Health Update

Hey all! I just wanted to give you guys an update to what's going on with me. I can't tell you exactly as the doctors still don't know. So far, I have been to a ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat doctor) and a Neurologist as well as my primary care physician. Everyone seems to have different ideas of what may be going on. For the most part though, all the doctors agree that it probably has something to do with my ears. I have an ophthalmologist appointment this afternoon as my dizzy spells often blur my vision. I have a dizziness and hearing test tomorrow, go back to my primary care physician on Wednesday, am having blood work done on Thursday, and have an MRI scheduled for Friday. That's only the schedule for this week. I'm so tired of being poked and prodded (sometimes literally), that I can't stand it. And I've only just begun.

Given that I'm not sure how I will feel from day to day, I am still not taking on any new clients. I am lucky to have a break in my schedule (which I NEVER have had since my almost 3 years in business) and I am using it to rest. Some days I am great with limited dizziness, other days I can't even walk, let alone hop in the car and drive somewhere. Because of this, I will be taking some time off.

This is a very scary time for me right now, so I appreciate all your prayers and support. I think the scariest thing about all of this is not knowing. One minute I think that it must just be an oversensitivity in my ears to balance, and the next minute I'm freaking myself out thinking that there might be something growing in my head. Only time (and testing!) will tell. Again, thank you everyone for your love and support. Please keep the prayers coming my way. I'm sure I will be up and running again in no time.

Update: Why I've been MIA

Hey everyone! I know its been forever since my last post! A lot of things have gone on here in my world over the past several weeks. Things have been so heavy around here that I don't exactly know where to begin. I guess the best thing is just to delve right into it, so here goes nothing.

I have been having intense dizzy spells over the past several weeks. Now I've been experiencing vertigo since I was about 19, but the past week or so have been far worse than normal. I have been to the doctor and am awaiting visits to several different specialists to find out what is wrong. I am being told that there is a great possibility that it may just be an imbalance in the fluid in my ears. I am praying that this is all it is. If that's not the case it could be something far more serious.

I apologize to everyone out there who has emailed me. My response time is much lower than normal as I am not spending much time in the office lately due to my illness. I am holding off on all client meetings at this time due to the fact that I would like to not risk driving as much as possible.

So, the short of it is, I will be taking a few days off. I have another visit with the ENT on Tuesday and will provide everyone with an update. I am sure that before long I will be back up to my normally crazy self in no time. I want to issue a special thank you to everyone for their prayers they have sent my way! It has definitely not gone unnoticed!! I love you all!!!

Key West is Super Fabulous!

Every year for the weekend of my birthday, I try to just take some time and get away from the world. This year, I headed to the Southern most point of the continental United States to Key West. I love the Keys! I don't think I could ever get enough of it.

Now of course being a photographer, I always have a camera handy. As most of you know, I've been trying to get more pictures of myself. Granted, these aren't the most flattering pictures, but what can I say? I'm goofy! ;-)


This is the standard picture for every photographer. Anytime I see a mirror, I always get a picture of myself in it. It shows off that new 17-55mm f2.8 lens nicely too!

Waiting for pizza. Nothing to do but make funny faces to the camera.

You see all kinda of stuff walking around Duval Street. I saw this guy sitting on the sidewalk. Every time he would start to play, his dog wold howl! I just had to take his picture.

Of course, you can't go to the beach without a hammock

This is the life!

I must have laid in that hammock for hours just reading a book and listening to the waves. It was SO relaxing.

We were waiting on the sun to set. Its not often you can see the sun rise and set over the water both in the same day.

And this last one is just for fun. As a person who wears many hats, I thought this would be too fun! We had a rule that every time we saw a hat, I had to put it on and get my picture taken. Too fun! The middle picture is me with all my coupons I took from the hotel. Each card had a coupon for a free drink on Duval Street. I kept joking that we could drink all night and not have to pay a dime! Too bad I don't really drink! ;-)

More posts to come! Expect blog posts from my weekend in Orlando for my niece's birthday, the tag from Shores Photography, my weekend in Jacksonville for my cousin's graduation, and my long weekend in Buffalo!

Greetings from Key West!

Enjoying the sun here in the Conch Republic! We've been riding around Duval Street on our rented scooters enjoying the sites and sounds that Key West has to offer. I've got so many wacky images to share! I can't wait to show you guys! But for now...


Enjoy a picture of me with my famous face this morning at breakfast (don't ask me why I always stick my tongue out... It's just something I do!)

More photos to come! Have a super fabulous weekend everyone! I'm off to rest in a hammock with drink in hand on the beach! :-)

Going Green??

***Now I must start this post with a disclaimer that many of you are going to rag on me for. This post is not politically correct and will make it seem like I'm not "up with the times." It also contains crappy camera phone pics. You were warned.***


I just don't "get" going green.

*shock* Now, wait a second. Before you spit your morning coffee all over the keyboard, hear me out for a second. The thing I don't get about all this "green stuff" is that I think its a fad. I see people carrying their groceries in potato sacks while wearing their Prada heels and taking off in their Bently's. There is this one car that lives close to my part of town that I see all the time with 15 million bumper stickers on it. It has stickers like, "Bush lied." "How many more lives are wasted to put money in your pockets?" and my personal favorite, "How many die daily to put gas in your tank?" Now, I might start to feel a little guilty for my green bitterness with such blatant statements except for the tiny fact that this person drives a Suburban. Now, come on! If they had one of those little smart cars that are smaller than a shoebox I would understand. But a Suburban? Those things get like 8 miles to the gallon!!

Now, I'm all for saving the planet. I think everyone can make a difference no matter how small the effort. But I don't like to feel like I'm wearing a sign around my neck that says, "I'm going green." all the while filling up my gas tank 3 times a week because I drive around the state like a crazy person (I would justify that this was all for work, but it would make no difference. It still is using resources.) So, while I might decided to walk short distances instead of drive, chose to shut of the water while brushing my teeth, or change all my light bulbs to those annoying funky shaped ones, I refuse to say I'm joining the green fad.



Now, with all that out of the way, let me go on to horribly contradict myself. The Stiles Corporation sent me an email earlier this week stating they were giving away free trees on Las Olas in downtown Fort Lauderdale in honor of Earth Week. This company seems to really be getting behind the green wagon full force. While the thought of this totally goes against my mantra of not getting involved with the fad, I thought, "Hey, its a free tree right? And if I plant one it is good for the environment, right?"

I know. I'm shameless. My friends tease me that they think I make my own rules just so I can break them.

Ok, so here's the thing I found most funny about this event. It has nothing to do with my anti-fad attitude. Or the fact that I will get teased relentlessly for getting a tree when I have no yard to plant it in (luckily, my parents have a house, so we're all good on that end anyway). No, the real reason why this is so funny is this...



I drive a 1999 10th Anniversary Edition MIATA! Yes, a MIATA. A matchbox has more room than this car. I can barely fit all my photography equipment in it, let alone an entire 6 foot tree.

So yes, if you see this driving down the road today...



Just honk and wave! :-)

America's Next Top Model??

Ha ha! Yeah right! But I do have to say, my friend Amber Sycz has some crazy photo skills! I had my first official modeling shoot today - as the model, NOT the photographer! Can I just say, I was really nervous! My faithful readers know how I feel about having my photo taken. A friend of mine told me I had an "unnatural fear" considering I'm a photographer. One of my goals here is to be more relaxed in FRONT of the camera. I can say, Amber made that pretty easy. She kept me laughing.

So, without further ado, here they are folks!







I told you this girl has got some skillz! Check out Amber's work on her site at www.ambersyczphoto.com and be sure to stop by her blog too!

Warning: I am a dork.

Why yes, yes I am. I have been on a rampage lately about my inability to have a good picture taken of myself. (You can see previous posts on this topic here and here) I must say that I was thrilled when Laurence Samuels aka Dave London emailed me this evening providing me with three fabulous photos of myself. Laurence and I both attended LUMU which I blogged about here and here a couple of weeks ago.

First up is this FABULOUS photo of me taken when all my photographer friends turned on me. I was sitting on a picnic table taking a break when all of the sudden, one photographer showed up with his flash and started taking pictures. I started teasing him about how the model was "over there". Before I knew it, I was surrounded by photographers! I've never felt so strange in my life esp. considering how "comfortable" I feel in front of the camera. ha ha. Here is a picture Laurence took of me while sitting on the picnic table. Isn't he awesome??



Now these next two photos come wit a very serious warning label: I, Melissa Powell, am a BIG dork! I have this thing that I do sometimes when I'm just being me and having fun. I like to make funny faces. I can't tell you how many photos I have of me sticking my tongue out or intentionally crossing my eyes. I like to make people laugh, and normally my weird facial expressions do the trick. Its hard to be serious around someone like me that is so fun loving (and well, like I said, a DORK) ha ha.

Laurence was playing with a 10.5 fisheye lens and needed a subject, and I was close by. I gave him my best silly face with his lens about one inch away from my nose. Good times.





Wow. That's all I can say is WOW. Laurence in a fabulous photographer and is such a joy. I had a great time hanging out with him and all the other photogs as well out at LUMU. Definitely check out Laurence's work on his online gallery at www.pbase.com/yesmate. His work is amazing! I love how the colors really grab your attention!

So as you may already know

I HATE having my picture taken (refer to this recent post here). It just never seems to get any easier for me. I know, I know. As a photographer, you would think that it would be natural for me to be in front of the camera. Well, its not.

So this has been my personal goal of late: OPP. Operation.Pretty.Picture. Yes folks, I'm trying to turn myself into a model (ok, no not really). But seriously. I want to be able to have those glowing portraits you see of people when they're out and about with their friends. I don't want to look like I've been out partying all night long just because I can't seem to relax in front of the camera.

So here was my recent attempt straight outta the camera (i.e. - no photoshopping.. scary I know)...

yuck. lol. My skin needs work, but hey, I'm smiling.

Soooo... how did I manage to get a picture of me smiling. Here it is, my secret guilty pleasure... Britney Spears. Should I feel ashamed that I totally love her music? Its one of those things I listen to but don't admit I listen too. I have to admit though. Dancing around my house, camera on a tripod, and wireless remote in my hand, I had fun. Probably one of the first times I've ever had fun getting my picture taken.

Now, fellow blog stalkers, be honest. How dumb do I look?

Happy Birthday Big Sis!

That's right, today is my sister's birthday! Woo hoo! I won't tell you how old she is for fear that she'll kick my but all the way from Orlando. ;-) I will tell you that we have a 9 year age gap, so if you can figure out how old I am, then you'll know how old she is.

People always ask me, "Wow! Really? 9 years??" Yep. My sister and I are almost a decade apart. I was an unplanned happy accident. My parents weren't going to have anymore children, but God changed their plans. To be honest, I've always loved that my sister was so much older than me. Anytime I've had a problem in life, 9 times out of 10, my sister has already gone through it. Like in my teenage years when I was fighting with my parents (like every other teenager in America right?), my sister gave the best advice. She always could see where I was coming from but could also rationalize with me too. When it comes down to it, my sister is my best friend! I don't know what I would ever do without her!

Alright, Alright. Enough with the gushy stuff. :-) Happy Birthday Sandie!! Can't wait to see you when you come and visit in a couple of weekends! I love you!

I can't say it enough

I HATE having my picture taken. You would think that being a photographer, I would be comfortable in front of the camera. Sadly, this is not the case. I get in front of the camera and freeze like a statue. There are few people I know that hate having their picture taken more than me (and my dad is one of them, so I guess I get it honestly).

When Nick Haskins of Haskins Photography and LUMU creator posted a picture of me on his blog, I was shocked! I had NO IDEA he was taking my photograph. Go figure. Now I guess I know how you guys feel when you tell me after your wedding, "I didn't even know you were taking a picture of me then." I was so caught up in the moment of LUMU that I didn't notice Nick was happily snapping away.

Here's the great shot Nick took of me. I was being a "human light stand" and holding another photog's flash.

Nick is an awesome photographer and a great guy! Be sure to check out his stuff on his website and his blog! Thanks Nick for the awesome photo and for a great time at LUMU!

Watch Out South Florida! I'm dangerous!!!

ha ha! Not really. But I could be if you broke into my house in the middle of the night (hey, a girl's gotta protect her camera equipment. ha ha!) My dad and I got together and went to the shooting range. Although I came from Atlanta before my move to Fort Lauderdale, I am originally a Texan through and through. My whole life, I've grown up with guns in the house. It's a "normal" for me. Although I've always been around them, I've NEVER actually shot a gun before. My dad always showed me how to hold them and taught me to respect them, but never managed to make it out to the range.

Today was the day. My dad recently got a Glock 357 Sig (ok, I'm really not sure what exactly that mean, but it sounds good doesn't it!) and want to go to the range to shoot it. My mom wouldn't go with him, so I tagged along for my first lesson in shooting. I had a great time (more so than I expected)! My dad brought a 38 Special Revolver for me to shoot since the recoil isn't as bad. He offered for me to shoot his Glock, but I didn't want to. That thing is a beast. Overall, I was pretty proud of myself for the first time shooting. Here are some pictures from the day!

We were in lane 14

My dad took this photo of me. Its blurry, but I love it!

These were my first 6 shots. Not too bad for NEVER shooting before. I was pretty proud. My dad laughed at me when I shot so far at the top. Some of them got pretty close to the center though.

Here's the gun I shot

Here's my dad shooting his Glock.

There were TONS of shells pushed into the corner (and all over the floor).

Yeah, I'm tough for my size. Or at least I try to think I am!

Too much fun! I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

I'm a winner!

I cannot believe it! I won a ticket to LUMU, the Light it up, Meet Up Workshop taught by Nick Haskins on February 17th. I feel SO lucky. All I had to do was post on the fabulous Pay It Forward photography blog, and my name was drawn out of a basket. PIF blog rocks! What a great thing they are doing for the photography community!

If you are a photographer that would like to win cool stuff to go to www.pifphoto.com. They also have a lot of cool freebies donated by your fellow peers, so check them out!

If you would like more information about LUMU, check out their site at www.lightitupmeetup.com. Registration for the Florida meet up ends on February 1st!

I've got a lot of great pictures to share from the GS concert this past weekend, but just haven't had a chance to upload them yet. Expect a long post this afternoon! Also, I will be announcing the prizes for portrait sessions for Tanna and Lori as well as Jennifer and Matt. If you haven't left them a comment yet, please do!

Down Day, Lifted Spirits

I was having a really down day yesterday. You know sometimes when you just feel the world weighs a little more that day? I found out this week that my husband is struggling with a few health problems that he's been trying to hide from me for awhile. It not something I would really like to announce here right now, but just keep him in his prayers. Us being apart for this long while we are trying to sell our house has really stressed him out more than I realized. It just got me really down yesterday.

My friend Tara noticed this and bought me flowers. I don't think I've ever had a non-family member buy me flowers before! It made me feel so special and really cheered me up! Its amazing how flowers can do that! Thank you Tara!! I just had to post some pictures to show my love and appreciation. As I've always said, I have the best Clients and Friends!!! :)





Alright everyone, I'm off to TAMPA!!! All of my family from across the state is headed there today for the George Strait concert. I'm going to try to sneak my paparazzi camera in and get some good photos. Expect a new post when I get back (maybe before then if the hotel has wifi)

Christmas 2007

Every year my whole family make the terribly long (OK, so a 3 hour car ride's really not that bad) trip NORTH (and maybe Orlando is not what most people would consider to be north). This year was no exception. We loaded up the zoo (two noisy birds and one hairy little dog), package the car with all our Christmas treasures, and jumped on the road the Sunday before Christmas. Luckily, most people seemed to leave on Saturday, so there was little to no traffic.

As soon as we arrived at my sister's house, I see the cutest 4 year old I've ever seen (and no, I'm not biased) run out the front door with her arms wide open yelling "AUNTIE!" Aren't children the best?? I just love going to my sister's house every year for Christmas. Its one of those traditions that's even carried on throughout my married years. After all these years, I still haven't missed a single one.

Besides, kids are what make Christmas fun. My eldest niece and I have the same agreement every year since she was two. If she sees Santa, she will make sure to wake me up, and if I see Santa, I will make sure to wake her up. This year was no different. And like every other year, neither of us saw Santa. He did leave her some really nice gift though. She was awfully good this year. Overall, Christmas this year was exactly the same as last year. I hope next year is exactly the same as this year was. It seems like I would eventually get tired of the same thing every year, but every year is always so much fun.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Ashley LOVES being in front of the camera. I always tell her "work it girl, work it!" and then she starts all kinds of goofy poses.

My grandmother, Pat Ford. I love her!! She's an artist, you should check out her work!

Cute baby girl!

Do you think he likes riding in that thing? He kept giving me this look like, "Mom! SAVE ME!!!"

With Eyes So Blue

My neice amazes me. Look at her eyes. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with eyes so blue! She's gonna be a knockout when she gets older. Of course its not like I'm biased or anything! I'm simply saying she's beautiful because she is. The fact that she's my youngest neice has nothing to do with it! ;-) Oh, and I LOVE the milk mustache too!


Got a beautiful little one? Let em see!!! Send me a bragging picture of your baby at melissa@melissapowellphotography.com or leave me a comment!

Belated Thanksgiving Post

Since my connection has been down, I never got the chance to post about my Thanksgiving adventure! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday (that is of course if you can remember that far back, I still can't get over that Christmas is just over a week away)! Thanksgiving is one of the few times of year that I don't take any clients and I relax. It gives me a chance to rest before the Christmas rush. For my Thanksgiving "break", I went to Atlanta to visit my husband. It had been almost a month since I last saw him so I was eager to get there.

As normal as it would have been to do what the rest of America did that week, I chose to go a different route on my adventure up to the ATL. Most people plan months in advance, spend an insane amount of money to book a flight on a commercial airliner, stand in line at the ticket counter, stand in line at security for another hour (or more depending on the airport), sit on plane for a few hours with 117 of their not-so-closest friends, then fight all those so-called friends to get off the plane and to baggage claim only to find that the airline sent your luggage to another airport on the other side of the country. Ah! Don't you love the holidays? As much as I would have loved to experience all that fun with millions of other Americans, I went a different route this year. My friend Autumn and her boyfriend Kris own their own plane and were also headed up to Atlanta. I was ecstatic when they invited me to come along with them. When my family heard I was not flying commercial, they were ok with it. When my family heard that this plane was a four seater, single engine Piper Cherokee, I think all of them started praying. All joking aside (actually, my entire family really was praying that we would make it to Atlanta and back safely), Kris was a fabulous pilot. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life! It was also a nice feeling to not be frisked at the airport and to be able to bring liquids or gels of any size I wanted. ;-)

I've included some pictures of our adventure. A special thanks go out to Kris and Autumn for allowing me to join them on the flight up to Atlanta!

Congrats are in order!

I wanted to make a special post dedicated to George Strait!

George, congratulations on your wins last night at the CMA's! It was great to see you and Norma on tv! It's been a long time! Some one very close to my heart has worked for you since I was six weeks old, so it's exciting to see everyone's hard work recognized!

~From the little blonde-headed girl who was mad at you for throwing her daddy in the swimming pool at the Pure Country Premier Party

Happy Halloween!!!

Hope everyone is having a happy [and safe] Halloween! Because I am so obsessive compulsive, I just had to dress Ringo up so we could pass out Halloween candy to the little kids. I do not have children yet of my own, so Ringo is my little kid (he's just a little hairier and a lot shorter). Ringo was dressed as a police dog. He hated it at first but once the trick-or-treaters started coming he forgot how "miserable" he was and had a good time. Here's a picture of my watchdog on patrol! Have a great holiday everyone!!

A Pumpkin for Ringo

I love Halloween almost as much as Ringo does. Ringo is my ferocious, not intimidated-by-anything, 4 and a half pound Yorkshire terrier. For whatever reason, Ringo LOVES pumpkins. Whenever I bring one home, he immediately starts prancing on his back feet and twirling in circles. He gets so excited that if I don't put it on the floor for him as soon as I get in, he starts crying. As soon as the pumpkin's on the floor, he attacks! He covers it in kisses and smells it all around. Every time he walks by it, he has to stop to lick it. If I try to touch it he barks at me. For whatever reason, he thinks that all pumpkins belong to him. So now, every year, I have to buy him a pumpkin. You can see the joy all over his little face as soon as he sees it. He's just like a little kid. I took some photos of Ringo next to his "prize". Forgive his appearance... he needs a bath. :)

Happy [early] anniversary!

I'd like to take the time to wish a happy anniversary to.... my husband and I! We celebrated our anniversary early this year due to our current living circumstances. A little background, my husband James lives in Atlanta while I live in South Florida. We are trying to sell our house in Atlanta which has delayed our moving date back a little farther than expected. All that is another post for another time. Since we won't be able to be together for our anniversary on November 13th, we decided to celebrate early. James surprised me with a mini wedding cake! I thought it was such a sweet gesture and just had to share! We spent the whole weekend doing next to nothing but lounging around and walking the beach. We had a great time!

What does a photographer do for fun?

Take photographs of course! Yes, anytime I go anywhere, I always look like a tourist. I'm the one with the camera around my next and the stupid grin on my face. There's nothing I love more than being behind the lens. So when I went back to Atlanta this past weekend, its no surprise I had my camera in tow. Its not often my husband James and I get the opportunity to have any good pictures of ourselves! Normally we are the ones taking pictures of others. Now one would think that a photographer would be a really good model. Just remember that there's a reason why I became a photographer and not a model. Lucky for me, my husband seems to be able to make me relax.

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone is having a fun (and safe) fourth of July!! I went to the beach this evening to try and catch some decent shots of the fireworks. It would have been perfect if it wasn't for all the smoke. There wasn't enough breeze to blow it all away and it just sort of lingered over the water. Overall, I had a great time!! Enjoy!