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Dallas Senior and Portrait Photography bio picture

Welcome to my Blog!

My name is Melinda Leal, and I am a Senior and Portrait photographer. I shoot weddings as  a designated second shooter for Celina Gomez Photography, which has been my rock for inspiration for the past 3 years!  I have done photography since I was in high school using a dark room and 35 mm camera! Now I can't have my eyes opened without finding the beauty in something....and how it would look in front of my camera! I have been married for 10 years with my main squeeze, Jonathan, and we have 4 kids together!!! CRAZY....I KNOW! I am always asked how in the world I can work full time, be a mom AND have a hobby....but the truth is that Jonathan supports me 110% so I am blessed to do what I love.

Before I decided to do photography, I went to cosmetology school at Ogle. Shortly after that I enlisted in the U.S. Army. (wanted to be a Drill Sargent! haha)  That was one of the BEST decisions I have ever made. It helped shape me, my work ethics and boosted my integrity. Some of the things I love: fajitas, Don Pablos chocolate volcanos, my kids cheeks, their laugh, my husbands eyes, softball, ANY military movie, chick flicks and most of all MY LIFE! Please feel free to contact me with any questions....I hope you enjoy my work!

Senior Session Sneak Peeks!

I decided that I would post all my sneak peeks under one umbrella! It’s been a while since I updated my blog so I thought “why not today?!” I have had the opportunity of photographing several seniors within the past couple of weeks. I am excited to get everyone’s session finished and blogged.

The first session is Pauline from Keene, TX. She decided to make her way to Grapevine for her Senior Session. Pauline was FULL of personality and just as sweet as can be!

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This next senior session came in from Wichita Falls, TX!!! I have known Alyssa since she was a little sweet girl in Elementary School. Her mother and I are VERY good friends and I am so proud to be a part of her life :) For Alyssa’s Senior session we decided to head down to Ft. Worth! She loved the country look so taking her Senior Pictures at the Stock Yards was a no brainer!

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Anthony’s Senior Session was SUPER fun for me! He picked his own spots (which I loved) and one spot I actually had in a dream! SO CRAZY! He loves to fish, go out on the lake and just relax with his friends, so taking pictures on the lake described him best :) Anthony’s Senior session took place at the Harbor in Rockwall.

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For Nate’s Senior Session we decided to head downtown Dallas and use the graffiti for a background. For this session, Nate’s family tagged along and provided great conversation along with making faces so he would smile. I must say, Nate has a GREAT smile!!!!

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Jordan Lynne was one of my favorite Seniors to work with because she was FEARLESS! :) She loved to take chances with her locations and didn’t mind that it was FREEZING. She knocked out her Senior session like a champ. I also loved her fun shoes…..I am a shoe maniac!

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Last, but not least, is Isela! Now, Isela isn’t a Senior this year, in fact we were photographing pictures for her Quinceañera!!! I can’t wait to join her family for her celebration :) Isela is just the sweetest thing and did a GREAT job with her photoshoot.

Be sure you come back to see the full blog of each Senior!!!! I can’t wait to get them up for everyone to see :)

Brian & Candice Maternity Sneak Peek: Double Trouble!

Candice approached me a few months back asking about maternity pictures. When picking out a date that we could shoot for she informed me that she was pregnant with TWINS!!!!!!!!! So we had no idea what timeline we were looking at. However, I am sooooo excited to announce that she is almost 8 months and looks GREAT!!!!!!!  We couldn’t have picked a better weekend to do her maternity picture either!! The weather was PERFECT, minus the dirt in everyones eyes…lol.

We choose to take the pictures in Down Town Ft. Worth, and I can’t wait to post the rest from our shoot. Candice, hopefully I am able to take the baby boys pictures when they arrive. I am SO EXCITED to meet them. I hope you love your pictures, you are truly a beautiful mommy to be :)

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2013 Photography Workshop

So I have been SO WRAPPED UP in my new position at work that I have neglected my blog!!!! :( So much has happened in my life, all my blessing coming to pass and really just me taking my professional career to the next level. I managed to assist Celina Gomez with her beginner photography workshop she does every year!!! It was a success and I loved every min of it! :) Well except the weather…..it never fails…..we have this workshop on the coldest, gloomy and rainy days of January. We can never guess it right when we have bright sunny days and it’s 80 degrees RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS! (only in Tejas) Anyhow, shout out to the models that came out to help. I have a few pictures that were my favorite. Thank you Ty and Sophia for being troopers!!!

Sneak Peeks: Playing Catch Up!

It seems like my schedule keeps filling up with LIFE and my projects need some extra attention! I am going to play catch up over the Thanksgiving Holiday so I can hopefully complete all of my sessions! (I am shooting for the stars here) :) Here are some of my sessions that I can’t WAIT to post!!!

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The Milwoods: A Family Day

I had a GREAT time shooting with the Milwoo0d’s. From the moment I walked in the front door, I felt like I was sitting down with my own family. The dynamic between the sisters was a lot like my own. I just had a great time hanging out with everyone. We decided on taking family pictures in Flower Mound, which turned out to be a great idea because it was beautiful.

Here are some of my favorites from the family session. I will say that I am a little jealous of the girls hats!!  They were so fun!

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Playing Catch Up!: Sneak Peeks

Since I have been behind on blogging I decided to do more than one sneak peek in this post. Since my 4 kids and full time job isn’t enough, I now need to add blogging to my weekly life!! :) This first sneak peek is of Kristen. She’s so beautiful and was one of the easiest to shoot! Not to mention she brought her yummy little girl with her, who I must admit had me wanting to snuggle instead of snapping!!! I am a sucker for little angel babys:) Come back and visit for the rest of Kristen’s shoot!

This next sneak peek is of my good friend Natalia. I kid with her and say she’s my other sister, but in all honesty she’s just the BEST thing since bubble gum :) I LOVE LOVE her spirit and her creativity. Here are just a few from her shoot….and again, the rest will follow SOON!

Monica Salazar - That baby is so adorable!October 5, 2012 - 5:11 am

Playing Catch-Up!: Hunter Senior

So I have been on a little vacation from posting on my blog…..I have been CRAZY BUSY!! That’s the down side to working full time AND full time mom of 4……I don’t have the time I want to blog :( However, I can foresee a little slope in my schedule so I will be able to blog more. So to start off my blogging I wanted to share a special person in my family’s life, my brother-n-law Hunter. I had the opportunity to shoot his senior pictures while he was in Texas visiting from Florida. He is SUCH A JOY to be around with his humor and spunk! I can’t wait to see him again and I am sure my husband can’t wait either!! (he FINALLY had a work out partner! LOL) Anyhow, here are a few pics from his session. Enjoy!

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P.S. I Love You: Chad & Heather Sneak Peek!

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this couple!!! They are such a great example of LOVE and express it selflessly. As I shifted through Heather and Chad’s pictures to see which ones I would use for their sneak peek, I realized that it would be SOOO hard for me to pick just a few. Heather was just BEAUTIFUL on her wedding day and every picture was a perfect picture! I can’t say enough about this couple, so I won’t……I will let the love expressed in these photos tell it:)

OK….so this first one isn’t about chad….but Heather’s crew turned out to be the BEST wingmen for Heather! I kept telling them I felt like I was shooting a pagent :) They were all beautiful!

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I couldn’t get enough pictures of Heather’s wedding dress….she was STUNNING!

Finally, my FAVORITE picture!!! I couldn’t WAIT to get home, upload all my cards and shift through the hundreds just to see THIS PHOTO!

Natalia - Omg, beautiful photos! Their wedding was sooo sweet just as they were. Lol I sound cheesy but I love these! :)May 29, 2012 - 12:52 am

Monica Salazar - Beautiful wedding!October 5, 2012 - 5:11 am

Trinity High School Prom Night: A Family Affair

I was SOOO EXCITED to shoot tonight’s session!! It was a Senior prom night and I met Cersten, Chris and Jade at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas for a some pre-prom pictures. I uploaded the pictures tonight and couldn’t help myself, I HAD to post a sneak peek! They were SO FIERCE in these photos…..I was going crazy to find just 1 I liked! Anyhow, I’m off to eat my sundae but hope you like this little teaser :)

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University of Texas Graduate: Ashley Graduation Session

I generally do High School Seniors photo sessions, but when Ashley called me to do her COLLEGE graduation photos, I was SUPER STOKED!!! This meant that I was able to take the photos up a notch and show case Ashley as a woman, not just a senior. Ashley will graduate with her Bachelors of Science from UTA and will go on to get her certification in elementary education this July. Along with getting her certification, Ashley will be working on her Masters degree in Psychology.  Upon entering college, Ashely wanted to be a Nurse, however quickly realized that her calling was to teach!  For fun, Ashley loves sports, running and hanging out with family. Outside of school, she is a workaholic!  

When I asked Ashley what type of session she would like, she quickly mentioned that she had boots to wear. Of course, I had the PERFECT location!! We headed to Downtown Ft. Worth to start her Senior Session off! She was a little shy at first, but quickly got into the groove! I was SO impressed with how quick she got comfortable behind the camera. Here are a couple of my favorite she took in the 1st 10 min of shooting!!

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After we shot around a little at the train station, we decided to her her Senior shoot to other areas in Ft. Worth that would fit her style! I LOVED all of Ashley’s Senior portraits and couldn’t pick out the ones I wanted to show the world! However I managed to pick some of my FAVES!!

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Finally, my FAVORITE picture of all! :) I think…….:)  I asked Ashley if she had any words of advice for those High School Seniors who will be entering college in Fall of 2012 and she said, ” Take every class seriously because time FLIES! Graduation will be there before u know it!” Congrats Ashley for hanging in there and for being a part of our childrens future! I wish you the best!!

Natalia - Lovely photos!!! I love this look and the locations as well. You rock! And congratulations to Ashley too!May 10, 2012 - 1:25 pm