Kyle Hepp

April 30, 2010

In the past months we’ve photographed a lot of weddings. I’m amazed by the body of work we’re amassing. The other day I was looking back through our wedding season and thinking of how much I love the people we get to work with and how lucky we are. Wedding season just ended and for about a week, I felt relieved to have a break. Now all I feel is the desire to get back at it!

Obviously I could look at my work all day long and think about what I could do better — and I do do that sometimes. Who doesn’t? But let’s focus on the positive. Here are a few of the photos that we took recently that I’m borderline obsessed with. Actually, not borderline, completely obsessed with. I want to shoot more like this. It’s easy to look at other photographers and compare. I get down on myself a lot when I start to think, “I’ll never be able to take as great of photos as Insert Big Name Wedding Photographer Here.” But these are photos that make me feel proud.

And speaking of Seba, even though we weren’t, a lot of people ask me how many of the pictures are mine and how many are his. In both this post and the next one I’m doing, out of all my favorites, I noted which ones were taken by Seba. Everybody always wants to know who the talent is of the two. But looking back through our work, it’s pretty even what we use in the portfolio. About half of these are his and half are mine. We work well together.

Getting ready faves:

Boys getting ready faves (all by Seba except the first):

Detail faves:

First killer shoe shot by Seba. He is WAY better at the small details than me. I rock the dress shots though

Shoe shot again by Seba!

Next ring shot and shoe shot by Seba again. He killed that ring shot, I love it.

10 Comments

April 29, 2010

Seba’s post, my translation below the Spanish version:

Sin animos de ofender a nadie, les queria comentar que muchas veces, con solo ver a la gente en la calle, no puedo evitar preguntarme, “Somos weones los chilenos?” Despues, la siguiente pregunta logica (para mi al menos) es, “Sera asi de weona la gente en otros lados?”

El otro dia veniamos de un matrimonio por la Ruta 68, en el peaje habia solo 1 caseta abierta asi que fuimos todos a parar a la misma fila. El auto adelante mio se emepzo a demorar mas de lo que es normal, mientras, la fila crecia. Desde mi posicion privilegiada (el 2do weon de la fila) vi como venia un cajero de una caseta que estaba cobrando hacia el otro sentido. Empezaron una  discusion con el chofer del auto. El pastel puso sus luces de estacionamiento, mientras todos empezaban a tocar la bocina y chofer y cajeros seguian discutiendo. Otro cajero salio de su puesto y empezo a llamar por telefono, supuse que a los pacos.

El auto adelante mio puso reversa, ahi fue cuando dije, “Este ql es weon, pa donde cree que va” A esas alturas se habia abierto una caseta nueva y toda la gente estaba reacomodandose en la caseta nueva. Cuando me toco el turno de pagar el peaje le pregunte al tipo cual habia sido el problema y me dijo “es que no tenia plata y queria pagar con cheque.” PAGAR EL PEAJE CON CHEQUE!!!!!! Este si que es wn!!

Por que por ultimo si uno no tiene plata para el peaje, se puede parar a pedir plata en la carretera como hizo mi buen amigo G el otro dia, pero cheque? Igual mala idea, y no es como que uno pueda en el peaje ir al cajero mas cercano a sacar plata.

En fin, son situaciones como estas las que me hacen pensar que o los chilenos, o los seres humanos en general son weones, o a lo mejor (siendo un poco mas amable) simplemente fue una racha de mala suerte, mala idea o el momento equivocado, en el lugar equivocado para ese tipo.

Que creen uds?

Are Chilean people idiots?

Without trying to offend anyone, I just want to say that I often, just after seeing people in the street, can’t help but ask myself, “Are we Chileans idiots?” And after that, the next logical question (at least to me) is, “Are people this idiotic in other places?”

The other day we were coming home from a wedding on Highway 68. At the tolls, there was only one booth open, so we all had to get in the same line. The car in front of me took way longer than normal, while the line behind me grew. From my privileged position (second guy in line) I watched as a tollbooth clerk from the other side of the highway walked over. He got into an argument with the first car’s driver. The idiot put on his parking lights, while we all started honking our horns and he and the clerk continued fighting. Another clerk came out from his spot and started talking on the phone, I would guess calling the police.

The car in front of me started trying to go in reverse, which was I thought, “This effer is seriously an idiot, where the hell does he think he’s going?” By this point, a new tollbooth had opened and everyone in line was trying to change over. When I got into the new line to pay the toll I asked the man what the problem had been and he said, “Well, the guy didn’t have any money and he wanted to pay by check.” PAYING THE TOLL BY CHECK!!! Now that’s an idiot.

If you don’t have money for the toll, you could always stop to ask for change on the highway, like my good friend G. did the other day. But to pay by check? What a bad idea! And it’s not like you can go to the nearest ATM to take out money when you’re at the tolls.

In the end, it’s situations like these that make me think that Chileans, or human beings in general, are just idiots. Or maybe (and now I’m being a little nicer) that was just an unlucky streak, a bad idea, or the wrong moment in the wrong place for that guy.

What do you think?

9 Comments

April 28, 2010

Seba’s post in Spanish, my English translation/some of my own post, below:

Anoche cuando me fui a acostar a dormir, me levante de la pieza del computador, agarre mi plumon y el cojin de Machasa.

Le prepare la cama al Machasa y me acoste a dormir. Mas menos a los 30 segundos me di cuenta que el pobre Machasa no tenia como acostarse, era demasiado grande para el cojin que solia usar como cama. Por un lado le colgaba el poto, por otro lado la cabeza y las patas delanteras.

Entonces, lo invite a subirse a la cama. Puta que esta grande el quiltro este. Recien va para los 4 meses y ya pesa 14.5. Completamente diferente a cuando lo encontramos que pesaba menos que 1kg.

En fin, para bien o para mal me encarine con este quiltro, el mismo que no para de robarme las zapatillas para ir a comerselas al patio. Ese que cuando quiere mear, mea donde sea, incluso caminando xD.A veces lo miro y tiene cara como de perro tonto, perro bueno. Pero cuando esta haciendo alguna maldad definitivamente pierde su cara de tonton.

Bueno, aparte de pesar mas de 13kg, tambien esta super alto, tanto asi que alcanza las manillas de todas las puertas de la casa y las abre como si nada. Si lo queremos dejar en el pasillo o el patio, a los 10 segundos abre la puerta y entra. Anoche lo dejamos castigado en el patio, se quedo un rato y despues crei escuchar la puerta de la pieza, que se habia ido a acostar por que se aburrio de su castigo.

Con Papi se lleva genial. Hoy los estuve mirando jugar un rato, corriendo por todo el patio sin parar. Por un lado me alegro que Papi tenga un companero para jugar aca en la casa. Aparte esto le produjo un cierto cambio en su personalidad, esta como mas guagualona, mas regalona.

El otro dia le mandamos a hacer una jaula para empezar con su crate training. Y justo esa noche salimos asi que le dije a mi mama que le echara un par de frazadas y lo dejara en el pasillo hasta que volvieramos. Volvimos a eso de las 2AM y vimos que su jaulita tenia unas frazadas y harta ropa. Yo pense: “Que lindo que mi mama le puso ropita y frazadas para que no pasara frio” Despues mirando mas en detalle me di cuenta que la ropa dentro de la jaula se la habia visto a mi mama el dia anterior. Cuento corto, Machasa saco la cabeza por los cuadraditos de la reja y saco toda la ropa del closet del pasillo y la metio en su jaula (para estar mas calentito supongo).

En fin, se que quizas recojer a Machasa no fue quizas la mejor desicion, o la mas planeada, pero no me arrepiento, no podria haberlo dejado morir ahi en la calle como estaba. Ahora es un perro sano y feliz, y de verdad estoy contento de tenerlo aca en la casa.

Pd: lo mas terrible de todo es que machasa se caga como si estuviera muerto. O sea, muerto hace meses. es la peor wea que he olido en mi vida.

My Beloved Mutt

Last I got up from the computer room, grabbed my blanket and the pillow Machasa sleeps on, and went to go to bed.

I got Machasa’s bed ready for him and laid down. About 30 seconds later, I realized that poor Machasa had no way to lay down — he was too big for the pillow he used to use as a bed. On one end his butt was hanging off, on the other end his head was hanging off and his legs were hanging off the front.

So I invited him to get into bed with me. Holy crap, this mutt has gotten big! He’s only 4 months old and he already weights 14.5 kilos. He’s totally different than when we found him and he weighed less than 1 kilo.

In the end, for better or worse, I’ve gotten attached to this mutt — the same little guy who constantly steals my shoes to go chew on them in the yard. That little guy, who when he wants to go pee, he pees wherever he wants, even while walking Sometimes I look at him and think he has the face of a silly dog, a good dog. But when he’s doing something devilish he definitely loses his silly face.

And aside from the fact that he already weighs more than 13 kilos, he’s also really tall, so much so that he can now reach the doorhandles of all the doors in the house and opens them as if it were nothing. If we want to leave him in the hallway or in the yard, he waits 10 seconds and then opens the door and comes in. Last night he was punished so we put him outside. He waited a little while and then I thought I heard the door to the other room open. He had gone to lay down because he got bored of his punishment.

He gets along great with Papi. Today I was watching them play for a while. The were running all over the yard, they never stopped! On one hand, I’m happy that Papi has a buddy to play with here in the house and beyond that, having another dog around has also changed her personality — she acts like more of a cuddly baby.

The other day we had a cage made for Machasa to start his crate training. That night we had to go out so I asked my Mom to put a couple of blankets in his cage for him and leave him in the hallway until we got back with his cage. We come home at 2am and we saw that his cage was chock full of blankets and clothes. I thought, “How nice that my mom put so much clothing and blankets in his cage so that he didn’t get cold!” Then after looking closer, I realized that inside the cage was all the clothes my mom had worn that day. Long story short, Machasa poked his head out from his cage, grabbed all the clothes that he could reach and pulled them into his cage with him (I would guess to make it warmer).

In the end, I know that maybe taking Machasa in wasn’t the best decision, the best planned decision, but I don’t regret it. I couldn’t have let him die on the street. Now he’s a healthy happy dog, and I’m glad to have him here in the house.

PS. The worst is that his farts smell like they’re coming from the insides of a dead dog — dead and rotting for months. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever smelled in my life.

My take on Machasa:

I didn’t want to keep him. And it’s true — his farts smell like ass. But we didn’t find a home for him, plus, Seba loves him. So I’ve decided to embrace being a big dog owner. Because he’s going to be HUGE. The vet lied to us! Actually for a while, it looked like the vet was right. In the beginning we were really worried because he was barely growing at all. We fed him and fed him and fed him and he didn’t bigger. The vet said he was so malnourished that he probably wouldn’t grow very much, he’d never get to the size he should’ve been if he were fed properly from birth, and all we could hope for were that his bones and organs formed properly so that he wouldn’t have severe health problems. Then about a month in, all of sudden he start growing. And growing. And hasn’t stopped since. He was growing at about .4 kilos a day. Do the math. That’s a lot. Now he’s slowed down a bit, but there’s no chance he’s going to be a small-medium sized dog like the vet said! We’re already buying him Large/Giant Breed Smart Puppy Iams food. Yes, our dogs are cuico, they eat better than we do.

And Machasa is impossible not to love. He tries SO hard to be good. It actually hurts my heart sometimes because I can tell he’s scared he’s going to get abandoned again and wants to make sure he doesn’t mess up in order to make sure we’ll keep him. Of course we will, no matter what, but unfortunately we can’t tell him that because Seba’s dog-communication invention device isn’t ready for production yet

Anyway, I thought we’d put up a few pictures so you can see the comparison, the Before (before he started eating$80 dollar dog food) and the After (with his shiny new hair. You’d be shocked at the difference good dog food makes!).

Poor bubby, he used to be so sad all the time.

I can’t believe he used to be barely bigger than a flip flop!

And here he is today:

So you can see a direct side by side comparison of he and Papi’s heads:

He is MASSIVE! Or at least his head is. Remember that Papito isn’t even the size of my computer screen (although, to be fair, my computer screen is ginormous. But, still, she’s not even close). In about a week I’d guess, Machasa will be officially twice as large as she is.

10 Comments

April 27, 2010

I was sitting here wasting time not packing before we leave for Peru. I was on Facebook and one of my friends’ statuses showed up as her joining a group in memory of those who have passed from the class of 2002 at my high school. I clicked on the group. I thought there was one person who had died from my graduating class. I was wrong, there were several — at least 5 in that group alone.

The one that I already knew of, Anthony, of died our senior year. He would have graduated with me, but he didn’t. It took our whole school a long time to get over that and in fact, I’m not sure we ever did — it’s become a part of the collective conscious of GHS. Anthony wasn’t my best friend or anything like that, but I liked him, we were friends. He was friends with everybody. He was that kind of guy — full of life. I think about him all the time. It’s actually weird how much he crosses my mind now in death, because he certainly didn’t cross it that often in life. But I think of him so often and I wonder what he would be doing if he were still alive — something great, I’m sure, because he was great.

But I came to grips with that. There will always be an ache in the pit of my stomach whenever I remember Anthony, but I’ve made my peace with his death and when I think of him it doesn’t hit me hard anymore.

Then today I found out that these 5 other people from my graduating class have also passed away since we  finished high school. I barely knew any of them at all, except for one, who went to school with me from elementary on if I remember correctly. That’s not to say we were good friends — but still, I knew him. He was my age. He was a nice person. We said hi to each other in the hallways. I hadn’t seen him since graduation and now I never will. He was my Facebook friend. Just months ago there were posts back and forth from him to his friends and vice versa. Now his wall is filled with condolences.

I had no idea. And I still have no idea what happened, but whatever it is, I’m sad. I hate the thought of getting to a 10 year high school reunion and having people from class not be there because they’re gone. Looking at that Facebook page just knocked the wind right out of my sails.

Life is too short. That’s all.

5 Comments

I am proud to say that not only are my clients cool, they’re good people too. And they’re changing the world.

Keri and Christian have started, what I feel would not be an understatement to call the most ambitious undertaking by any 23 year old I’ve ever met. Christian, who studied architecture, designed a home that self heats and cools – and it’s not that much more expensive than the viviendas sociales (houses) that the government currently builds for low-income families.

They are currently in the process of building one of these self-heating/cooling homes for a family (full description of the family here) who lost everything in the earthquake. Keri and Christian are doing it with the help of donations, but they’ve put in a hell of a lot of their own money too.  Not only that, but they’ve put in a lot of blood sweat and tears into this project as well. Keri is working as the jefa de obra, or foreman of the construction site. She’s been out there with a shovel in hand, digging a hole in the ground, pouring the cement, building a home for people, who only a few weeks ago, were strangers to them.

And the master plan is that eventually, they’d like to see the government of Chile completely replace viviendas sociales, with their viviendas pasivas, as they’re calling the house that Christian designed.

This family, in three weeks, will have a home – not a temporary home, but an actual functionable, permanent place of residence that won’t fall down when the next massive earthquake strikes Chile that is ecological and economical. This family, in three weeks, will have a roof over their heads – because of Keri and Christian.

Keri and Christian make me ask myself, “What have I done today to help someone, to make this world better?” Ask yourself that question honestly. If you’re like me, the answer might make it a little harder to sleep at night. I hope you see these photos and feel inspired, like I did when I saw what Keri and Christian are doing, and want to help.

For more information on their project, visit their website or their blog for the most recent updates on their progress.

Here’s the family, minus one son, in their almost finished vivienda pasiva!

Their daughter Moira showed me where they’re sleeping — like most families who lost their homes in the earthquake, they’re in a makeshift tent covered with plastic to protect them from the rain, the whole family sleeping together on a mattress on the ground.

The cool thing about this project is that the family is active participants — every day that they’re not at work at their day jobs, they’re there alongside Keri and Christian, helping build their new home.

Their current home below:

And what will soon be the inside of their vivienda passiva:

19 Comments