As promised, the other half of the Whitebox Weddings Interview...the very talented Melanie Litchfield!
What drew you to photography?
Growing up I always hated to have my picture taken and I didn't think that I was artistic at all, so I was surprised when I took a photography class and really liked it. The class was at my local community college and I had an amazing teacher, Kathleen Anderson. Of course, it was all b&w film and darkroom stuff back then and I'd stay every night until midnight when the lab closed just printing stuff. I had been to quite a few colleges and had many majors up until this point, so I as happy and surprised to finally find something that I really loved.
Are you self taught or do you have formal training?
After that first photography class I decided to go to photo school, so I guess I have formal training. It gave me a good technical background to start with, but I feel like most of the creative stuff has to be self-taught. As far as business goes, I'm totally self-taught and it has been a rocky road! A lot of my lessons have been learned the hard way. Going to workshops has been invaluable to me in learning the business side of things. I'm so thankful that other photographers are willing to share their knowledge!
How did you make the leap into making photography a career? What did you do to start?
After photo school I worked as a commercial photography assistant for about a year and then decided tht I wanted to hang out on my own shingle. I opened a studio with Sara and our friend, Stacey Haines (www.staceyhaines.com). We shared a space but we all had separate businesses. I was focusing on food and product photography and I swore up and down that I'd never shoot kids or weddings! I ended up taking a job as a magazine photo editor for two years and I was assisting Sara with weddings on the weekends and shooting some weddings of my own. Much to my surprise, I ended up liking to shoot weddings and kids. My life's lesson is "never say never"! About two years ago Sara and I decided to combine our businesses and form whitebox weddings.
How did you and Sara meet?
We met in photo school, but it wasn't until afterwards that we really worked with one another.
What inspires you?
It's nothing deep or complicated really, I just love to make things look pretty. I think it's really nice to be able to give other people beautiful pictures of themselves and their families. It's mostly other photographers who inspire me right now. I love to see how people are pushing the envelope.
What other jobs have you ever had? (if any)
Oh, gosh-I've had a lot of jobs-and bad ones! I've bussed tables, worked at McDonalds, drove an old truck at a campground, made pizzas, cleaned hotel rooms, grocery store cashier, barista, health food store office manager, mahine shop girl, photo assistant, photo editor. I'm sure ther are some I'm forgetting, or might have just blocked out of memory! Now you know why I'm so happy to be a photographer!
What's your favorite part about being a photographer? Least favorite?
I love shooting, I don't like being at the computer so much. I get to go to a lot of interesting places and meet interesting people, you can't beat that!
How do you deal with creative blocks?
I look at other photographer's blogs a lot. I definitely fit the definition of a stalker. I also check out music videos, they can be pretty interesting visually.
How do you define success?
Right now, success would mean making enough money so that my husband could leave his full time job to pursue his dreams. He has always been so supportive of my goald and my business and I think that sometimes his have taken the back burner. Hopefully this will be his year!
Who is your favorite photographer and why?
Well, I don't really have one favorite but I have a lot of photographers who I really admire.
Jessica Claire: she's really the first person who showed me what wedding photography could be and go tme excited about the business
The Image Is Found: They still continue to push the envelope, and they're nice too. :)
Fred Egan: It ahs been inspiring to watch his work evolve
Jinky Art: Mindblowing kid photography
Tara Whitney: I'm really into her work right now, it strikes an emotional chord with me.
Jose Villa: his work is so beautiful and classic
Kevin Miyazaki: he is a commercial/editorial photographer that I worked with a few times when I worked as a photo editor. I really love his travel work
Who would you choose to do a portrait of you?
Hmm...good question. i think I'd choose The Image Is Found to shoot portraits of my husband and i. But if I had another wedding-I'd choose a super-team of Jessica Claire and Jasmine Star to shoot the big event and Jose Villa to film it on super-8! And Jesh DeRox to shoot the day after session! I might as well dream big!
Do you have a favorite lens?
50mm 1.4
What do you do to get a great shot in bad lighting?
In very low light I like to use a light coming from behind the subject to create flare.
Check out Melanie and Sara's blog here!
www.relishportaitstudio.com
www.dailyrelish.squarespace.com