Melanie A. Marts is a Graduate Gemologist and independent jewelry appraiser by profession.  For many years, she took record shots of jewelry for her clients; first, using a Polaroid and then some of the first digital cameras in the mid-nineties.  In 2005, she upgraded to a 7.1mp point-and-shoot and had a lightbulb moment when she realized..."Hey, I can take pictures of other stuff!"  Soon after, she started photographing flowers in her backyard.  In the fall of 2006 she bought her first SLR, a Nikon D80, and hasn't looked back since.  Currently, she uses a Nikon D300 and various lenses.

After joining NVPS in the spring of 2007, Melanie became more actively involved in photography.  She served two years on the Board for Workshops, Education and Training.  This year, she is co-chair of the new Members' Resource Program.  Last fall, she decided that she would, eventually, make photography her new career.  In working towards that goal, she recently completed the Professional Photography Program at the Washington School of Photography in addition to taking seminars from Corey Hilz.

Melanie will take a picture of just about anything if it appeals to her.  Her first loves are macro, abstracts, butterflies and waterfalls.  She also likes to shoot decaying buildings and old cars.  She credits her close friend Timber Gooding, Corey Hilz, and NVPS for challenging her creativity by teaching her the many technical aspects of photography as well as getting her started on her current path.

 

In the old days, Vivian Luu was passionate about being in the pictures instead of taking pictures; this was especially true after a new hairdo! She considered pictures of her and her family and friends priceless.

When posing for pictures, she was instructed to move to the right a little or to the left a little, but she was never exposed to the language of photography--composition, design, depth of field, shutter speed, aperture, etc. These were words that were not part of her vocabulary.

In 2005, after joining a local Vietnamese Photographic Society camera club, Vivian purchased a Canon 5D camera. The new equipment motivated Vivian to become passionate about photography as a "photographer" rather than a "model."

Vivian joined NVPS in 2006 and her photography skills accelerated. During her second year with NVPS, she actively participated in the club's competitions.  In the third year she received the Photographer of the Year award in the Advanced Digital category and also received the Image of the Year award.

Photography is one of Vivian's hobbies. She enjoys photographing nature, people, sports, and flowers. She loves to apply panning techniques to racing bicyclists and zooming techniques to landscapes and lights.  Capturing people's expressions or emotions is another favorite subject.  Sometimes Vivian's creative mind inspires her to turn ordinary images into extraordinary ones by using Photoshop's filters.