A Wedding Story Book


Let’s talk about quality. Quality is quality. Plain and simple. It can’t be imitated, copied or cheapened. You can’t really show quality by snapping a few photographs or define quality by using a few descriptive words. It has to be seen with your own eyes, touched by your own hands and when applicable, felt with your own heart.  View full post »

Las Vegas. Heck Yes.

Ahhh, Las Vegas. Warm sun, warm faces, warm sun on your skin, palm trees, painted mountain skylines and a star filled evening canopy. Bright lights, flashing lights, blinking lights, chips, cash, vouchers and coins. Always somewhere to go, always something to do, always someone to meet. Lounge music, live music, club music, Elvis impersonators. Waterfalls, water shows, dolphins, pools, pirates, gold, silver, diamonds, crystal, wine, mixed drinks, on the rocks, drinks for breakfast. Gourmet food, gourmet women, shoes, handbags and brands. A place where you can easily lose yourself, a place where you want to lose yourself, a place where your deepest desires can become reality, a place of endless possibilities and a place of delicately beautiful broken dreams. Las Vegas, Hell Yes. View full post »

Michele + Seth | 12.12.2012


A few weeks back,  I had the honor of photographing the elopement of one of my best friends in St.Michaels, Maryland. Michele and Seth are soul mates. They completely stole my heart. Seriously. I’ve never seen two people more in tune with each others thoughts, actions, reactions or emotions.  I’ll sum it all up for you. I (happy) cried a few times, laughed until it hurt, reminisced about the good ol’ days and watched her fall in love over and over and over again.  All within one, simple, perfect, beautiful day.  Congratulations, you two. I wish you an unconditional love that will stand the test of time. ♥
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February 24, 2013 - 12:25 am

Melanie - Thank you! I’m so happy that I got a chance to see you and catch up a little. It was a great day all around!

February 23, 2013 - 5:55 pm

Carolyn - Great job Mel! It was a beautiful day. So glad we got to share it with them. They are so in love. We are so happy for them.

February 23, 2013 - 4:50 pm

Melanie McCabe - Thank you! Michele sure does make a gorgeous bride, doesn’t she?

February 23, 2013 - 4:32 pm

Linda Brankovich - Absoluely gorgeous.

February 23, 2013 - 4:21 pm

Melanie McCabe - Thanks, Kelly!

February 23, 2013 - 4:10 pm

Kelly N Mercer - Beautiful Melaine & of course the bride Michelle- her father hasn’t changed

A Happy Day of Love and Flowers

Yes, on Valentine’s Day it seems like everyone posts pictures of their Valentine’s Day flowers. Facebook is flooded with dozens upon dozens of red roses, Twitter’s #flowers hashtag probably came close to crashing their server and Instagram; forget about it, their wasn’t a puppy picture in sight. But you know what? I liked seeing all of the flower pictures. I’m a sappy romantic. Flowers are delicate, women are delicate, relationships are delicate. It all equates to a very smart man behind the scenes. I say, next year let the flower pictures flow! You go, Valentine’s Day.
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We’re Fossil Hunters (aka Nerds)


So, as you may have read in this post, I openly admit that my mom and I are huge nerds. We are. Our “thing” is shark tooth hunting. No, not modern day shark teeth, fossilized shark teeth. We’ve been hunting for over 10 years and have a pretty awesome collection. We have a bunch of different species, even some that we can’t identify. Any shark tooth nerd will tell you that the queen mother of all finds is a Meg. A Megaladon. A big ass prehistoric shark. On a whim, earlier this week we decided to drive to Aurora, North Carolina. Aurora is a small ( like a population of 520 small) city that has one blinking yellow light and the majority of their stores are closed. The only occupied buildings are the Town Hall, the Police Station and the Aurora Fossil Museum. Once a year, the museum holds a Fossil Festival where tons of people visit and bring life to the tiny town. Down the road is a phosphate mine. The phosphate contains thousands of fossils and is only open annually to special fossil clubs. The mine extracts and sifts through the phosphate then dumps a few tons of the leftovers in giant piles outside of the museum. We  spent the day digging through the phosphate piles hoping to find some megs but alas, we only found a bunch of small teeth and only one tiny Meg because of the way the phosphate is mined now. Apparently, it’s sifted so fine that it’s nearly impossible for any bigger material to be left behind. Boo.
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May 14, 2013 - 12:03 am

Barbara Harrelson Hadley - Love your pictures. My daughter and I shared some happy hours in Aurora – some in the quarry several years back. We’ve had to find sites closer to home these days, but would love to get back down there someday.

May 13, 2013 - 4:48 pm

Andrea Stilley - Great looking megalodon. Red had a wonderful time with you, thanks for sharing the pictures.

February 13, 2013 - 2:52 am

Susan McCabe - So cool

February 12, 2013 - 3:01 pm

Tara Saia Mildenberger - Aww thats so cool…shark teeth..awesome..spending quality time with your Mom..even better:)

February 12, 2013 - 1:11 pm

Chris Kennedy - More adventures with Mel & Mom!

Merkle Holiday Party

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When I was approached and asked to shoot a holiday party for Merkle, a super-swanky Marketing firm, I gladly accepted. Let’s recap. The party was held in a private lounge at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (Go Ravens!), red carpet style photos, fantastic raffle prizes, crazy amazing food, a photo booth complete with feather boas, hats and obnoxiously large sunglasses, a huge dance floor, people that actually like to dance (bonus), an awesome dj, AND wait for it… a candy bar!

The whole nine yards, no pun intended.
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The Weibes

Such a fun shoot at Kinder Farm Park and such a sweet family. They weren’t camera shy at all, and in fact, liked to make silly faces.
I laughed the entire time.
My favorite kind of clients and another reason why I love what I do.

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New Print: “Misty Morning”

My latest work, “Misty Morning”

This canvas print is available in 4 sizes:

60″ W x 40″ H: $500
40″ W x 30″ H: $400
30″ W x 24″ H: $200
20″ W x 16″ H: $150

This image is gallery wrapped. That means the image wraps around the sides of the canvas to allow placement without the need for custom framing. The image wrap finishes the sides of the canvas stretcher bar.

Signed, numbered, shipped!

Every canvas is shipped ready to hang and sprayed with a special non-yellowing water based print varnish that has a matte or gloss finish when dry depending on choice. The varnish protects against scuffing and fading issues over time and also protects the canvas in humid environments that could induce fungal issues. Plus it protects the canvas against UV light and is 100+ years archival certified!

To place an order, send me an email at melanie@melaniehelena.com or click on the “contact” link in the main menu.

 

New Print: “Dreams”

“Dreams”

This triptych canvas is available in two sizes:

Three 10″ x 10″ canvas prints (total size: 30″W x 10″H) : $300 signed numbered and shipped

or

Three 20″ x 20″ canvas prints (total size: 60″W x 20″H) : $450 signed, numbered and shipped

It’s dreamy and gritty and grainy and 100% film.

What in the H is a triptych?
Good question! A triptych is a piece of art divided in equal sizes and placed next to each other to make up one complete image.  Basically, an image split into 3 pieces to create one whole image.

It’s pretty swanky. Your friends would be impressed.

This image is gallery wrapped. That means the image wraps around the sides of the canvas to allow placement without the need for custom framing. The image wrap finishes the sides of the canvas stretcher bar. Believe me, it’s beautiful.

Every canvas is shipped ready to hang and sprayed with a special non-yellowing water based print varnish that has a matte  or gloss finish when dry depending on choice. The varnish protects against scuffing and fading issues over time and also protects the canvas in humid environments that could induce fungal issues. Plus it protects the canvas against UV light and is 100+ years archival certified!

Limited edition of 50 prints for each size.

To place an order, send me an email at melanie@melaniehelena.com or click on the “contact” link in the main menu.

New Print: “Meet Me at Sundown”

Introducing my latest canvas print titled “Meet Me at Sundown”

40 W” x 30 H”
This image is gallery wrapped. That means the image wraps around the sides of the canvas to allow placement without the need for custom framing. The image wrap finishes the sides of the canvas stretcher bar.

$400, signed, numbered, shipped!

Every canvas is shipped ready to hang and sprayed with a special non-yellowing water based print varnish that has a matte  or gloss finish when dry depending on choice. The varnish protects against scuffing and fading issues over time and also protects the canvas in humid environments that could induce fungal issues. Plus it protects the canvas against UV light and is 100+ years archival certified!

Limited edition of 50 prints.

To place an order, send me an email at melanie@melaniehelena.com or click on the “contact” link in the main menu above.

New Print: “Continuous”

Introducing my latest canvas print titled “Continuous”


It’s beachy, and gritty and grainy and big (art should be big) and 100% film.
40 W” x 30 H”
This image is gallery wrapped. That means the image wraps around the sides of the canvas to allow placement without the need for custom framing. The image wrap finishes the sides of the canvas stretcher bar. Believe me, it’s beautiful.

$400, signed, numbered, shipped!

Every canvas is shipped ready to hang and sprayed with a special non-yellowing water based print varnish that has a matte  or gloss finish when dry depending on choice. The varnish protects against scuffing and fading issues over time and also protects the canvas in humid environments that could induce fungal issues. Plus it protects the canvas against UV light and is 100+ years archival certified!

Limited edition of 50 prints.

To place an order, send me an email at melanie@melaniehelena.com or click on the “contact” link in the main menu above.