Día de los Muertos

When I was in middle school and high school sitting in Spanish class the one thing I remember from October and November was learning about Día de los Muertos. For those of you unfamiliar in English it is known as day of the dead.

The holiday mainly celebrated in Mexico focuses on the gathering of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 2 in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions associated with día de los muertos include building altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, toys, trinkets, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed. Traditions also include visiting graves with these as gifts. Unfortunately, because the holiday occurs in such close proximity to Halloween, el día de los muertos is sometimes thought to be a similar holiday, although the two really have not very much in common. Día de los Muertos is overall seen as a time of celebration.

So, now knowing a bit of the history behind it we can explain how the idea for this shoot came to be. Back in June we started brainstorming about doing this shoot and putting a team in place. First we got the ever awesome Tiffany Hall, she was the genius behind the makeup and was constantly keeping us pumped up about this shoot. Next on board was the super creative and talented Becky Houle from the Vicious Kitty who was our hair guru! Once getting the creative team in place we then got a few assistants and of course 2 amazing models Julie and Diana.
It definitely was a crazy time getting everything all set up from Jay being on detail patrol which included making a bouquet, to customizing skulls, building up the fire in the fire place and of course the day wouldn’t be complete without Jay and I both having bronchitis and sinus infections! And the ladies Tiffany and Becky doing all there amazing work with no power! Seriously they tore it up and the models were amazing!

Be sure to check out our behind the scenes video of the shoot!


So without further ado our Día de los Muertos photo shoot!

First lets meet the fantabulous models, here is Diana!!

And here is Julie!!

We actually lucked out that the location we were shooting at had an awesome stone fireplace complete with a fire! So of course we had to shoot in front of it! Plus it was a bit cold so it was nice to stay warm in front of the fire.
Here is Diana heating things up in front of the fire!

And now Julie working it!!

Then we went and played in the grass

Loved the lighting in this one!

Super huge thank you to all those involved and be sure to check them out for any of your makeup or hair or modeling needs please be sure and get in touch with these ladies!!!!

MUA: Tiffany Hall
Hair: Becky Houle of the Vicious Kitty
Models: Julie & Diana
Assistant: Mikey B.

For more pictures check out: www.facebook.com/jasonandmaggie