Melissa Gaug One of my favorite Annie Leibovitz quotes is: "The camera makes you forget you're there. It's not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much." My love for photography comes from being able to see and capture something that not many other people see, not because they aren't looking, but because you have the ability to see it through lens and capture not just the photo - but the moment. I received my first camera, a 110 mm. pink film camera, when I was 6 years old and I took it everywhere with me -

some kids had stuffed animals, I had my camera. November of my senior year in high school I was accepted into the Ohio University School of Visual Communications for Photojournalism. After completing my first year I transfered to Kent State University's School of Mass Communications and Journalism in Photo Illustration. I worked on The Burr and The Daily Kent Stater as photographer, assistant photographer, and within 2 years made my way to photo editor.

One of the claim to fames was that Stephanie Smith and I teamed up as photo editor and assistant for the DKS, making one of the first girl-girl teams in Fall of 2005. Three of my many great influences in college were Glenn, Pat and Elliott; Glenn was the first to put me as photographer at The Burr when I barely had a portfolio, and Pat hired me as full time photographer for the DKS when my portfolio was still very much in the beginning stages because he "saw something in my work".  Elliott encouraged me to try for assistant and photo editor when I really doubted myself at the time.

I also worked as assistant photographer at Kent State University Communications and Marketing during the school year, along the great trio of Bob, Jeff, and Gary, and in the summers I worked at Williams Photography Studio in Warren, Ohio doing studio and wedding photography.

I graduated in May of 2006 and have since moved to Kankakee, IL (an hour south of Chicago) where I work as web editor and photographer for The Daily Journal.  I also assist an established wedding photographer (s1photography.com) in Chicago most Saturdays, while working on my own wedding photography business.

In between my full-time job and weddings on Saturdays I also am very involved in theater, and found myself hooking up with some film acting agencies and have done extra work for a few major motion pictures in Chicago.

You can view my wedding images here: www.melissaannephoto.com

And my photoblog here: http://melsflow.blogspot.com/