i am ridiculously excited you are here! my name is melissa oholendt and i'm a wedding & lifestyle photographer based in minneapolis/st. paul, minnesota.
if you are curious as to who i am, the short version is this: my great loves in life are my heart-breakingly lovely husband, my cuddly dog Gunnar, rainy days, j.crew cardigans, nicknames, the smell of freshly washed clothes and above all things God. if you want to know a little more about me, click on the email address below and send me an email with questions, email hugs or professions of your undying love (i don't judge). i would love to hear from you.
In case you missed it, the new Melissa Oholendt Photography has debuted and it might be the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life. (Only to be trumped by hugging Justin Timberlake.)
For my RSS subscribers (love you!), please bookmark the new feed here. Can’t wait to see you there!
I have some huge news that I am so thrilled to share with you all. (No, not my new branding; though that is coming…soon!)
On Monday, my long dreamt-of J.Crew Jane Austen shoot was featured on the Minnesota Bride Magazine Blog! What an honor and a priviledge for this fabulous shoot to be featured on the most fabulous of all the Minnesota wedding websites; I seriously could not be more thrilled to be associated with such an upstanding publication.
One big bear-hug to my friends at Minnesota Bride. You guys rock.
I’m so excited to share more from this shoot.
If I ever have to explain the physical and emotional meaning of organized chaos to another person, I will show them this photograph. This photo holds 5 months of planning and executing and finally some big, big plans coming to fruition. If I am being honest, I am both totally thrilled and terrified of what this day will hold for Melissa Oholendt Photography.
Today is the day that changes everything. Today, at noon, myself and 6 other fabulous local vendors will be styling & photographing a concept shoot that has taken just slightly less planning than my wedding 5 years ago. I have enlisted some fabulous and amazing local vendors and we’ll be bringing a substantial amount of talent your way and I can’t WAIT to show you the results. (And with it the entire breadth of my rebrand! Soon, my friends, soon.)
Until that October day, here’s a little sneak peak into the Creative Brief behind this concept shoot. It’s going to be BIG. (And insanely gorgeous.) If you want even more of a sneak peak, make sure you follow me on Twitter; I’ll be twitpic-ing the day’s events between shots.
You can see it in the way they laugh and tease with each other; they’ve been through some of the worst life has to offer but they came out on top and so in love. Together they know they are better than if they were separate and together they know they can get through anything so what else is there?
The last few months I’ve spent getting to know Christine and Cole, I can tell you one thing for certain. They make quite the couple. For serious. Dynamic, interesting and completely charming. (Oh, and they can rock some photographs like nobody’s business.) If their personalities are any indication, their October wedding is going to be amazing. Can’t wait.
You know that full-body laugh that creates tears in your eyes and leaves you gasping for breath? It’s true that typically it doesn’t take much to send me into a fit of uncontrolable laughter; I’m pretty sensitive to the whole “funny” thing. And also, let’s be honest, I’m pretty darn funny myself so clearly genius recognizes genius. But if I am being truthful with myself (and now with you, nameless reader) sometimes I hold back from those belly laughs. Sometimes I don’t give into the laughter and I hold it in a little; because that laugh, while wonderful and completely renewing, isn’t particularly flattering for this photographer.
And then I meet Lauren & Mike. And Lauren is this gorgeous, hilarious, tiny little yoga-centered spitfire; and Mike is this handsome, equally hilarious, perfectly sarcastic & loving guy and I just couldn’t stop the laughter. Seriously. There were times where I literally couldn’t breathe, let alone work my shutter finger; that my friends, means I have the best clients in the whole world.
I think this also means I am pretty much in love with them and I’m pretty sure you will be too. They are impossible to resist.
I’ll admit it; sometimes life isn’t as blissful and picturesque as I might want to think. Sometimes Life just flat-out throws a fist-of-doom at you right square in the stomach just to get your attention and prove a point. (Yup. I just used an analogy of Life being the equivalent of a street fighter. Pretty sure that’s who I’ve been trading sucker punches with the last few weeks.)
In the darkness of some cloudy days came one amazing ray of sunshine. Jenna of Eat Drink Pretty made my week and featured Kimber & Chas’s fabulous Utah engagement session. If you don’t follow the Eat Drink Pretty blog, you are missing out. (I mean that.) Between her panache for making the most gorgeous sweet treats, she also posts about one of my very favorite topics: entertaining.
I also found out that a couple of the photos I took of the JNP Studios Workshop Tablescape were published in Issue 9 of the online magazine Utterly Engaged. The tablescape was all about the manly-man so I’m sure they were – ahem – thrilled with the uber-girly squeal that escaped my lips when I first saw my name.
Even though it hasn’t been the kindest of last 30 days, I know how blessed I am to have my photography recognized by a blog and an online publication that I love. Blows to the stomach included, I realize I am living one hell of a charmed life.
I have so many fun blog posts coming up soon including the details of two spectacularly gorgeous Minnesota weddings. Look for those to hit your Google Reader this month, but first…I must go put Life in a headlock. He deserves it.
At the beginning of May I had my own little anniversary date; May 3 marked the date of my first official photo session. I won’t lie, I look back on those first photos in my portfolio and I cringe a little (a lot) but I also celebrate because I have come far since those beginning days. I have failed far more than I have succeeded thus far but out of that I have grown in knowledge, in skill and in confidence. And while I still have so far to go, it’s a little piece of joy to look back and be able to say that I am a totally different photographer today than I was back then.
My hope for next year is that I can look back and cherish where I am right now; WHO I am right now because I think the recognition of how far one has come is important but remembering who you were is just as important. A year ago, I was holding myself back in protection from the fear of the unknown but today I am purposefully running full stride in the direction of fear and uncertainty. I know my failures will be numerous but that’s ok because playing it safe is no longer in my vocabulary.
I am so grateful to the clients and friends I have gained since the beginning of this journey. I have been entrusted with documenting one of the most important events in a couple’s life and I am being honest when I say I am totally honored by their trust.
Saturday was the first wedding of my second wedding season ever and let me tell you, it set the bar pretty high; can’t wait to share. Until then, Happy Anniversary to me and a heartfelt thank you to my clients, friends and support system for pushing me and believing in me. I would not be here without you.
A couple weekends ago I got to fly down to my home state of Utah and photograph one of my best friends and her fiance and if I’m being honest, it brought with it an emotion that I didn’t really anticipate.
I think one of my favorite things about photography is not only do I get to witness the gentle, silly and loving moments in a relationship but I also get to document those same moments for a couple to see for themselves. More than almost anything I want my friends to lead lives filled to the brim with love and getting to witness Kimber & Chas so fully inundated is enough to make my heart burst but then I am priviledged to show them how they laugh together, how they look at each other with such love and even how they cuddle together. I can tell you from experience it’s an amazing thing see your relationship laid out in that way and to be able to show someone I am close to what they look like in love is downright powerful.
To my friends, thank you for hosting/feeding/loving me. I can’t wait for your wedding in October! xoxo
I remember the night we met; it was shortly after our move to Minnesota and, in typical Minneapolis fashion, it was freezing outside. It was the first time I was going to meet Matt’s law school friends and, in typical Melissa fashion, I has spent way more time on my hair than the situation warranted. As my husband greeted his friends, a gorgeous strawberry-blonde with the warmest smile I had ever seen stuck her hand out to shake mine and said something along the lines of, “I’m Carrie and I’m so sorry we’re late. My hair was not cooperating.” Enter Trevor who leans in and hugs me as a hello, nice to meet you and from that moment on I was totally smitten with them.
Three years, one law school diploma and many (many) Wii Bowling Tournaments later, Carrie called me to let me know they were engaged and I could not have been happier for our two friends who love each other with so much passion it makes most people look like amateurs.
Love you both a lot.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
When I first started my photography journey, a very wise and wonderful friend gave me this advice: Dream BIG. There’s no point in dreaming if you don’t dream big. So I did. Some may look at my 5-and-10 year plans and laugh (There’s likely an entry for “Portraits of Justin Timberlake” in my ten year plan. No big deal.) but I am crazy passionate about making these things happen for myself. Yes, a lot of the things on my list are out of reach right now but what fun is there in aiming low?
In the past couple weeks I have been so humbled and honored to have some of my work featured on the blogs of women & publications that I respect and adore. With a huge thanks to these very fabulous women, I have been able to cross off one 2010 goal far (far!) earlier than I originally had hoped.
First Blush Bride Event Planning:
Justin Timberlake, here I come.
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