Meet Your Neighbor: Maison Meredith Photography

We spoke with Maison from Maison Meredith Photography to get to know her better as a business neighbor! We were able to do a tour of the space and it's such a beautiful and creative space that we're really excited to help get the word out about!

We're here with Maison Engel. Maison is a great person and also a business owner here in Fitchburg! We're continuing our series of interviewing and getting to know local businesses. Maison, thanks for spending some time with us today. For those who don’t know you, why don't you share a little bit about yourself!

"Let's see, I was born and raised in Wisconsin, in a small town in the center of the state, Waupaca. I had an awesome childhood! For those who know Waupaca, the Chain of Lakes is really famous there. So swimming, lots of fun things like that. I feel like that really developed my love of the outdoors and being in nature. I went to school at UW-Madison, which is where I met my husband. We fell in love with this area, love that we were close enough to family still in Wisconsin, but were able to be in a place where there was so much to offer. We decided to stay once we graduated. Now we have two amazing kids! They're five and three. I'm a family photographer here in the area."

And you guys live out in Verona?

"Verona, yup! Yeah, so we're real close to the office!"

How did you get into photography and even how did you decide like ‘Hey, this is gonna be a career for me’?

"Yes, it's a bit of a unique story for sure. So like I said, I went to Madison and my degree is actually in international studies and religious studies. I kind of was thinking I wanted to do nonprofit international work of some sort. So when I was a junior, I studied abroad in Spain for a semester. And before I left, my parents got me a nice consumer camera to take pictures of what I was doing when I was studying abroad. At the time it felt kind of like a really random gift. Photography wasn't a hobby of mine or anything like that. I took photos while I was traveling overseas. At the time, Facebook was like a new popular social media platform. So I remember posting all my photos on social media. And when I got back my senior year of college, my best friend's older sister reached out to me one day and she was like, ‘Hi, Maison. I know this is super random, but my friends just got engaged. They have no money. They need some photos. I feel like you're really talented with photography, looking at your photos that you took when you were in Europe. Would you be interested in doing their engagement session?’ I was like, ‘What?’ It was this experience that kind of fell out of the sky. I said ‘Thanks for thinking of me, for the kind words, but like, no, I'm not interested’. Super long story short, she talked me into doing the session. I loved working with the couple. It was actually super fun. They loved their photos and that literally started this change in direction from my life that I was not expecting at all. I just didn't know that I was interested in photography, that I would like photographing people. I feel like from that session, people saw their photos, reached out to me. I would do more photos, you know, and I just grew and grew from people seeing their friends or family members' photos. So that was all happening my senior year of college, but I had committed to spending a year overseas post graduation. So once I graduated, I moved to Turkey for a year and was doing some nonprofit work there. And when I got back, I found myself at this crossroads. Basically, do I keep pursuing what I thought I wanted to do or was going to do? Or this photography thing that kind of fell out of the sky, really exploded before I left – should I try that? And clearly I decided to go that route. This will be my 14th year of business."

Wow, incredible.

So never, never thought I'd be here! 

So your journey took you first into engagement shoots and weddings, and you really focused on that. And then recently you've made a transition from there into doing family photography. Is that right?

 Yes!

What do you like about that aspect of photography? And I know it's all a little bit different. I mean, being ready to shoot quickly and you have one shot at everything at a wedding and then family photography where you probably take a breath and take some time to set up the shot. Tell us more of what drew you to that and what do you appreciate about family photography?

"I feel like when I started my business, weddings made sense. I was newly engaged, getting married. All my friends around me were getting married and I feel like I felt really passionate about that decision to get married and that new season of my life. As a creative spirit I’m definitely at least drawn to photographing what I feel passionate about so weddings made so much sense for so many years. It’s really just such a beautiful journey photographing weddings. And then we became parents. I feel like it’s really the short of it, my husband and I struggled to become parents so when it finally did happen for us it was super powerful and life-changing. I just love my kids so much. My passion started shifting. And I started noticing, man, like I’m super drawn to photographing family life and the family relationships. So I started photographing families and weddings. I feel like just over time as my kids grew, as I grew and became a mom, learning about parenting, I just kept noticing the stirring of my heart to document family life grew stronger and stronger. Something I couldn’t ignore. So about two years ago, we decided, behind the scenes, ‘What would it look like to transition away from weddings and towards family photography?’ and then this last year really going for it – rebranding, new website, new direction. It’s felt very, very exciting, super aligned. I’m so thankful. Stressful in a different kind of way but I love it, time to play, and let kids be kids. Like I said I have a five and three-year-old so I totally know all those feelings and emotions and welcome all of it. I want to just be able to capture that. It goes so quick. To be able to take those moments to capture the kids while they’re young and then also year after year and be able to have something to document their growth."

I mean you do such a great job with everything that that you put out there wedding wise! And I know that's going to continue in the family photo side things too. 

Now that you're taking family photos, do you get a chance to explore some cool spots around the area? Are there some kind of go-tos that you like to take families to that you wouldn't mind mentioning?

"Yes, for sure. I feel like most people, when they think of family photos, you’re thinking outdoors, beautiful backdrop, which makes so much sense. Especially when people like to hang their photos on their walls, right? It can be like art too. Some favorite spots in the area would be Pope Farm Conservancy, one of my go-tos. They have a beautiful oak grove of trees that I love shooting in. Yahara Place Park is another one on the East side. It’s kind of in the Atwood neighborhood, there’s a cool park, there’s a creek that runs through and some beautiful overhanging trees, so there’s water which I really love.  Another little gem that one of my friends told me about a couple years ago is in DeForest. It’s part of Token Creek Conservancy, the Edna Culver Springs part. Again, just like really beautiful flowers throughout the year that bloom, a creek in the background, grasses, things like that. And it’s really private, which I like. Not like a lot of people walking by. But I will say . . . what I love so much photographing is in people’s homes. Kind of referring back to like just capturing real life family life the moments that I feel like as parents we never want to forget, but we will, right? Like it’s just a part of it as we age. I have a signature lifestyle session that I offer that's definitely by far my favorite offering. Coming into the family’s home for a couple hours and just a more documentary style approach, capturing the family as is. I call them the extraordinary ordinary moments of every day. You will forget – what are your kids favorite toys or what are the things that they love doing? I find that kids really can be the truest version of themselves and open up to me so much more when they’re in their space. Versus ‘Let’s go to family photos’. I mean, that’s great, you know, but like it’s just a different dynamic. And there’s another level of stress there even for the family and you’re trying to like get there on time and all this stuff.  If you’re coming to their home and they can be comfortable, a little less stressed. I totally get all the different reasons you book family photos.

I'm glad you mentioned that. I think for me, what first comes to mind is the scenic backdrops like you mentioned, or going to the Arboretum and all that. And obviously that's stuff that you do too, but I think that is pretty unique to be able to come into the home and then capture those special moments that way and be able to cherish them. So I'm glad people have a resource like you to be able to help them capture those memories!

That's great. Is there anything else you want to share about your business or even just plug a little bit more about how they can find you if people are interested in booking a session with you?

Yeah, I think my website is the number one place to go: maisonmeredith.com. You can see all my different offerings. I feel so grateful! I truly feel so thankful to have a job that feels really purposeful. I just believe in it so much. I'm really lucky.  

Well, thanks for spending time with us today and being able to share a little bit about your story and your background. And thanks for all the beautiful work you put out there. Thank you!

Maison Meredith Photography

Photography for those wanting to joyfully preserve their family’s story.

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