Melted Light Photo Blog by Melissa Glenn

'20's Glam in The Hills...

I haven't posted for a while, but lots of great things have been brewing here! For a taste, here's a sneak peek of the very fun Girls' Photo Shoot Weekend I spent with the beautiful Ms. Campbell (of Jurgen Nation) in a few beautiful spots in Northern California, including this session while we were among the amazingly gorgeous hills of Morgan Territory Regional Preserve in Livermore in the East Bay area. Stunning does not even begin to describe the sky and surroundings there, and I became so jealous of West coast photographers who get to snag up that unbelievable light each and every day!

For this shoot we used natural light only, did our own makeup, and shot each other until the bugs and slipping sun scared us away! (Not to mention the squeals of wild dogs we heard in the distance at sunset - ha!) In the next day or two I'll post the full set of deliciousness from that day.

Emily

(...at Ice Ultra Lounge in Indianapolis)
Model: Emily Grunden  /  MUA: Danielle Wilson  /  Hair: Irina Green

    

  

  

    

  

Preview from Emily's Shoot...

(...at Ice Ultra Lounge in Indianapolis)
Model: Emily Grunden  /  MUA: Danielle Wilson  /  Hair: Irina Green

A Little Bit Alice, a Little Bit Pixie...

I'm finally getting around to posting more, slowly but surely, as I get used to the fact that yes, I do indeed also have a photo blog to keep updated!

These images are from a shoot I did way back when it was blistering hot (seriously, it was over 95 degrees and we were outside for almost 4 hours...it took me 2 days to recover!). It was still gorgeous on the Indianapolis Museum of Art grounds, where we were able to choose some beautiful places to get some delicious images.

We were initially going for a more abstract look during the planning of this shoot, but we ended up getting something between the fantasy of Alice In Wonderland and a pixie in Candy Land. I used the Alien Bee Beauty Dish (sometimes with diffuser sock) with the AB 1600 flash unit for pretty much the entire shoot.

Model:  Amy Hopper
Makeup Artist:  Danielle Wilson
Hair Stylists:  (down style) Jaime Zentz / (updo) Lori Rae Shreve

Skin glowy, hair dreamy...

I LOVED the lashes Danielle gave Amy.

A little fun & whimsy.

She looks like a total goddess here; and the setting sun created such a beautiful aura.

Lori whipped this updo together in less than 10 minutes. I KNOW. Stunning, right?

Her intensity was just what a photographer wishes for in a shoot.

Here are a few "behind-the-scenes" shots.

Danielle perfects Amy's makeup while Jaime works on the hair extensions.

Jaime jumps in for a touch-up.

Lori and Danielle do double-duty as my assistants!

A Preview...

While I'm busy working away at editing, here is a bit of a sneak peek at two recent shoots that I ended up being very happy with - despite running completely out of any ambient light on one and 4 hours in 93-degree sun in the other!

Rock Chick of the Manor

Last weekend I shot Crystal Hill, a gorgeous area model made even more stunning by the makeup and hair artistry of the ever-impressive Misty Al-Eryani. Misty & Crystal's idea with the hair was a sort of modern punked-out version of Priscilla Presley's famous half-updo. I loved it. No, as Alvy Singer told Annie Hall...I more than loved it... I LUFFED IT.

Adding to the fun, this was my first day utilizing my recently-purchased Alien Bee lights & modifiers "in the field". I mostly used an ab1600 with a grid and beauty dish attached as the main light to one side, and when using a secondary light behind her or to the other side I typically used the ab800 with a grid or through an umbrella. We also used a reflector to try to lighten up shadowy areas in a few shots. Of course, as always in hindsight after a shoot, I have thought about a few things I wish I'd done additionally or differently, but considering how many hours we were shooting and the rain that drizzled outside as we soldiered on under the porch, I was happy with the results. Here are a few from the day...

 

 

Fashion/Beauty Shoot at The Bridgewater Club, Kristina (1)

This shoot was done at an area golf course/club, The Bridgewater, and ended up being absolutely perfect.

The makeup artist here was the supremely talented Danielle Wilson, hairstylist extraordinaire was Loni Wilson, the gorgeous dresses and accessories were provided by Beth Bennett of B. Trousseau, and of course the pretty blonde here with the piercing blue eyes is local model Kristina Kennedy.

I absolutely ADORE her curly smile here. We worked at getting that exact expression, and she was able to deliver exactly what I was looking for. As far as lighting here, I know we had a Vivitar 285 on a shoot-through umbrella to the left, window light behind her, and I believe a silver reflector aiming up from slightly below left.

Fashion/Beauty Shoot at The Bridgewater Club, Kristina (2)

 

 

Fashion/Beauty Shoot at The Bridgewater Club, Lensi

Once again, the makeup artist here was Danielle Wilson, hairstylist Loni Wilson, the wedding dresses and accessories were provided by Beth Bennett of B. Trousseau. This doe-eyed beauty is Lensi Dickey, and if you can believe it, this was her first shoot of this kind. She absolutely rocked it!

Here eyes were gorgeous, but I did actually use Photoshop to make them more lit-from-within for some of these shots. I'll try to put up an explanation of this technique soon in a later post.