Melanie is a wife to her husband of 20 years, Bill, and a mother to their 4 children, Sarah, Emily, Kayla and Billy – whom she stayed at home with until they were all in school before embarking on a newborn photography business. She has nurtured Anderson Photographs from a home studio into the 3000 square foot custom photographic studio, specializing in Seniors, Children, Newborns, and Families, located in the Arts & Entertainment District in downtown Hagerstown, MD.

It is no surprise that even though Melanie is primarily self-taught, she gladly undertook and overcame the challenge of becoming a Certified Professional Photographer in 2011, and will be receiving her Craftsman Degree in 2015. Throughout the process, she continued to run the business as well as mentor for After Dark Education, go on tour with Sandy Puc and appear on SPTV. Along with being the Vice President of the Maryland Chapter for PPA, teaching at SEPPA and several State PPA Chapters, and most recently filmed several segments for Photovision. Melanie stays passionate about one-on-one mentoring and works diligently to provide educational resources to fellow photographers through Anderson Education; which includes webinars, eBooks, videos and workshops.

Her awards and achievements include the following:

• Member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA)
• Maryland Photographer of the Year
• Maryland Portrait Photographer of the Year
• Fuji Award Winner
• 2013 Washington County “Person to Watch”
• Maryland Achievement Award
• Hagerstown Magazine Hot List #1 Photography Studio – 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014