Natural light documentary and branding photographer based in Austin, Texas

Forever committed to the art of storytelling

What my clients are saying

As the mother of a special needs child, not only is the process of family photos anxiety provoking but honestly, also often unsuccessful. The day of our photos I was almost like a deer in the headlights of what to do to get some successful photos. Melanie stepped in with her direction and with it we not only got beautiful photos, we even had fun. I’m still grateful for the experience a year and a half later.

~ McCall McPherson Zavala

Melanie is an absolute dream to work with. She is the one of the most genuine souls I’ve ever met and it comes across to everyone who meets her. Melanie had my teenagers engaging with her and my 2 year old eager to take directions. When we got in the car after our photo session, all of my kids raved about how awesome she was because she got the pictures done quickly. I have to say the best part for me was when she sent them to me, she had perfectly captured the personalities of each member of our family!

~ Kristy Dees

This woman is my soul sister on so many levels and then on top of being an amazing human captures the most beautiful photos. She gets me, my family and is able to create the most gorgeous photos I get to keep forever. Melanie is amazing and even that word isn’t enough to describe her or her work.

~ Krissy Collins

I literally cannot put into words how incredible our photos turned out with Melanie. She was so thorough with figuring out what exactly we wanted to capture and what it was about our family that we wanted these photos to immortalize. Ask and you shall receive! These are the first professional photos we have as a family of four and I literally can not stop looking at them. My kiddos are not exactly "super friendly" to strangers, but they warmed up to Melanie very quickly and she was able to coax their true personalities out of them. Without question, we will continue to use Melanie Applegate Photography for all of our future sessions! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

~ Jessica Kilbane

Melanie is truly phenomenal!! I was speechless when I saw the proofs. She captured everything we wanted and more! The lighting was perfect and more than anything she captured us. Melanie was a joy to shoot with and her ease and love for what she does helped us to just relax, enjoy, and be natural. My daughter fell in love with Melanie and asked as we were walking to the car when we could do this again with her. Besides being super talented and creative, Melanie is also very professional, great at communication, and delivered everything earlier than she promised. I HIGHLY recommend!

~ Lana Hewitt

I knew from the moment that I first made contact with Melanie that it was a match made in heaven! Hello, her fabulous work speaks for itself. The inquiry that she has you fill out prior to your session speaks volumes about the level of investment she puts into your session. Meeting her was icing on the cake - she’s beautiful, down to earth, and is one of those never met a stranger types - so you immediately feel at ease. The best part is the fact that she’s there to capture precious, authentic moments, so it’s fun! Melanie’s artistic eye is so on point that the photos are beautiful without editing. So you can expect to be blown away when you receive the edited versions...stunning! We will without a doubt be using Melanie in the future. We are so grateful to have these beautiful moments of our life captured in such an authentic way. Thank you!

~ Casey Durham

Melanie captured MAGIC for my boys and I during our newborn family photo shoot. She chose me to gift a shoot after my journey with hypermesis during pregnancy and truly made me feel loved and special during our time together. She is really easy to connect with right off the bat, super respectful of her clients needs, very comfortable with natural light and able to adapt to any type of environment to create beautiful memories. I'm so happy with how our photos turned out and so grateful for Melanie.

 

~ Amanda Heller

Melanie Applegate is a true artist and pure talent. We’ve had two photoshoots with her now, once for our pregnancy announcement photos, and now recently for our newborn photos with our baby boy. Each time I’ve been absolutely blown away with how beautiful they turned out. She captures the true authenticity of the moment, but somehow elevates it to the next level and each photo you’re just in awe. Like, “is that really us?!” Wow, Just wow. The memories she’s already captured for us have literally brought me to happy tears, and are precious moments I’ll cherish forever. I’ll only book with Melanie Applegate Photography from here on out. She’s truly a professional and a joy to work with!

 

~ Marisa Isaacs-Pryor

I loved working with Melanie! Truly the best photographer I've worked with in so many ways. She made me feel comfortable and free to be me which resulted in amazing shots. She's artistically creative, innovative and captures beautiful moments.

 

~ Emmy McKee

We were very blessed to have Melanie take family photos of us with our beloved dog before he passed away. She was so compassionate and loving. She was patient and easygoing with our energetic 4 year old. Not only did she capture memories that we will always treasure, she did so in a beautifully artistic way.

 

~ Myles King Naso

Melanie is such a joy to work with!! I am camera shy and so awkward, but she made the experience a breeze! So much fun!

My shoot was a mother & son photo shoot, and she brought out the absolute BEST in Max! She captured his personality and I am thrilled to see the boy I know and love reflected perfectly in her photos!

 

~ Giovi Alanis

Melanie did a wonderful job during our family photo shoot. It is no easy task getting a 3 year old and a 4 year old to cooperate and smile, but she captured some really great moments! I was so thrilled to have the touched up images the same day as well! I highly recommend Melanie!

 

~ Callie Sova

One of Austin's best! Look no further for an amazing photographer. She does it all.

 

~ Brittany Beth