Jack Melton - About Me
I was born in Columbus, Georgia, on May 10, 1960. My parent's home was adjacent to the Kennesaw Mountain National Military Park and I grew up playing in trenches and cannon emplacements of that Civil War battlefield. I use to imagine my Southern ancestors performing deeds of courage and daring while I fought imaginary foes in the wooded hills of Kennesaw Mountain. Several of my uncles fought in World War II and my Dad served during the Korean War. These twin elements of patriotic ancestry and military geography combined to foster and nurture a passion in me for American history and Southern heritage. My interest in the history-rich area of my childhood home spurred me to respond to the National Park Service's need for an historical trail through the Kennesaw Park. This task became my Eagle Scout project, and I earned my rank as a Bicentennial Eagle Scout on July 4, 1976. Since that time, hundreds of thousands of visitors have walked the trail I cut at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
In 1989, after a lengthy course of study, I completed the Professional Photography Program at the Southeastern Center for the Arts in Atlanta and graduated with honors. Since embarking on a career in photography I have shot front cover art for more than a fourteen reference books, over 80 magazine covers, scores of feature ads for numerous clients, and performed the photo work for countless illustrated articles in a host of various national publications. I am the featured cover photographer for North South Trader's Civil War magazine and have had more than 80 front and back covers published in the magazine's 34-year history. I am the official photographer (cover, advertising photographer, and interior) for The Civil War Collector's Price Guide by Publisher's Press, Inc. I have photographed and co-authored three books: Introduction to Field Artillery Ordnance 1861-1865, Melton & Pawl's Guide to Civil War Artillery Projectiles (over 6,700 sold world
wide), and In the Line of Fire.
My specialty is still life photography and my goal is to become the modern day Mathew Brady of the Civil War collecting community.
Member of Professional Photographers of America (PPA), National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), American Society of Arms Collectors, Company of Military Historians, and The Civil War Round Table of Atlanta.