References for Melanie Bond (Butler)

Decadent Images

My first shoot with Mel. We had agreed to a location shoot which went well despite the best efforts of the weather! Pre-comma were good with Mel providing all of the information I needed in a professional and timely manner. She arrived on time where we had agreed to meet and we were soon at our chosen location. The onset of a short, sharp shower meant that we had the opportunity for a chat and a coffee before making our way outside into the gardens where we were shooting.

The location wasn't quite as wheelchair friendly as we had hoped but it was still accessible and not a problem. There were more visitors to the gardens than might have been expected, but again not a problem and Mell was very patient when we had to pause to allow other people to pass.

Mel is a beautiful and talented model, very professional, a lovely, friendly person and a pleasure to shoot with. I would highly recommend her to all photographers.

Alan Bruce

I have just recently had a long awaited face-to-face shoot with the lovely Mel. I have done a couple of shoots over the last few months, as good as they were, they were tethered shoots but not face-to-face. For this shoot we chose to shoot in a National Trust Stately Home (it needed a lick of paint :) ) reasonably close to Mel’s home. She chose a great place to shoot as the home has lots of great character and nooks and crannies. As usual, with Mel, as well as shooting we chatted a lot and she made many suggestions for ‘posing places’ - stairs, tapestries and many other great places.

The time passed so quickly that we didn’t get chance to photograph in the gardens, which are quite extensive. We did manage to get a few shots, had to finish the shoot on my iPhone (the camera battery, although showing 30% charge left, decided to ‘give up the ghost’ and shut down :( ) but we did get some great photos of Mel enjoying the short time we had left.

Mel is a friendly and fun young lady to be with, she worked ‘the camera’ really well for me, especially as it was quite a hot day. It was much better to have done the shoot together, rather than as our previous tethered shoots. Having said that I would recommend her for the tethered shoots to get great images. So I highly recommend Mel for Amateur or Pro phot shoots. Thanks again Mel for our friendly and fun shoots.

Neil Tinson

Had my second shoot today with Mel in a lavender field and just like the first one was a great shoot and already planning a third

Relaxing and friendly as always and we chatted non stop

Directing Mel is not neccessary as she is more than able to free pose and is happy to help with any ideas or poses you have

Mel is always keen to see the images on the back of the camera and will always point out if she likes a certain image or discuss what we can do to improve or change in a good way Which is good and welcomed

I have worked with many models over the years and can honestly say Mel ranks up there with the best without a doubt and the high praise in her references well they speak for themselves

If anyone out there is thinking of shooting with Mel then please do not hesitate booking her You won't be disappointed with the results

I can highly recomend working with her and as i have already mentioned we are already talking a third

100% professional

Thank you

Terry Onslow Photography

I recent had a very pleasant group shoot with Melanie doing a hot rod shoot in a specialist workshop. Mel is very into this sport and has the connections to be able to arrange private shoots.

Mel brought lots of pin up style outfits and some lovely lingerie to the shoot. She poses beautifully and very naturally. Mel is fun to work with and is very experienced in modelling , making shoots very easy and enjoyable. We created some great images.

We have already planned our next shoot

Highly recommended

richneil

My first shoot with Melanie. after many years of admiring her work we finally got to work together.

Mel was a joy to work with. We went to Croome (NT property), discussed beforehand plans for the shoot and Mel brought outfits & accessories to suitable for the ideas and location.

Spent 4 hours of relaxed shooting which went in the blink of an eye. Fantastic images.

Definitely want to shoot with her again.

Steve Upton

Had my second one to one with Mel and again another great session as always.

Mel is so relaxing and friendly and we chatted all the way through the shoot.

You don't need to Direct Mel but any ideas she is open to trying such as using the fan to blow her hair about.

Its a pity she is so far away but it is well worth the trip.

Mel always takes an interest to look at the back of the camera and is always complimentary about the shots, and can see the ones that will go in the bin.

As i have shot with Mel on a number of occasions now i know what she does not like to be seen on the photos so they will not be appearing anywhere.

If anybody is reading this and has not worked with Mel then you are missing out.

I cant recommend Melanie highly enough and she is right up there as one of my favourite models.

Steve

Jon Taylor

Second shoot with Melanie today; and again it was an absolute pleasure working with her.

This was a postponed visit to the National Trust property intended for our original shoot last year, which this time was open! To be fair, I’d emailed the location staff about photography inside the country house and the staff there today couldn’t have been nicer and more accommodating,

We’d discussed the shoot in detail, so Melanie was superbly prepared, her choice of outfits was perfect, and her all-round professionalism whilst working the location was exemplary.

Working with the public around is always challenging, but Melanie eased into her poses with a confidence born of her considerable experience and talent. This woman exudes style and class in her modelling and her character, and is possessed of a keen perceptive insight into the creative process, so valuable when viewing the back of camera images as the shoot progressed. Dialogue with Melanie on-shoot is always considered and constructive, interesting and fruitful.

It is easy to develop a sound working relationship with Melanie, and that mutual trust leads to good conversation and images that I am personally delighted with and proud of.

As I have remarked before,. It remains a constant delight working with Melanie; she brought her beauty, quality, her work ethic and her elegant style to each room, each location in the grounds, each area that offered up image potential.

Unreservedly 100% recommended.

Daves Venture Photography

Had a fantastic time with Melanie and the group for the hot rod pinup shoot.

As always Melanie was a pleasure to photograph. Full of energy and had plenty of ideas for poses (I'm not good at directions).

I have to thank the owner of the garage we used and for the car, the experience was amazing.

I look forward to working with Melanie again in the future.

Highly recommended.

Boz Photography

Very enjoyable group shoot with Mel and a hot rod!

Found Mel very personable and professional and a joy to shoot with.

Would wholeheartedly recommend .

Thanks Mel.

wild.stuffphotography

This was my second shoot with Mel but this time was a group shoot with a hot rod/pin up style

Mel is such a professional but at the same absolute dream to work with making sure we all had, the shots we wanted. This was my first group shoot so wasn’t sure what to expect but it was good fun and nice to work with others and bounce ideas around.

I’d happily work with Mel again and I highly recommend her to everyone

Nigel Wood Photographs

I've shot with Mel a few times now and thoroughly enjoy working with her.

Mel organised this Hot Rod shoot, with a customised car and location. Her communication prior to the shoot is always first class.

On the day of the shoot, as always, Mel has a variety of outfits with her to add variety.

Mel always has some ideas if what she wants, but also enjoys some direction from photographers to be more creative. She also likes to check you're getting the images you want as you go, giving you time to look at your shots and also see for herself.

On this shoot I took some additional lighting, Mel loved this and we really managed some creative shots.

Always willing to work with Mel and look forward to our next shoot.

63Oxonboy

Had lovely photo shoot with Mel, communication is excellent pre shoot, day off and post shoot.

Excellent model, she was happy lead with poses, made it all look easy.

Melanie has a lovely personality, easy to talk to, relaxed atmosphere, few laughs.

Recommend highly no matter your photographic skill set..

See you soon Mel.

SciroccoPhotographic

My second shoot with Mel. We only had one hour at Penguin Studios but we managed to pack in a varied session which I am looking forward to editing. The hour flew by but did not seem rushed as we chatted throughout and had time to shift furniture and lights to fit the shots I had in mind. It was a pleasure to shoot with Mel again and I highly recommended her to any other photographer.

Steve Mitchell

Our third shoot together. I booked Mel at her studio day at Penguin Studio in Thame, primarily because it gave us the opportunity to work with natural light which we hadn't been able to do on our two previous shoots. We settled on shooting two hours of natural light boudoir; with me leaving Mel to style her outfits. Mel is an exceptionally bubbly personality and our method of working is to set up a set and then experiment to see what we can create together, never being afraid to try new things to see what they produce. The two hours just flew by, we looked at the back of CAMs after each set and made adjustments. It was fun and it is always a pleasure to work with this lady. Highly recommended by me.

MaciejRog

Fantastic person to work with. Professional model and easy to work with. Very good communication. It was a pleasure. Highly recommended 🙂

Adam John Photography

This is the second time that I've worked with Melanie - this time she modelled for a day in my studio, working a group shoot followed by 1-2-1 slots. Great pre-shoot comms - we knew exactly what looks were being offered to the group shoot and what looks were available for the 1-2-1 shoots.

Melanie worked beautifully with both settings, building a good rapport with the photographers through the day.

She came with plenty of outfits, make up ready to go and arrived in plenty of time to settle before the shoot. Super looks, very much suited to the pin-up and lingerie styles that were offered.

Melanie does carry some health issues, but she fully understands her limitations and so the day was not affected at all.

I would fully recommend Melanie to both photographers and studio owners - I hope we will persuade her back to Derby in the future.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Emma Duder

Really enjoyed the group shot with Melanie, she was really positive and friendly. She got the balance between work and chat just right. Beautiful look, well suited to pin up. Hope to work with her again.

DCPhotos

Really great shoot with Melanie, at adammc1901 studio. Melanie was great to work with and was happy to try the group's ideas out. I can't wait to work with Melanie again.

Neil Tinson

I answered a casting call by Melanie for bluebell/rapeseed shoot having not shoot for a long time due to personal reasons I was a little apprehensive. Well I needn't of been

Melanie was a very pleasant, warm, great personality, chatty and friendly and an amazing lady to shoot with.

She was full of ideas and happy to pose on her own. Great poses and we got on great chatting along the way.

Time went quickly and I now have some amazing shots thanks to Melanie. Cannot recommend her enough and already looking forward to another shoot in the future.

Thank you so much 100% recommended

John Whitmore

Another very productive shoot with Mel - 2 different sets (pin up and film noire) which she totally rocked!

As others have said before me, Mel is just an absolute joy to work with - chatty, great fun, great posing - what's not to love!?!?

Highly recommended