We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Guccione a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

This may sound cliche, but the first thing you do to become successful, is to just get started even when you feel like you’re not ready. I started my photography business super scared of what the future would bring. But I had confidence in myself, believing that even though I didn’t know everything a person should know on how to start a business, I would have fun learning and navigating through trials. Success shouldn’t be measured by how much money you make (even though that can be part of the reason). Success should be measured by how accomplished and how happy you feel in running and maintaining your business.

Melissa , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always been the person to take photos at family gatherings, parties, and even just normal outings. I believe in capturing moments, because one day, photos may be all someone could have. Christmas of 2019, my now fiancé bought me my first beginners Nikon camera. I started practicing with it by taking photos of my friends & family. I kept getting great feedback from them, so I continued my photo journey and bought a more professional camera a year later.
I started editing my photos with Photoshop and Lightroom; teaching myself through YouTube videos how to use and navigate these programs. Once I started utilizing those editing programs, I just kept taking more photos of friends & family. I believed that my photos and style were good enough to start expanding my services to people other than those closest to me. I then started research on how to create a business website, I created my social media pages and then created a logo for my photography business.
Mel Grace Photography was officially created in March of 2022.
Since then, I’ve been enjoying my time capturing the most special moments for my clients including: Maternity, Weddings, Baby Showers, Engagements, Proposals, Newborn, First Birthdays, Family, Boudoir, and many more sessions.
What sets me apart from other photographers in my area is that I’m affordable and have been told I’m easy to work with. I am creative and love making my clients feel confident in front of the camera. My experience with editing is also what sets me apart. For example, although, I think all of my clients are amazingly beautiful in their own unique way, everyone has an insecurity or two. I am confident that anything my client feels insecure about in a photo can be edited. I also don’t only stick to one photo style; I am open and am experienced in all photo aesthetics.
I can guarantee that if you hire me as your photographer, you will not only have a fun time shooting, but you will also love your photos!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Particularly in photography, it’s definitely rewarding to see how happy my clients are after I send them their photos. Most of the moments I capture for my clients, are their biggest milestones in life. Whether that is having a baby, celebrating a birthday, graduating, or even getting married to the love of their life. Helping make my clients feel and look their best as they celebrate their milestones is extremely rewarding to me.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I believe communication is extremely important when you’re running a photography business. I have created a business phone line to constantly stay in communication with my clients. I also, encourage my clients to follow my social media accounts to stay up to date on any upcoming promotions or photo sessions I may be doing. I do have quite a few repeated clients because of the way I make them feel seen and heard.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.melgracephotography.com
• Instagram: Melgracephotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melgracephotography?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Mel Grace Photography