Melenie Ottosen
My love for photography started years ago when I was in college. I used to take a ton of pictures, and I had a great time doing it, but I was a starving college student and couldn't afford the film (This was before digital cameras were affordable). When Matt and I got married in 2002, we bought a Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera. I've been a Nikon girl ever since. While there are still benefits to shooting film, I prefer digital and use it for all of my work. I still own a film camera, but I rarely use it. For the most part, it sits in a camera bag in a closet, feeling neglected.
In the fall of 2005, I rediscovered my love for photography. What started out as a simple hobby has grown into a full-fledged passion! I find that I'm happiest when I'm taking pictures.
In 2006 I went to work for a world-renowned Nature Photographer name Thomas Mangelsen, whose work inspired me to pursue photography professionally. In the beginning my work was strictly Nature, Wildlife and Landscapes. Then in April of 2007, I shot my first wedding. I fell in love with wedding photography. I love capturing all the excitement and emotion of a wedding day... so much so that I often find myself laughing or crying along with the bride and groom and their guests.
People often ask me what kind of camera I shoot with. I use a Nikon D80 SLR as my primary camera with a Nikon D50 SLR as a second/backup camera. My images are shot using a variety of Nikon lenses ranging from 18mm to 300mm. My favorite portrait lens is the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens. For my portrait work, I use a Nikon SB-600, diffused using a Gary Fong Lightsphere.
Matt Ottosen
Photography and aviation are my two passions. Just like aviation, I have loved photography all my life. I took a few classes in school, and I learned how to develop film and photographs. It was a lot of fun, but I never actually bought my own camera.
When Melenie started to get into photography it piqued my interest. I started finding myself wishing I could be behind the camera too. I finally went out and bought my own camera. Melenie and I have lots of fun taking trips or "photo safaris" around Arizona and wherever else our travels take us.
Originally I had decided to pursue my love for aviation. I started flying and working towards a professional career as a pilot. One thing I learned early in school was that I didn't ever want to fly professionally, so I'm glad it didn't work out. Life decided to take a different turn, and I decided to combine my two passions. As more of a hobby, for now, I take a lot of aviation photos. I spend many days at the airport photographing airplanes.
I'm really happy that Melenie and I have decided to take this photography adventure together. We are having a lot of fun as portrait, wedding, and landscape photographers. Who knows where this road will go!
