Mel Scriha named Mackay’s best photographer | 2023

Turning her lifelong love for scenic landscapes and family into a successful photography career, Mel Scriha has earned the title of Mackay‘s best photographer with her natural and heartfelt approach.

Turning her lifelong love for scenic landscapes and family into a successful photography career, Mel Scriha has earned the title of Mackay‘s best photographer with her natural and heartfelt approach.

A woman’s lifelong passion for scenic landscapes and family has helped her realise her calling as a family photographer, earning her the title of Mackay’s best photographer.

Mel Scriha opened her business, Mel Scriha Photography, four years ago after her Grandmother encouraged her to follow her dreams.

Her husband suggested that she start taking photos of families, which is something she never thought of doing.

“I started doing it and the more and more I did, the more and more I got into it, and four years later here we are,” Mrs Scriha said.

A country girl at heart, she grew up on a farm in Calen, she always had a love for scenic landscapes and ever since she can remember dreamt of photographing them.

“I’ve always had an interest in photography,” she said.

“But when I was young, you would be pretty lucky to have your own camera.”

So I never really had a camera of my own.”

Mel loved to go for bushwalks, and she would often come across something beautiful, wishing she could capture it in a photo.

“We’d finish school and go down the creek, and there was always stunning things to photograph — if you had something to photograph with,” she said.

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Mrs Scriha recalled how she bought her first ‘good’ digital camera when she was 22, after diligently saving up.

She worked as the manager at Tricky car rental for 15 years until she had her first child, Lily, who is now five.

“I’m someone that always has to have a project on the go, so that’s when my husband suggested I start taking family photos part time,” Mrs Scriha said.

Now a mother of two, she had her son Jack three years ago.

“My family is my everything,” she said.

“I always work my business around when my husband is home, and I work all my photo shoots around that.

I love my photography, but I love my family so I just have to balance it out to make it all work.”

Mel Scriha, her husband and two kids photographed near Seaforth. Picture: Kay Reilly Photography.

When hearing the news, that she won the region’s best photographer, Mrs Scriha was “gobsmacked” to be nominated, let alone win it.

“Every photographer has their own style, their own editing process and shooting,” she said.

“I just think it boils down to what style everybody likes and I’ve just been really lucky to have a lot of people like my style and work.

I’m just really lucky that I have support from my friends, family and also my clients.”

Mrs Scriha’s approach is not about posing or studios, rather capturing the family as they naturally are, as if they were in the comfort of their own home.

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“When photographing families children play a big part, so it’s so important how you approach them,” she said.

Setting the photo shoots in the outdoors, lives by the ideology, let children be children when photographing families.

“Photos are something you cherish forever, and look back on, so the more natural you can be the better the shoot.”

Ms Scriha lost her grandmother last year, who was her ‘everything’ and her biggest inspiration to continue on with photography.

Mel Scriha is pictured with her grandmother on her wedding day, six years ago.

In the past year Mrs Scriha has become really driven to encourage families to get their photos taken in general, especially with their elderly loved ones.

“It’s so important to have happy moments that you can look back on because you never know when you’re only going to have a photo to look at of your loved one.”

Fiona Kroll from Coffee and Hops came runner up with 11%, narrowly passing Deanne Woods from Deanne Woods Photography with one vote between them.

“I follow a lot of photographers on social media and Fiona and Deanne have got some amazing work,” Mrs Scriha said.

“We are very blessed in Mackay to have so many talented photographers, so Mackay residents have a lot of choices.”