Portrait Photography Blog | Melody Smith Portrait, Petersburg VA

She came in expecting something pampering. Maybe a little whimsical. A nice experience. Something to mark an afternoon. What she walked away with was something she did not see coming. There is a moment that happens in almost every session here, though it arrives differently for everyone. For some women it happens during hair and makeup, when they catch themselves in the mirror and something settles. For others it happens mid-session, somewhere between the first look and the s

There are portrait sessions that produce beautiful images. And then there are sessions that produce something else entirely. Meet Evelyn, upcoming graduate. When this family drove from Keysville, Virginia to our studio in Historic Old Town Petersburg, her mom thought she knew what to expect. A nice experience. Some great photos. Something to hang on the wall before her daughter left for the next chapter. What she didn't expect was what actually happened inside that studio. Fr

I first photographed the Buffa family fifteen years ago. Nino was three years old. His mother Tillary was eight months pregnant with her youngest son. I remember pulling her into a few of the frames that day and she definitely wasn't planning to be in the photos, but I wasn't going to let that moment pass without her in it. The Buffa family has deep roots in this community. Tillary and Sal own The Reserve at the Highlands and Riptides Seafood. Nino grew up in those restauran

Stephanie has been coming to this studio for eleven or twelve years now. She was here before she was married. She came back for her bridal session. She kept coming back through every version of herself that followed. Quiet. Down to earth. The kind of woman who knows every trail within fifty miles of her house, can fix things, loves the outdoors, and doesn't make a lot of noise about any of it. She lives in West Virginia now. She still makes the drive to Petersburg. For this s

There are women who live quietly and women who live fully. Millie is DEFINITELY the second kind. She homesteads in Chesterfield, Virginia raising chickens, tends livestock, grows things with her hands. She travels to the islands when the seasons call for it. She makes TikTok videos with her oldest daughter just because it makes them both laugh. She's an herbalist, a frequency raiser, a fierce lover of the people in her life. She is, in every sense, a woman who shows up. And