Personal Archive

10 years ago I fell in love.

10 years ago today I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and a friend/coworker trusted me to photograph her wedding. I didn’t feel comfortable charging her because I just knew it was going to be a disaster. Guess what? It wasn’t.

10 years ago today I photographed my first wedding and I have never looked back. I absolutely love photographing weddings. I had no idea it would bring me to where I am today – self-employed, living my dream, traveling the world and meeting so many amazing people. Huge thank you to everyone who believed in me back then and still to this day. My clients are absolutely amazing as are my friends and family who always believed in me.

From my family to yours! <3

This wedding is just a little different than others on my blog. Mainly because one of the bridesmaids may see uber familiar – it’s me!  One of  my oldest/closest friends, Kim married her Ryan last year and I got to play double duty as photographer and bridesmaid.  Well, I shot the portraits during the cocktail hour (in wedges and a long bridesmaid dress – mind you).  Mandi took care of the rest of the day for me!  I’m not gonna lie, it was probably the hottest day ever in the history of hot days.  And because so many people (men) ask, yes Ryan wore a baseball cap at his wedding.  And no, fellas, your bride probably will not let you wear one.  Kim is just that rad. But you have to be rad to be my friend, right?!

And just for fun, here is an iPhone photo Mandi grabbed of me shooting that day!

5 Years. That’s how long I had my last website.  It was time for a change!  I’m so excited about my new website, blog and branding done by the talented Cathy at Love-Inspired!  I hope you are excited too, even if it just excitement about winning.  😉  Don’t forget to hop on over to the website and check out the beautiful work Cathy did!  I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

 Free stuff you say?!?!  Everyone loves free stuff!  And the best part – you get to pick your own prize!  I’m giving away one of the following:

                              source                                                                     source                                                                                source

Here are the many different ways for you to enter and win!  You can do just one or increase your odds and do all.

1. Comment on this blog post!  Easy right?  Then get commenting!  (only one comment counts per person, feel free to comment as much as you’d like but just know you only get 1 entry for this)

2. Tweet about this post here –> Tweet this

Make sure to include my name @melissamcclure in the tweet.  For example, you could write:  “@melissamcclure has a new look – and she is giving away free stuff!  Check it out!   You get 1 additional entry for this!

3. Head over to my fan page (if you would “like” it that would be great – but not conditional on winning). Tag Melissa McClure Photography in a post on your own Facebook personal page or fan page!  You must tag my page so I can track the entry.  (1 entry for this)

4. Blog about my new look on your own blog!  No matter what your blog is about, I’d love the exposure!  Make sure to come back here and put the link in my comment section to your own blog post.  I’ll even throw in an extra entry for this one (2 total)!

5. Pin me!  Choose a photo on my blog and re-pin it on Pinterest!  Any photo at all.  Make sure to tag me in the pin or come back here and link to your pin in the comments. One extra entry for this!

That’s the potential for 6 entries in the contest!  Wowza!  This contest will end on April 10th, with the winner picked by a random number generator on April 11th!  The winner will be notified via the blog and a personal email from me and they will be able to choose their prize!

Update:

Congrats to Yvonne B. – the winner!

Part two of our amazing trip to Thailand brings us to Chiang Mai, in the north. We took an overnight train from Bangkok (which was a story for another day!) Chiang Mai was a big city surrounded by gorgeous countryside. We got to have some awesome animal adventures here, including cuddling with tigers and bathing elephants.  The photos that Jason and I are in were taken by the employees, mostly as part of the package we purchased to be there.  The rest were taken by me!

Tiger Kingdom was awesome! Cuddling with tigers is something I never thought I would experience! 

One of the most beautiful temples we visited, Doi Suthep, in the hills of Chiang Mai. We were there the same time as the King & Queen which was a ruckus as you can imagine.  Didn’t get to meet them though 😉

Chiang Mai from above

Patara Elephant Farm – adopted an elephant (or two for Jason) for a day!  Such a neat experience!