ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the MorePhotos' Photography Spotlight brought to you by Morephotos.com helping professional photographers with all their internet needs. Now here's your, John Bentley. JOHN: Welcome to the MorePhotos Photography Spotlight. Today we have, Charlotte, North Carolina, photographer, Mel Morganstein, joining us. Welcome to the program, Mel. MEL: Hey, how are you doing?
JOHN: Just fine and dandy. Mel tell us the name of your photography business.
MEL: It's Photography by Mel.
JOHN: Excellent. And you're down there in Charlotte, North Carolina.
MEL: Absolutely.
JOHN: Why don't you tell our listening audience a little bit about you and your photography business?
MEL: Ok. Well I had my own camera when I was six and a dark room at 12. I love photographing people, but I also love science and technology and I was a practicing design engineer when we got married, and I was very disappointed at our wedding photographer. We made the mistake of getting a little too focused on price, and I said to myself, here is a person who could touch people's lives forever, and this guy didn't get it. And it really got me intrigued and I studied what professional photographers were doing at weddings and other events, and I said, “I can do that.” And I sort of muddled my way into photography by photographing friends' weddings and they loved my work and it changed my life forever.
JOHN: Mel you said that your wedding photographer didn't quite get it. What do you mean by that?
MEL: Well our photographer just sort of missed things, and he did rather careless mistakes and he just didn't get the emotion of the wedding. When you photograph people, you're just getting what they look like, you want to capture what they feel like, what they feel about the day, what they feel about each other, and you want to capture their heart and their soles in that image, not just their appearance, and he really didn't pick up on that. And I saw this wonderful opportunity to capture this aspect of people and here with them that 50 years from now, and it excites me at the idea that they can take out my images decades from now and still enjoy them and to show their grandchildren. Can you imagine that in a photographing of a bar or bat mitzvah and with the idea that someday that young woman or man will be able to show their grandchildren those images and be excited about it?
JOHN: Yeah, excellent. Alright, well let's talk about the specifics about the type of photography that you do. Obviously wedding photography is important to you. Tell us a little bit about the wedding industry.
MEL: Ok. I love wedding photography. First of all I love going to parties so that helps, but I'm kind of a romantic slob and I still get lumpy at the weddings. My wife can even get me to chick flicks if they're not too sad, and I love going to weddings and I like the idea of being able to do things with the couples. We'll get into wedding portraits beforehand, engagement portraits. We'll go to places that were important to them to make this part of their photography. I photographed one couple in their church with their church choir which is where they met. We even went to where the groom proposed to the bride. I've gone to bars and parks and other places where people have met, or places that are important to them.
JOHN: Now you also have a studio down there in Charlotte, correct?
MEL: Yes. I have a residential studio so I can see people at otherwise inconvenient hours for storefront and we have a studio in the home, and I have a half an acre of really gorgeous landscaped property, and we can do outdoor portraits as well. Talking about the convenience of my studio we're ten minutes from Center City/Charlotte. We're near South Bark which is a big area for shopping and for events, and we're very close to that. There's a number of hotels and other facilities there. And we're also about a mile from Shalom Park which is actually a 54 acre complex devoted to the Jewish community here in Charlotte, and there are two temples there and a community center and pools and so on and so forth, and there are also events that are held there, both in the temples and parties afterwards.
JOHN: Now we are in the studio with Charlotte, North Carolina, photographer, Mel Morganstein. His business is called Photos by Mel, and you are listening to the More Photos Radio. We're going to take a break right now, but we'll be back more with Mel in just a moment.
ANNOUNCER: More Photos Radio is powered by www.morephotos.com the online sales solution for professional photographers worldwide.
ANNOUNCER: VERTIOTALK RADIO.
ANNOUNCER: Did you ever wonder why the groom is supposed to carry the bride over the threshold? What does the saying something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue mean? Visit www.weddingdetails.com and click on the lore and tradition section. We've got culture and tradition information from around the world. Visit www.weddingdetails.com tonight.
ANNOUNCER: We now return you to More Photos Radio Photography Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Welcome back to the More Photos' Radio Photography Spotlight. We're in the studio today with Charlotte, North Carolina, photographer, Mel Morganstein. His business is called Photos by Mel, and you can find him on the web at www.photosbymel.com. Welcome back to the program, Mel. MEL: Thank you, glad to be here.
JOHN: Now, we've been talking about the wedding industry. Of course, that's not all you do. Let's talk about some of the other types of photography that you do.
MEL: Well I do bar and bat mitzvahs. Like I said, we're really close to Shalom Park. I love kids; I've got one of my own but she's all grown up. Kids keep you young. They're crazy in a wonderful sort of way and it's just great working with them. We do memory and sign in boards for the events, and I take on just about anything my kids challenge me with. I can Photoshop and put kids in basketball courts doing jump shots. I can put them on my motorcycle, but that's for real, and some of the kids opt for that. And I once did a glamour shot for a girl who wanted to be photographed with her pet boa constrictor around her neck. So we did this glamour shot and we titled it “Not your grandma's boa”.
JOHN: Interesting. Yeah, that's for sure. Now do you dabble into any kind of commercial photography at all?
MEL: Yes, we do. I didn't push it till we got into digital which I just love. It's opened a whole new world for me, and the great thing about digital is we can do really creative things and produce results for executive clients like right away. We can turn over a CD within a couple of hours or even minutes if necessary. And I'm willing to take all that on. I've done product shots for people. I've gone on locations. I've even photographed Mausoleums and cemeteries for one client.
JOHN: Now what about events? You had mentioned to me in the prescreen about some events that you do down there. Tell us a little bit about that.
MEL: Ok. Well what it is is I like to do volunteer work for non-profit organizations who I think are doing good work like the North Carolina Dance Theater. I photograph their fundraising events. The Echo Foundation which is founded in the footsteps of Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Laureate. Love to do work for them. The Charlotte Jewish Film Festival and anything else that comes along that people ask me about.
JOHN: Now do you find that family portraits are a big chunk of your business?
MEL: Yeah, I like to do the family portraits and the nice thing about that, again, is that I can produce immediate results. People can see them right away. We can do them in the studio. We can do them outdoors or both. I can go to their home, and the nice thing about working with digital is that we can create composite images for them rather than just having one big gigantic portrait which they may not want to opt for, but composites can get very creative with a portrait of the entire family, a portrait of mom and dad, individuals of the kids or the kids together. A lot of creative ideas. It's not just one image.
JOHN: Now, Mel, how long have you been in the photography business?
MEL: I'll say for decades.
JOHN: Fair enough.
MEL: I've been doing it for a while, and I love doing it, and I never get tired of it.
JOHN: What about photo organizations? Are you a member of any of the PPA organizations?
MEL: Yes I am. I'm past president of the Maryland Association, and through that I got involved in the Southeastern Professional Photography Association which is an association of Penn State Association in the south east, and I actually went up through the various offices in the Southeastern or SEPPA and am past president of that. I am currently an officer of the Metro Atlantic Photographic Society which is the Charlotte area extending almost 100 miles in width and also a member of the Professional Photographers of North Carolina.
JOHN: Great. Now on a little different idea; let's say you have somebody coming into your studio for a family portrait. Is there any advice that you give to families before they come in. Are there some do's and don'ts?
MEL: Yeah. I talk to them about clothing. I make it a point of saying that they ought to be wearing clothing that is comfortable for them. If their jeans people, for crying out loud, don't come in in suits, but they're free to being several changes of clothing. I like to get the clothing coordinated as possible. If the clothing isn't reasonably coordinated and doesn't fit in the image, people are going to notice the clothing and not the subject, and what you want to do is to bring the attention to the subject. The clothing primarily dressy, pardon the pun.
JOHN: Certainly. Mel we need to wrap things up here, but…
MEL: Let's mention head shots; executive head shots.
JOHN: Oh sure. You get a lot of that type of work then?
MEL: Yes, we also do executive head shots. It's very easy, quick and painless and my executive head shots are so good they look like portraits. They're very reasonably priced too, and they walk out with a CD of the images.
JOHN: One last question thrown at you, Mel. What's your most important goal when shooting a client?
MEL: My most important goal in photographing a client is to remember that this is something that I want them to enjoy forever. I want to be able to touch their lives for years and years to come. I want them to look at it and get nothing but enjoyment out of it and pleasurable thoughts.
JOHN: Excellent. Where can we find you on the internet and contact number people can reach you by.
MEL: My website is www.photosbymel.com.
JOHN: Ok, what about a phone number?
MEL: (704) 366-8341 and my mobile phone is (704) 258-3332.
JOHN: Well, Mel, we certainly appreciate you taking time out of your day to join on the More Photos' Photography Spotlight.
MEL: Loved to. Love to talk with you guys.
JOHN: We've been in the studio with Mel Morganstein of Charlotte, North Carolina. His website again is www.photosbymel.com. You've been listening to the More Photos Radio Photography Spotlight. Thanks for tuning everybody. Have a wonderful day.
ANNOUNCER: This Spotlight is powered by www.vertio.net. Vertio Talk Radio; radio for the 21st Century.
|
