About

Melissa Rieke | Kansas City Photographer

Hello!  I’m Melissa Rieke…wife, mom, Kansas City Newborn photographer, blogger, and and and.  I fell in love with photography when I was young and my passion for it came alive when I  had my own kiddos.  Gus, Lucy and Finley were my inspiration in picking up the camera again.  How could I not try to capture their every moment.  I would create sets in my house and make them pose, with horrible lighting and a point and shoot that only captured the moments AFTER that perfect moment!  In 2009 I decided to follow my hear and MRP was born.  In 2011 we moved into the Bonner Springs studio and have been here every since.

I knew from the beginning I wanted to focus on newborns.  The newborn phase is so fleeting and such a blur for new parents.  I am so honored each time a family chooses me to photograph this special time.  I have so much fun with these little ones, posing them, holding them…watching them grow.

As I mentioned above I am a wife to Ernie.  Together we have three amazing kiddos:  Gus, Lucy & Finley.  We dreamed of having 4 kids and I wanted to be done having babies by the time I was 30…so they are pretty close…for one month a year they are 1, 2 & 3…or this year they will be 9,11 & 12!  My forth baby is MRP!  We live on a farm with crops, cows, kids, dogs, weeds, hay and lots to do…never a dull moment and never a free moment around here.  We work hard…but we have lots of fun.

In 2014 I was diagnosed with Stage 3a Colon Cancer at the age of 35.  2013 had been my busiest year and I was looking forward to seeing so many clients again in 2014 and dreaming up new sets and sessions for them.  I had to take some time off while I had surgery to remove the mass and 13″ of my sigmoid colon and completed 10 of 12 rounds of chemotherapy.  I am currently all clear…YAY…and do routine follow ups to be sure it isn’t coming back to visit.