Melissa Riel Photography

over the last year, i got to work part time with a bunch of cool girls at the urban planet & forever 21 photo studio ✨

life got in the way a bit, so i had to step away, but i might be back to freelance with them

it was fun to be able to grow more confident working with models and it was v interesting trying out that corporate girlie life lol

Model:

shot stills for Mastercard: The Dish a bunch over the last couple of years & i’m gonna start sharing more from these shoots

even though shoot days were long and tiring, i’ve always thought it was fun taking pics of food and maybe a cheeky Raptor/TML related person (swipe to see)

sweet mems capturing this engagement for my cousin

i’m so late to posting this - they’ve already been married a couple years and are expecting their first baby!

sheesh
how long have i been saying i’m gonna start posting more now?? 🌝

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courage ~ the ability to do something that frightens you

courage is something I’ve struggled with for a very long time….

I haven’t had the courage to put myself out there, to show my photos to anyone, to continue my fight with photography, or to even keep trying

courage is something I’m learning
self doubt is something I’m unlearning

despite all the struggle and negativity I’ve been through in my photography journey, I want to have courage and I want to believe in myself

I’ve decided to do it afraid ✨

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hey, it’s been a little while… 👋🏼

I honestly feel like I’ve been struggling mentally with photography lately..

so many negative things have been thrown at me lately with photography and it’s definitely been getting to my head..

I haven’t had many photo jobs this year for so many different reasons… and some of the reasons are so crazy… apparently I’m not “representation” enough..!!.. I don’t have the “clout” that hiring a “real” photographer has…… unreal, like literally unreal and shocking pay gaps… it’s all been absolutely ridiculous.…

it’s so hard to not doubt myself in these situations. Like what am I doing so wrong to get so mistreated? Maybe I’m too kind? Do I suck at photography? Is it because I’m just me?

I’ve been overlooked my entire life but things have just gone too far now and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do….

In studio Christmas mini sessions now available~ Shoot me a dm if you’re interested in booking in for a shoot!

Special thanks to my sis for letting me photograph her cute fam 🫶🏻

The sunsets in South Korea were always soo good. We were lucky to have a beautiful pink sunset almost everyday that we were there 🥹☀️


🇰🇷 #제주 #제주도 #제주도여행 #한국

Gonna be sharing a few shots from my recent trip to South Korea here on this account. I used a new camera, and am still figuring it, but some pics didn’t turn out tooo bad haha

Anyway, it was such a nice trip even though I’m low key struggling hardddd with jetlag


#서울여행 #서울

Reading while cooking is not advised.

Finding myself missing the cooler weather and exploring nature.