melissa-lynn-photography

MY STORY

My name is Melissa Lynn. I live in Westchester County of New York with the loves of my life: my husband Dave, our dog Evie and our wonderful two young boys. I am a true New Yorker at heart, but I absolutely love having the chance to travel. 

I am a photographer and a storyteller and always have been. When I was a little girl, I would invite my friends over for goofy photo shoots and portrait sessions, and for the longest time, I had a Polaroid camera tethered to my hip (okay, sometimes I still do).

Then I grew up, and in 2007, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Cinema + Photography and have since then had the coolest job ever. I get to tell and show stories by capturing human beings, their connections, and the happiest days of their lives through photographs.

I never just pick up my camera, point it and shoot. With a sweetly observing eye, I unobtrusively look for the magic in real-life moments all around me when I am photographing a wedding or event, and I use skill and patience to capture it. I strive to bring that genuine wonder of life to the foreground of all of my images.

I not only take pride in my photography, but I also take pride in telling your story. I will not skip a beat!

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SEEING + BEING GREEN

I care about everyone and everything around me, which is why I make every effort I can to keep my photography business (as well as my life of course) as eco-friendly and “green” as possible. You may wonder what exactly it means to be a “green photographer”, so I want to share what I do out of love for the earth: 

  1. I live by reducing, reusing, and recycling, not only when it comes to office supplies but also my camera equipment. I round my professional photography gear out by reusing old manual lenses on my digital camera, and when I am upgrading my equipment, I will always sell or recycle.  All batteries used are rechargeable ones. 

  2. I utilize electronic media and offer all of my clients preservation options that   are solely online and not on paper. After a wedding, event or portrait session, my clients receive DVDs that are digitally light-scribed with their picture rather than a printed label on paper. Their photography disks are now placed in eco-friendly cases and shipped in recycled cardboard containers. 

  3. I invest in “green” technology and products, constantly putting “green” energy into the entire photography experience that I provide my clients with. 

  4. I employ local freelance artists to be my second shooters, assistants, or cinematographers, and I use public transportation in all situations when possible.

  5. For my business cards and promotional material, I use MOO Recycled Paper, and I offer hand-made photographic albums. 

  6. My company is an approved vendor of the Green Bride Guide. The Green Bride Guide has everything you need to plan a green wedding! Here you can find pictures from real green weddings, articles and advice on eco-chic decor, and a wide range of green wedding gifts. They also have the largest green wedding directory in the country, to help you connect with local vendors.

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I am one of the few photographers left that offers film photography in the way of 35mm, medium format, and even Polaroids. 

Why do I still offer these film options you may ask? Because film photography was my first love and taking a digital picture and a film picture are two different experiences for me. I am very lucky that I was able to formally learn my craft when film and darkrooms were still a viable part of the photography world. In fact, at the beginning of my venture into following the passion of photographing, I was accepted into a black and white film photography program in Florence, Italy and it was there that I honed in on my interest in capturing people specifically. I was fascinated by the culture, the faces, the relationships I stumbled upon and the context of where the people lived or worked and when I developed my photographs in an old dilapidated Italian darkroom, I felt like I had found exactly what I needed to be doing. I loved the process from start to finish and while I may not be sipping on authentic macchiatos with a side of gelato while I develop now, there is still the process and I love to offer it to both my clients and myself.