Kyle Hepp

June 23, 2011

Staying caught up with work is by far the most challenging part traveling so much. I know I normally post one photo session than one travel day, but I’m well overdue with showing Adrian and Cynthia’s photos so I’m throwing caution to the wind and saying, “Screw the posting schedule!”

While we were in Barcelona we had the chance to hang out with Cynthia and Adrian again!!!! I cannot even tell you how happy that makes me. While I love staying in contact with my clients, often, when they reside in far off countries, that makes it a little tough. I have to resign myself to the fact that I probably won’t see them as much as someone who lives down the road from me in Santiago. But Cynthia and Adrian actually live right outside Barcelona, so not only did we get together, we did a photo shoot on the beach!

ADORE this shot that Seba took. Sometimes he blows my mind.

FAVORITE! Favorite of the day, no contest!!!! Looooooove the big blue ocean behind them and beautiful purply colors of the sky right before sunset.

Oh wait. But can this one be a favorite too?

Cynthia looks HOT.

Cynthia is so full of joy. She just laughs and laughs. It’s contagious. In a good way

Awww, they are so cute together! Little newlywed lovebirds!

Stuuunning skies that night. We got lucky, that’s for sure.

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June 22, 2011

This is probably one of my favorite photo sessions we’ve done. Ever. Not just because it was in Barcelona, the coolest city in the whole wide world. Not just because the light was absolutely beautiful that evening. Not just because I felt creatively inspired by all the amazing artwork we’d seen that week. But because Monna and Damien were so much fun to hang out with.

We instantly felt a connection with them. They are two of the kindest souls with very artistic spirits. They’ve lived all over the place, traveled all over the place. They are teachers and they spent a three year stint in Barcelona. From there, they headed to Bangkok. After returning home to Canada for a bit, their next stop will be in a small town in Japan. They are eternal nomads, but not without a purpose. I love that. I respect and admire that.

If you want to hear more about their crazy lives, check out Monna’s blog here. And Damien is a photographer. He does really cool sort of abstract style photos. They’re beautiful. You should also check out his blog where you can see his work! And last but not least, this is unrelated, but since it’s so cool, I want to share. Monna started a tumblr “in response to the shocking lack of self-esteem of many of the teenage girls with whom I work.” It’s called The Girls’ Guide to Happiness.I am not even a girl anymore, but reading through it made me cry happy tears.

Anyways, because they used to live in Barcelona, Monna and Damien wanted to walk around their old stomping grounds and take some photos in places that were special to them. Fortunately for us, their special places were all very photogenic

This lady with them here is basically posing for the photo.

Nearly getting run over by a motorcycle had to be part of their daily lives when they lived in Barcelona, so this picture seemed appropriate.

I think this might be favorite of the day. I just LOVE the reflections of the old buildings and then Monna and Damien and the painting in the window. So cool!

This is one of my other favorites for the day. The lines are so awesome!!!

Why do I adore the old air conditioners in this shot? I have no idea. Because I’m weird. But don’t they look cool!?

So many motorcycles in this session it’s not even funny!

Haha, I also really like shots with people walking through. If you haven’t noticed that by now It adds character.

A word on Barcelona. PEOPLE WERE SO NICE THEY WERE STOPPING THEIR CARS TO LET US KEEP PHOTOGRAPHING. Yes, this blows my mind so much that I had to all caps that sentence. But seriously. These girls that went by on the motorcycle realized that we were taking pictures and they had passed in front of us and they shouted out an apology as they drove by. Madness, I tell you.

Last moto of the session, I swear.

I really like this next frame. I know photographically it’s not any kind of ridiculously cool composition. But it’s Monna and Damien. Hanging out in their plaza with all the Barcelonians. Just chilling.

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June 21, 2011

First of all, before we go into the photos of the hotel, I want to call your attention to something else — more of Sarah and Gus’ amazingly cool vintage themed wedding! I didn’t post many detail photos of the beautiful decorations at the wedding, because…I don’t do that. I try to keep all wedding blog posts down to around 30 pics and I’d rather go with more Moment Junkie style pics than details. However, Sarah and Gus’ big day was definitely cool enough that the details deserve to be shown off, so luckily for me, Amanda at Ruffled Blog is featuring the wedding! Definitely check it out, she posted a bunch of photos that I did not put up in the blog post here.

And I’m also done with their slideshow. So click on the photo below if you’d like to watch!

Anyways, now let’s talk about this ridiculously cool hotel that we stayed at in Barcelona. It’s called the Hotel 1898 and It. Is. Beautiful. It’s located right off Las Ramblas, which is basically the most perfect location ever for a hotel in Barcelona. As my Catalan friend, Mar, said, “This is where all of us who live in Barcelona think we would love to stay if we were tourists in our home city.”

When you walk in, the lobby is decorated in a very cool mix of black and white striped couches, with huge black and white photos hanging on the walls.

And in contrast to the black and white themed main areas, the room’s walls were painted a VIVID red. It seemed the perfect fit for such a colorful city as Barcelona.

The bed was SUPER comfy. I love love love when hotels have really big pillows that I can hug while I sleep. Hugging Seba while I sleep makes me too hot

Now we’re moving on to my absolute favorite part of this hotel — the pool. It’s in the basement, and the lights are kept dim, lots of candles, and it’s all very romantic. They also have a spa area down there where you can get massages, as well as a workout room — that I did not utilize once because I was too busy eating patatas bravas

Seriously, how gorgeous is this?!

Do you understand why this was my favorite spot in the entire building?!

I really like this photo for the colors and the tiny sliver of blue that shows at the bottom.

If you are ever in Barcelona, I would not hesitate to recommend staying here!

Disclaimer: According to the FTC rules I have to tell you that Hotel 1898 sponsored our hotel stay. However, please note — I am not being forced to blog about this and I wouldn’t say any of it if it weren’t true.

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