Melissa Dale Photography http://www.melissadalephotography.com Melissa Dale Photography Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:45:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 My Funny Valentines http://www.melissadalephotography.com/my-funny-valentines/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/my-funny-valentines/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:45:41 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=313 As a little girl I always looked up to my parents and grandparents. They taught me what love was. They showed me how to love by example. They made me realize there are some people out there that love without question or judgement. My dad taught me that love is funny and each day should be filled with jokes or being goofy. My mom is the center of my world. I can’t even explain how much my mom loves me and how very lucky I feel having known that since birth. My grandpa is soon going to be 94 years old and he has shown me that love can last. That even if you can’t remember anything else, you remember your true love.  My grandma, my best friend. Loving is just part of her nature. As a child I thought I couldn’t possibly love these people any more than I did then but now as a 32 year old woman I can tell you that my love for them just continues to grow each day. Happy Valentines Day mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. Thanks for showing me what love is.

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/my-funny-valentines/feed/ 0 Forever Love http://www.melissadalephotography.com/forever-love/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/forever-love/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:01:33 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=300 I have love on my brain today. I know it’s not perfect, it’s not always easy and it’s not necessarily a fairytale. I haven’t found it yet and I am not sure I ever will but when/if I do I hope it is the kind of love my grandparents have for each other. My grandpa always said he would never leave the farm and at 93 years of age no one wanted to make him. Yet, when my grandma was forced to move into assisted living due to some serious medical issues it didn’t take my grandpa long to decide home was wherever his hunny was. The farm they raised their family on will always be grandma and grandpas to me no matter where grandma and grandpa live. It’s odd to me to think of that house sitting empty now, filled with their stuff and all our memories. There are 65 years of memories wrapped up into that tiny house on their little piece of land. And while grandpa can’t remember most of them or us anymore he does remember that he loves my grandma and THAT to me is as close as you get to perfect love.

All of the photos below were taken on their farm.

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/forever-love/feed/ 0 Action http://www.melissadalephotography.com/action/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/action/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:37:24 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=289 It’s hard for me to explain how great it was to be able to photograph this little man again. A couple of weeks ago, I emailed his mommy and asked her if she would bring him up to my studio to take his two year photos. When she said yes I was bubbly with excitement.

Action, as his father affectionately calls him, is the son of one of my dearest friends. It just so happens Actions birthday is just a few weeks before his dads. Bonus! I get to take his two year old photos AND surprise my dear friend with the best gift I can think of giving. It was so fun seeing Action again and I couldn’t help but giggle at all the little things that reminded me of his daddy….the way he crossed his arms across his belly, the fact that he loved being behind the camera more than in front of it and the way he smiled….

Happy Birthday, Jed. And thanks for being one of the best friends a girl could ask for.

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/action/feed/ 1 The “R” Family http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-r-family/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-r-family/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:45:16 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=280

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-r-family/feed/ 0 The “B” Family http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-b-family/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-b-family/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:26:15 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=273 Just a few of my favorites from a session I shot this past Fall.

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-b-family/feed/ 0 The “G” Family http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-g-family/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-g-family/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:15:06 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=266 Whoa….it’s been a while since I have blogged! Hopefully after the holiday madness is over I can start blogging all the great sessions I have had the past several months! Today though I want to share with you a family I met back in early October. They were referred to me by a current client! We met up at a local park and had such a good time taking photos. We did the whole session in the woods and it was so fun seeing their son pretend that there were wild animals such as lions and tigers. I love little kids imaginations. :)

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-g-family/feed/ 0 I was born for this. http://www.melissadalephotography.com/i-was-born-for-this/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/i-was-born-for-this/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:11:21 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=252 We all spend our lives searching for that one thing we were meant to do, to be. Some of us search our entire lives never really feeling like we found it, some just know what it is and others of us just luckily stumble upon it. Me? I guess I stumbled upon it.I went to school for graphic design and have worked as a designer for about 11 years now. I am still very passionate about design but there is just something about photography that keeps me awake at night, gets my heart racing, makes me want to do somersaults, over the moon giddy. I laugh, cry (weddings get me EVERY time), explore new places, and I have the time of my life. While it first started out with maybe 1 or 2 photo shoots a month, it has now progressed to 4 or 5 a week.

Every once in a while a client will email me after their shoot and after reading their emails I am smiling ear to ear…and sometimes crying…it’s just what I do.  I am SO lucky that I am able to become a part of these people’s lives if even for a short time. I thought I would share some of the emails from my clients…oh…and maybe a few recent photos as well :)

“missy…
love, love, love all the pics on Facebook!  honestly, the best pics
we’ve EVER taken as a family and the kids separately, too!  you made
it so much fun and sooo easy…thank you so much!  you are so
talented!  what a special memory for us in future years when the kids
are grown and we can look back at these pictures and remember our
adventures to the “old house”.  put us on your list for next
year…”

“Missy ~
I saw the pictures on Facebook and they are AWESOME!!!! I can’t wait to get the CD and look at all the pictures. My family had such a great time. Thank you for making everyone feel so comfortable. We loved your personality and we look forward to having you take more pictures for us in the future.”

“Once again, love the photos…the ones of the kids….priceless. Thank you for your great eye, and capturing these precious times in our families life!”

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/i-was-born-for-this/feed/ 1 The “N” Family http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-n-family/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-n-family/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:27:38 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=236 When a photo shoot involves three adorable blonde girls, a farm full of sheep, a llama named Lady and a grandpa with a cool straw hat….how can I NOT blog about it?! I wonder if I can now add “professional Llama photographer” to my resume?
I met up with this family near Buxton, ND on grandpa Davids farm. I have known both Jayne and Michael my whole life so the opportunity to take their photos was so exciting to me…ESPECIALLY since they have three adorable blonde girls and I knew their momma had a great sense of style. I could hardly wait to see their outfits and once I did they were just as cute as I imagined! And the boots with gold laces…come on now. I think I could have photographed them alone for at least an hour.
It was fun seeing the difference in personalities with the girls. The oldest being a natural model, the middle wanting nothing to do with photos and the baby being a little ham for the camera. Along with their uncle we tried everything to get them to smile including playing fart sounds on my cell phone. Unfortunately it made Jayne laugh harder than any of the girls. haha. All in all it was such a fun shoot for me and to top it off….I turn around and see “grandpa David” wearing a straw hat while leaning against the pickup having a drink and observing the craziness. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE photographing men on their farms?!

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-n-family/feed/ 0 Big Red http://www.melissadalephotography.com/big-red/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/big-red/#comments Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:58:29 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=222 If you follow my work, you may have already noticed that I have a thing for old barns. It’s just so fun stumbling upon an abandoned farm and trying to imagine everything that has happened there through out the years. A few weeks ago on a Saturday night my parents and I drove around the country searching for old farms when we found this gorgeous red barn.

]]> http://www.melissadalephotography.com/big-red/feed/ 0 The “A” Family http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-a-family/ http://www.melissadalephotography.com/the-a-family/#comments Sun, 07 Aug 2011 15:34:34 +0000 Missy http://www.melissadalephotography.com/?p=217 I actually took these photos last fall near my parents home in Buxton, ND. It was the clients idea and great location find. Her family hunts that land each year and she knew it would make a great spot for photos. The photo with the barn in the back has got to be one of my favorite photos to date. I love when we can combine people with the places or things that mean something to them. In this case it would be her families old farmstead/barn.

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