So while I love having two separate sites to showcase my portrait work versus my wedding work keeping up with two blogs is pretty much impossible for me. One always suffers. I think that if you read my blog and enjoy my work you want to see all of it in once place so I’m combining the blogs from melissaarlena and from sweetsimplicityweddings into one blog. I will still keep the websites separate because I don’t want to mix the wedding information with the portrait information, I think it becomes too jumbled.
Along with the combination of the blogs I thought this would be a good time to just talk about my photography business and hopefully answer any questions you might have. I think I will go oldschool here and pull out my elementary school five W questions.
Who and What: So who is Melissa Arlena Photography and Sweet Simplicity Weddings and why the two different names?
Melissa Arlena Photography is the portrait side of my business and I, Melissa Arlena Jeffcoat, am the only shooter for this brand. All sessions for Melissa Arlena Photography are done on location at your home or at your favorite local spot. I photograph kids, pets, families, Seniors, maternity and newborns. I also photograph singles for dating website photographs through Accuphoto. If you need headshots or marketing photographs please feel free to contact me and we can put together a custom package for your needs.
Sweet Simplicity Weddings is the wedding side of my business and while I am the primary shooter for this brand I also feature several associate shooters that photograph alongside me. I like to find associate photographers that complement my style so we work well together. We include engagement sessions with all our packages so we can get to know the Bride and Groom before the wedding day! The more weddings we photograph the more I find I really love it, the emotion of the day and all the beautiful details keep me in photographers paradise
Where: I’m based out of the Stafford and Fredericksburg, Virginia area but I have no problems traveling to other locations in Virginia. I’ve lived all over Northern Virginia including Alexandria, Burke and Springfield and I love to travel towards Southern Virginia and along the Shenandoah Mountains areas. My grandparents live in Lexington so I would be happy to have an excuse to come visit them if you would like portraits or are having a wedding in that area.
When: I try to schedule portrait sessions for times I know there will be good light, this is usually very early in the morning or about an hour before sunset. The reason being the sunlight at that time is what is referred to as golden light. Golden light is soft and easy on the eyes which means no squinting or raccoon eye shadows. We typically schedule portraits for weekday evenings and on weekends when we do not have a wedding booked. Weddings are booked on weekends usually but if you are having a midweek wedding please contact us also!
Why: So why photography? From the first time I was in a darkroom and I watched the image appear on the paper in the developer I was hooked. Even today it is like magic to me to watch it come up. )Tearjerker portion of this post ahead!) More then that the importance of photographs was made abundantly clear to me when I photographed a friends newborn baby girl about 7 years ago. It was for a project for my Photo 101 class and I took photos of the newborn with her paternal grandmother, I was contrasting old and new. I was focused on my project so I didn’t take the normal additional photos I usually would have of other friends and family with the baby. I did not take photos of the maternal grandfather holding his first granddaughter and when he died unexpectedly later that month it was discovered that no one had taken a picture of them. I’ve heard stories from wedding photographers that happened to get the last photo of a dear relative at a wedding and were thankful to be able to provide the family with that last photograph. Also there is a wonderful organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) that photographs babies that aren’t going home from the hospital. This is a free service they provide and photographers can sign up with the charity to donate time and services. So that is where the importance of photography has made a home in my heart.
On lighter note I just love capturing a moment in time, something that 50 years from now someone else can look at. I love to photograph people laughing because I think that is when you are at your most natural. As for weddings the why is the moment a father sees his daughter as a bride for the first time or the moment a mother pins a boutonniere on her son. Add in the fabulous dress, beautiful bride and awesome details and it is paradise to me!
So there you have it a little more information about the photography you will find when you hire us!
.jpg "Sweet Simplicity Weddings and Melissa Arlena Photography")
Fredericksburg, Stafford and Northern Virginia Wedding and Portrait Photographer
Don’t forget to check out our Wedding and Portrait Portfolios at the links below
comments