We recently connected with Melea Nelson and have shared our conversation below.
Melea, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Gaining confidence in my work and myself as a photographer took longer than I would have liked and has been and up and down journey. When I was in school studying photography we had regular critiques on our projects. This gave me a constant flow of many opinions from both peers and instructors that were usually positive with some technical critiques and differing opinions. I finished school feeling confident that I would start booking jobs and progress my career. But it came much more slowly for me than others. I fell into the trap of comparison and lost a lot of my self confidence as I watched my peers careers blossom while I was still trying to book clients without the same “amount” of success as I thought others were having. It took awhile, but I had to remind myself that even though I wasn’t having the regular uplifting feedback from my peers anymore, I was still a talented photographer and it would just take time and getting my work in from of the right person. Eventually I started to book more commercial clients and that initial client raised my confidence a lot. But I know I can’t rely on my confidence coming from the validation from others. It needs to come from within myself. Getting positive feedback always helps but the root of my confidence comes from knowing that I am capable of creating beautiful images that help my clients marketing needs.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m Colorado born and currently living in Utah. I am a mom of three wonderful boys and a commercial photographer focusing on fashion, lifestyle, and product. I graduated from BYU with my degree in photography and enjoy working in the studio and on location creating beautiful images and capturing details. I love when an outfit and look provides fun movement or has beautiful texture. Utah has so many beautiful locations to photograph in which gives me variety year round. But I also love when I get to travel and create photoshoots in new places as well.
Photography has always interested me from a young age and the bond with my mom over fashion has been a driving force in my work. As a child and teenager my mom and I would watch different tv shows together like “What Not To Wear”, “Americas Next Top Model”, “Project Runway” etc. While some days we like just a good t-shirt and jeans, we’ve always shared a love for all things fashion both subtle and bold. This relationship and love was my inspiration for photography. I wanted to capture the beauty I saw and felt. There’s a feeling I get when watching the way fabric moves or the shapes an outfit can create or how lighting can change the feel and mood of an image. It’s a different kind of beauty and it brings me joy to capture it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three skills that are important in my work is 1) Having an eye for little details. Noticing when a hair is out of place or the fabric is folded funny, or something in the background needs to be moved. 2) A knowledge of photoshop and knowing how and when to use certain tools. 3) Maintaining good client relationships.
Advice I would give to photographers just starting out is something I learned from my mentors and experience. No one will know how much you photoshopped or “fixed” an image. All that matters is the end result, so make sure it’s good one.
Take time and careful attention when photoshopping images. And when someone notices something else or a client asks for something else to be changed or removed, don’t get offended. Avoid the feeling of, I already did so much work on this. Take the critique. Fix the image. There is always something we can improve on.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I feel overwhelmed I make a list of the things I need to do and the order I need to do them in. Writing things down helps me to process things and make them feel more simple. Sometimes it also simplifies what needs to be done and helps me to think about things one at a time. Checking things off of my list also helps me to feel motivated to do the next thing on the list.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meleanelson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melea_nelson/
Image Credits
Headshot courtesy of Sarah Sayeed https://www.instagram.com/sarahwsayeed/
Additional images are my own work, Melea Nelson Pictures
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
