It's Life Photography's 10 Year Anniversary!!
WOW! I can't believe I am sitting here today, as a Colorado Springs Photographer, writing about this ten year journey with Life Photography by Melissa. What a great ten years it has been!
I get asked a lot what got me started in photography. The answer is that I started when my oldest daughter was born. Becoming a first time parent, I never dreamed of the nightmare I would walk through. I had a perfect pregnancy and a perfect delivery, but my daughter was born with a heart condition. Without immediate surgery, she maybe had two weeks to live. Talk about scary!
As a first time parent, you are excited and even a little scared for the journey ahead. At just 5 days old, our sweet baby girl underwent heart surgery at Denver Children's Hospital. It was at this time that I was told by the doctor, "Melissa, you must understand, your daughter is so little she may not come out of this alive."
I believe, in those moments, I cried and prayed harder than I ever had in my entire life. Seeing your child come out of surgery, attached to so many wires and monitors, it's overwhelming to say the least. However, I knew, in those moments, I wanted to capture every moment with her. Never knowing what the journey ahead looked like for us. So, it was then that I picked up my camera and never turned back.
Here is what she looked like just after coming out of surgery...
13 years later, our daughter is a thriving teenager with all the mood swings, attitude, kindness, and love you could imagine. I am beyond thankful and grateful for her.
In 2011, I decided to take my "I am a mom with a camera" gig and turn it into a business. Like most other photographers, I started slow, offering sessions to friends and family just to build up my portfolio. A few months into it, things took off fast!
In 2016 I was able to leave my full time job in Medical Sales and I took on the full Business Owner title. Scary, but SO exciting! I walked away from a very high-paying, very faithful job to follow my dream of capturing memories for people to remember always! I knew in my heart, this is where I wanted to be.
Here we are in 2021, and I am loving this job more than I ever knew I could. Capturing just over 1,000 newborns, and hundreds of sessions for maternity, family, children, and high school seniors. I am honored to have been part of these moments for so many families and can't thank my incredible clients and their families enough for allowing me to photograph their most precious moments!
If you are interested in booking a session with me, please visit my website for more information: www.lifephotographybymelissa.com