SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Amanda

I have been so busy the last couple weeks that I haven't had a chance to post these. These are some of my favorite pictures of Amanda. I love the way her red hair pops in these pictures. Her posing was great and she was so much fun to work with. It was really hard for me to leave at the end of the shoot. I wanted to stay and take more pictures. I can't even pick which one of these is my favorite. The costumes were amazing too! Someday I definitely want to buy one of these corsets! 

Amanda you were so nice and I had a great time working with you! I can't wait to work with you again!

Model - Amanda McQuade
MUA - Madison Cochran
Hair Stylist - Ness Vasquez
Wardrobe - Joany Hernandez

SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Rosannara

This is Rosannara. She was so sweet. I loved the head piece she got to wear. It's a flower with a skeleton hand! I want one of these so bad! :)

I think this is my favorite picture of her. I love how simple yet stunning it is. This picture is taken on the same set as the other pictures but it was taken from the side not the front. Its amazing what thinking outside of the box does. (I can't take credit for the idea though. I followed another photographer to the side and shot from over there.) This picture helps to remind me to think outside of the box. Take risks. Shoot from different angles. Different sides. You never know if that picture is going to be the best one.

Rosannara you were great to work with! I can't wait to work with you again soon!

Model - Rosannara Chhun
MUA - Madison Cochran
Hair Stylist - Elizabeth Tep
Wardrobe - Cheri Wilson Chagollan

SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Gabrielle

This is Gabrielle Champion. She was the first one I worked with in full makeup. I love this look. Each of the costumes had a shawl and a corset that were separate from each other. (So the corsets could be used with other props to make different costumes) I LOVE these shawls. If you look closely you can see the skeletons on them. Gabrielle was really nice as well. I really wish I had more time to get to know each of the models better. It always makes me more comfortable and less nervous when I am able to talk and laugh with them.  She was great at posing. I had so much fun working with her! I cant wait to work with her again. 

Model – Gabrielle Champion
MUA – Sabrina Wiese
Hair stylist – Elizabeth Tep
Wardrobe – Joany Hernandez

SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Roxie

This is Roxie Rosette. This was the first time I've worked with her. In fact, this was the first time I've worked with any of the models from this shoot. This shoot was a little different from the previous shoots that I've been to with SCPA. Because there were so many photographers, I didn't get much time to get to know any of the models. At this shoot I also got the opportunity to use my (very rusty) American Sign Language skills and I was able to talk with and (sort of) interpret for two other photographers who are deaf. (Joseph and Pam, I am still so sorry that my ASL skills are lacking greatly!)

Back to Roxie – She was a lot of fun to work with as well. She was so creative with her posing. She even got down on the ground (which is close to impossible in a tight corset!) Thanks Roxie for being so sweet! I look forward to working with you again soon!!

Model – Roxie Rosette

MUA – Sabrina Wiese

Hair Stylist – Ness Vasquez

Wardrobe – Joany Hernandez

SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Ana

I didn't have a chance to update the blog with more pictures from the Dios De Los Muertos shoot before today.

I had such a great time at this shoot. The girls were so great. This is Ana Trujillo. She was really sweet and so nice to work with. I had a lot of fun with her. She was so patient when the lights wouldn't work and we had to mess with them for a while. Ana, I look forward to working with you again soon!

Model – Ana Trujillo

MUA – Sabrina Wiese

Hair Stylist – Ness Vasquez

Wardrobe – Cheri Wilson Chagollan

New Website!!

If you follow me on Facebook (Melody Frees Photography on FB) you already know my exciting news. If you don't here it is: I have a new website!!! Come check it out Melody Frees Photography. I'm working on getting it set up the way that I want and making it user friendly.

At some point I will probably change my blog to a wordpress blog so they are all at the same spot but until I get the kinks worked out and I can set it up the way I want I'm going to leave it here.

I'm really excited about the changes I'm making here at Melody Frees Photography. Thank you for all your love and support.

SCPA - Dios De Los Muertos - Akemi

On Saturday I went to another meetup with the Southern California Photographers Association. The theme for this shoot was Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). It was a lot of fun. I hadn't worked with any of these models before so it was fun to get to know them and meet some new people. This shoot was done at Wonderland Studios again. I can't recommend this studio enough. Everyone who works there is AWESOME. The studio is beautiful. The costumes are amazing. Its just such a great experience to be able to photograph there.

In the morning we got to photograph two models without the Dia de los Muertos makeup (while the other models were getting their makeup done. Then the first two models would go back and get theirs done and we finished up the day with them)

There were a lot of photographers there this time. I think a total of 12. That made it difficult to get to know the models or talk to them very much. They were all very nice and fun to work with though.

I am beginning to understand more about Flash and how it works. I felt a lot more comfortable with it this time. I knew how my settings worked and what changing shutter or aperture would change in the picture. I still need to work on learning more about the actual lighting set up.

This first model is Kelsey "Akemi" Hogan. Her posing was great. She had tons of ideas and kept them coming through the whole shoot.

Model – Akemi

MUA – Madison Chochran

Hair Stylist – Elizabeth Tep

Wardrobe – Cheri Wilson Chagollan