Brittany

Brittany did not ask to be a model. In fact, I think she blew my post for free photo sessions off. But. I knew as soon as I got my equipment that she was going to be one of the first people I called to photo shoot. Brittany, is a rare breed and I am almost positive I have a serious girl crush on her. She is a beautiful, strong, intelligent, care free woman who loves the Lord, children and has a heart for missions.

I first saw Brittany in a photograph from a missions trip. I knew of her and knew she went to church and served in the same class as one of my children but I never really took the time to look at her. I need to stop wasting time. I noticed in her in a photograph she took when visiting India and I was blown away. I knew that I needed to get my lens on her and when I met her officially in person she was even prettier.

I asked her to join me out at the Historic Latta Plantation. I wanted her photo session not just to capture the essence of her beauty but of her heart. I wanted something unique, ethnic, and emotion filled. Bold.

I brought a few props that would represent her world travel. This girl has gone some places (including Paris, gosh I'm jealous!). She doesn't let her singleness get her down and instead embraces this gift as a way to spread God's word and love to all the nations and people of this world.

Our photo shoot together was really fun. She was very responsive and willing to do all kinds of crazy things. She's also good with hearing the truth on a prop or outfit suggestion. She didn't even mind the fact that I used a necklace as a head piece! You have to get creative and think outside of the box in order to have a successful photo session. You can't be afraid to hear someone say, "Meg, you are crazy," or weird, or insane. The craziest people make the best artists.

Brittany is a true gem, a treasure to behold, and will be one of my main models and the face of Meg Martino Photography.

Jenny

Jenny came to me when I launched and asked for models and asked if I would do a photoshoot of her. I will be frank, I was really intimidated. Not only is Jenny drop dead gorgeous and has red hair unlike any redhead I've met - but she's worked with many professional photographers. Some that I even look up to and admire in the art.

But I never turn down a pretty face, especially when I've asked. I also knew that Jenny would be flexible in posing, the scenery in which we wanted to shoot and would let me be creative in the theme.

I chose a local park that is honestly quite common for photographs. There is a railroad there and I wanted to get a lot of our shots on the tracks. I was aiming for a strong yet feminine session; because this is what describes Jenny. She is strong, bold and beautiful.

The session turned out wonderful. We got there super early and the weather was in my favor. She was very fun to photograph and did pretty much anything I asked, even if the pose was a bit uncomfortable or seemed odd. Sometimes a really good photograph feels odd because of the position but then turns out beautiful in the camera. You have to roll with it. :)

I am really proud of her leg shot because one of her arms was completely shown in this photo. It took away from the character and while I am not the greatest of editors I was able to remove this and then made it a more vintage style color. This is going to be awesome blown up and hung in a future office.

After an hour and a half of straight shooting we ended the session and had some amazing photos in the roll. We were running off lack of sleep and coffee but our creative sides were sparked (or maybe we just wanted to get it done). I cannot wait to do photograph Jenny again, that is, if she'll allow me too! ;)

You can also check out all of the photos on my facebook page at Meg Martino Photography on Facebook.

Lindsey Family & Couple Session

I'm playing catch up over the next few days after being on vacation. I had a lot of interest in modeling when I advertised and I'm finally getting the appointments and editing done.

This family is an awesome family to photograph. They are all naturals in front of the lens and easy and fun to work with. Christin contacted me specifically with the desire to do a family shoot with an emphasis on her and her husband Joe. They haven't had photographs together in years as a couple.

We chose the Historic Latta Plantation for this session. It has lots of wooded areas, a semi-beachfront, and is perfect to keep children entertained while I worked with their parents.

My goal when doing a session like this is to have fun with the kids and then give the parents time to love on each other during their love shoot. Taking pictures as a couple doesn't have to be a drag. It can be fun and flirty!

So that is what we did. We did some posing but other than that I just wanted Christin and Joe to flirt and love on each other while I captured the moments. They are so genuinely perfect together. Joe was a natural in front of the lens (this was my first time photographing him).

I cannot wait to photograph them again soon!

Fionna's First Birthday

I had the pleasure of photographing a sweet little girl's First Birthday bash this past weekend. They are good friends of mine and are some of the best parents and people I know. They had a sweet, simple first birthday bash at their home. It was lovely with beautiful decor and yummy yet simple appetizers.

Fionna was surrounded by family and friends. She was dressed up in a sweet little tutu and "I'm ONE" outfit. The theme was elephants and of course the beautiful and classic pink and silver with touches of white.

Fionna's mom, Jessica, is truly the go to lady for party and event planning. She knows how to decorate and do it right.

Fionna had a two tier birthday cake plus a smash cake. The cakes were SO YUMMY. One flavor was red velvet (some of the best I ever had) while the other was a lemon flavored tier.

Fionna's smash cake was equally as beautiful. She thought it was so beautiful that she had a hard time smashing it but eventually dived right in. She looked so cute eating the frosting.

This session was one of my favorite to date. Beautiful people, children, and celebration of a life so worth celebrating! I hope to be able to take their photographs again soon! Check out more photographs of her event on my facebook page!

Night Time Charlotte

For those who know me well you know I have a love and passion for missions. This is not just the type of missions where you jump on a plane and rush to a foreign country. I believe in community missions right here in my home city of Charlotte. There is so much we need to be made aware of when it comes to inner city life and homelessness.

In the next couple of weeks I will be shooting in the city once a week at night. Not only will this help me improve my night portraits (I am a hands on learner) but I want to focus on one area, subject, or theme and then create awareness for that. Homelessness, nighttime city lifestyles, etc. You'd be amazed at what the city can capture when you shoot without posing people and are just snapping...life.

Please note that one of these pictures does portray someone holding up their middle finger. I got to speak to the gentlemen for a minute and he did tell me he had a cold but I told him that the picture was perfect. We want to see people for who they are. We don't want anyone to hold back their personalities and our goal when we go out is not just to photograph - but to help.

I am hoping to have a team of a few people out there giving out snack baggies and just chatting with the people on the street. You meet AMAZING, interesting people when you step outside your comfort zone and just...talk.

If you are interesting in joining me on this adventure (whether you are a photographer or not) please consider it! I will be doing some photography classes uptown each Monday for the next 9 weeks. I will post my dates once I get my final schedule from my school but plan to go directly after class which ends at 9pm. I will shoot each of those days for 2-3 hours. Please note that there is typically a $5 parking garage fee if you want to page in a garage.

Also bring some change to give out to the street performers; especially those who allow you to take photos and chat with you! Lets ban together to make a difference!

You can use the CONTACT ME page for more information and to let me know that you are interested in coming so I can have a good idea on the group. I'm very excited to be entering in this season of my life and using my photography for more than just snapping a few photos! There are also more night time photos in the Night Time Portrait - Charlotte album on my facebook page.

Christin

I recently had the privilege to do a photo shoot with a client who is not just my best friend but an amazing woman of God and missionary. Her heart for the lost and the city in our area is incredible. She was looking for some fresh new headshots and just a fun spring shoot. Every woman needs to feel beautiful, sexy, and fresh - getting some beautiful and fun updated portraits will help you feel just like that!

I opted to do her photographs in the beautiful Downtown Concord area of our city. Concord has lots of natural history and beautiful scenery. It also has a beautiful historic graveyard that is doubled as a garden. We started there. The sun was super bright but we got some amazing shots of her in the garden. She wore a very classy yet spring feeling dress that worked perfectly with our chosen venues.

Concord also has this awesome creamery where she got to eat an ice cream cone and get her shots taken. This was probably one of my favorite shots out of all of the shots we took. The colors and her facial expressions are priceless. One of my favorite things about being a portrait photographer is capturing people in their moment, doing things they love. Who doesn't LOVE ice cream on a nice spring day?

We also did lots of professional looking headshots. If you are familiar with any type of missionary or missions group you know they do lots of fundraising. Having a good, crisp, and business like photo to send out to your possible sponsors is a great way to encourage them to pray, donate, and even think of you while you are out on your trip. Her headshots turned out fantastic!

Christin left the shoot feeling relaxed, happy, and overall we had a great time. A portrait shoot should leave you feeling MORE confident in yourself and happy. I love that these photos and these chosen venues capture her style and personality.

You can find more of these photos in our online gallery on Facebook! If you are interested in booking your own portrait shoot, event shoot, or have a specific idea/need use the CONTACT ME page to get in touch with me and schedule yours in today!

 

Launch

This day has seemed like it would never get here. I prayed relentlessly for God to open the door for me to begin my own photography business and the doors just never seemed to open. I would see a little sign but then nothing new. The time never seemed to be right. 

I put a lot of things in front of this adventure. Some things were of my own and some things where God given to prepare me for this quest. I cannot imagine going into business on my own four years ago when I wanted to start because I would have most likely failed through poor decisions and time management within a year. God always knows when we need a door shut for a season. Just because He closed it back then did not mean He was saying NO forever. 

The time has come and God has opened up many doors for this opportunity to begin full speed ahead. My husband supports me 100% (which is very important when his one income is funding most of these investments), I have family who supports me, and I have learned the importance of patience. A business is not built overnight and I know that I may have to wait, patiently, possibly several years, before seeing serious fruit from the seed I am sowing right now.

This is all worth it, though. I am ready for sleepless nights, engaging conversations, and creating art. I am ready for challenge, change, and perspective. I am ready to learn, be educated, and change. Part of being an artist of any type is knowing when it is time to learn a new technique, or to hone a perfect one that you have already learned. I refuse to fall into the trap of comparison. If you come to me for portraits I will give you something unique. I will work with YOU, learn YOU, so that your portraits are a direct reflection of who you are. That is what my art will represent.  

Part of all of this was the founding factor for my final logo design which was created by Olyvia Media. The founder of Olyvia Media, Erika, did a fantastic job in capturing my heart and my desire for my business. Those who are looking for someone to help them run a classy and thriving online business need to check her out! 

When I contacted her about designing a logo I was nervous. I did not know if a designer could see what I saw, but she did. 

I went with a gold tinted name color based on the biblical use of the word Gold. All throughout scripture we see the color gold used as something good. It's desired and typically what is used to judge the worth of other things. Also, gold is not easily corruptible. I want my business to not just give off an excellent product but also to glorify God. Gold represents glory to Him.

I will work with pros. I will surround myself with those who are ten thousand times better than me so that I can grow. I will always be on honest with you on what I am capable of but will not stop myself from challenging myself so that I can soar to new heights. 

I am looking forward to this journey and blogging about many wonderful clients, experiences, and even challenges and growth as a professional photographer. Please feel free to contact me directly at anytime with thoughts, questions, or just to chat!