We recently connected with Melissa Dozier and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission from the start has and always will be to capture the love and true essense of my clients. To capture memories that last a life time, memories that you can look back on and laugh because they were times where your life was more simple and beautiful. I always want my photos to tell a story of who this couple or family is and how amazing they truly are.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started taking photos at the age of fifteen years old. I remember it like it was yesterday as a yearbook photographer. It’s funny because I remembered how much I didn’t like taking photos for my yearbook class I pretty much only liked the fact it got me out of class sometimes. My real love for photography started more with Myspace believe it or not, and yes with those hilarious selfies of ourselves with all the angles and photos with our friends haha. I would get so many comments on my photos I started to take more photos of outside scenery and people. It became an outlet to express myself as a young plus-sized teen that often didn’t feel like I fit in because of my weight. Photography gave me that purpose to show my emotions behind the lens and to show people I was beautiful and could create beautiful art. After high school I had many people reach out and tell me hey you have an eye for this, why don’t you go to school for photography. I was already going to a public college for my AA degree and I loathed every part of it. I just wasn’t great at school, actually, at the age of 10 I was diagnosed with SLD ( Slow Learning Disability) so every academic class was hard for me, it took me twice as long as a normal student to understand common things, but I worked so hard to get good grades and graduate high school without any special help from the school. So going to school for another four years for some degree I wasn’t sure I wanted was like torture to me. I finally googled one-day “Photograph art schools near me” or something along the lines and found IADT. I was instantly excited to call them and tour with them. A lot of families had doubts about photography being a career path and if I would make money but in my mind, after touring the school in my heart I knew it was the place for me. I enrolled at IADT and met some of the most amazing teachers/ photographers that I am still friends with today. They became mentors and friends, which I am forever grateful to have met. I remember one of my teachers Kathy telling me in my very first class there after a project that If I wanted to make it in the photography community I could not give her the same work I just did. She said “The photography world is hard, and you have to want this and work for it” That day forever changed me as a 19year old. I decided that day I would always work hard and practice until I was good enough and proud of my work and doing this as a job full time. I have replayed that time in the back of my head the last 13 years and has motivated me numerous times to work harder, be better, and keep my passion alive. I opened up my business that same year I started school which I named M.A.D. Images, Inc. I went on to graduate college with my Associates degree and then for my Bachelors In Fine Arts in Digital Photography. Having a business no matter what the age has taken lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where I am today. I’m finally at the point of my career where I can say my style is Fine art portraiture with some film vibes. I’ve had a lot of help from other photographers that are some of my best friends that also helped mentor me and forever changed my life. I always feel that we should never stop learning and perfecting our craft and it’s impossible to know everything so it’s okay to be friends with other photographers in your area and and so important to also support your local photographer friends. The last 13 years being in business has been a the hardest, most beautiful time of my life and I’m forever grateful and humbled that time after time I get the coolest most kind humans that trust me to capture their big day, family sessions, newborn sessions, and so on. If this crazy exciting artist life has showed me anything it’s that all your dreams are possible if you just dream hard enough and keep working towards them no matter how hard it gets. If you believe you will do it, you will. Never ever think differently. I think going into business period is never a smooth road let alone going into business at a young age. There are things you have to work out and prove worth/value for yourself in the photography community and even more so to your clients and future clients.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

For many years I put my photography career on the back burner and just worked it part-time because I was too nervous to charge what I felt I deserved to charge for weddings and photo sessions. I didn’t want to lose the old clients that had me at a cheaper price and I didn’t know if I would find new clients that would respect my time, effort, and most of all my art enough to pay my prices. One day, I had a conversation with my husband about finances and we both decided I should try it, after all, what would be the worst that happens? I already knew I was amazing at my craft and I deserved the prices I needed to charge to one day be full time so we figured out the money part and I went on my website and changed my pricing. Inquiries came in and I still booked. Every year I went up with my pricing in weddings and regular sessions and every year I still booked more and more clients than the last. I can tell you nothing great in life comes easy and now I’ve been a full-time photographer for 5 years. I can’t believe I ever had doubt in my mind that I couldn’t do it. The moral of the story is, charge you’re worth and people will see your time, effort, and work is worth the price.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I would have known that not all other creatives in your area are greedy and don’t share. I’ve learned so much in my journey over the last 13 years from other amazing artists like myself. I always tell other photographers I meet that are learning to reach out if they ever need anything because if it wasn’t for the people that I learned from, I wouldn’t be the photographer I am today. I truly believe in community over competition and I would love nothing more than to help other artists that are in the same shoes I once was to succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madimagesinc.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/madimagesinc
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/madimagesinc
• Twitter: twitter.com/madimagesinc
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/m-a-d-images-zephyrhills

Image Credits
M.A.D. Images, Inc.