Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie and Nick Fisher.
Melanie Hall-Fisher, M. Photog. Cr., CPP and husband, Nick are the owners of Melonhead Photo, which was established in 2004 in Willis, TX. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Photography from Sam Houston State University in 2007 and, a year later, earned her Certified Professional Photographer degree from Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Before moving her photographic focus to portrait art, she worked as the only full-time photographer for The Conroe Courier.
In 2015, she earned her Photographic Craftsman degree from PPA. The following year she earned her Master Photographer degree from PPA making her the youngest Master Photographer in Texas! Nick was a firefighter before he turned to photography full time. He was valedictorian in the Creative Photography program at Humber College in Toronto, Canada. Their business is now a home based portrait studio in Conroe, TX. They met unexpectedly when an errant package was sent to the wrong studio address.
Nick’s employers at that time thought it would be cute if they met and that’s all it took. They were married 2 years later and are now the proud parents of two fluffy puppies.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Thankfully, we are a very diverse company that can shoot everything from babies to brides, graduating seniors to corporate executives. Being able to photograph a wide variety of subjects has kept us busy throughout the year, with every year being better than the last. Commercial work has always been a big part of our business, but we were surprised how much it grew in the past two years.
Our clients love our attention to detail and our classically trained lighting to make their images stand out. The hardest part for us has been changing the mindset of the portrait market, especially seniors. People settling for photos that are good enough these days seems to be the biggest issue these days. We truly love what we do, and strive to always produce work that will be treasured for years to come, regardless of the how much time has passed (no Instagram filters here!).
Not all high school seniors these days are willing to have a professional shoot done since cell phones have taken over the world. But how many cell phone photos ever make it onto the walls of your home? Our want is for people to have images that they are so proud of, that it would be a crime to not have them displayed on their walls.
Melonhead Photo – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Melonhead Photo has always been a diverse company, but our seniors are our favorite to shoot. We get to be as creative as we want, and we love seeing the tears in the parents’ eyes when they see their kids up on our big screen. We love treating our seniors to the Full Senior Experience with hair/makeup for the girls, a variety of in-studio work, as well as multiple outdoor locations to match their style.
Many of our clients can’t believe how good they look when we show them their images. Great lighting must be tailored to each person exactly to bring out the best possible image, and sadly, this seems to be a lost art in most of the amateur photography world.
We can shoot in-studio as well as outdoors, which is especially important when the summer heat kicks in! Having been in business for so many years has truly helped us in being able to work incredibly fast so that we can produce a wide variety of images during our sessions. This can sometimes make it difficult for our clients to choose which portraits they want for their walls. They always laugh when we offer them the name of a good contractor who can put in more walls for them if they need!
Thankfully, we have some amazing software that allows us to show our clients their images sized correctly on their own walls of their home to help make their decisions easier. We know that we have done our job right when they have a hard time saying no to any of them, and that is where our heirloom albums come in.
We feel it is a disservice to just hand a client a disk of images which requires them to have to decide what to do with what, and how. We are a full-service studio that provides everything from wall art to albums, showcasing images for generations to come.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There have been many proud moments in Melanie’s career. In 2012, she set some pretty hefty goals. She wanted to be a Master Photographic Craftsman by the time she turned 30, and in 2015, she did that just in time. Along the way, she collected some other notable awards. In 2012, 2013 and 2015, Melanie earned the Brazos Valley Photographer of the Year award.
In 2014, she earned her Texas PPA (TPPA) & Professional Photographers Guild of Houston (PPGH) associate fellowship and was a gold medalist at International Print Competition (IPC). In 2015 and 2016, she went 4 for 4 at the TPPA competition. In 2016, the Studio also brought home the trophy for best multi-maker wedding album by a master, as well as, a distinguished print ribbon. 2016 was a busy year for Melanie, as she also won a bronze medal at IPC and earned her TPPA full fellowship.
Then, in 2017, she was named PPA Elite Plus and was a Gold medalist at IPC and a Silver medalist at TPPA. Also, in 2017, the Studio also brought home the trophy for best multi-maker wedding album by a master and non-master, while Melanie’s image got the Best Commercial Image trophy. Over the years she has been awarded numerous TPPA distinguished print awards.
Pricing:
- Headshot sessions begin at $150.
- Weddings begin at $1,950.
- Weekday portrait (family, senior, bridal, engagement and children) session fee is $150, and for weekends it is $250.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.melonhead-photo.com – www.melonheadshots.com – www.melonheadweddings.com
- Phone: 7134464991
- Email: melonheadphoto@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @melonheadphoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/melonheadphoto/
- Twitter: @melonheadphoto
Image Credit:
Main photo: Niki Gregg
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