newton Open Studios: www.newtonopenstudios.org

Upcoming show at NewTV 12/5/13 - 1/5/13. More details to follow on my blog and Facebook page.

Finally, any advice for those just getting started as a photographer?

I think it is important for photographers who want to make photography a career to really think about the business aspect of things. It is wonderful and rewarding to create beautiful images and even more to do so and be compensated for it. Deciding whether to go into business with photography is a huge step and one not to be taken lightly.

My advice is to spend some time either taking a class on what it means to run a small business, or read up on it. In business, you will spend less than half of your time--more like 20%--doing photography and the remainder will be business, so you have to love it (business, that is).