November 30, 2011
Carla’s mom, Marissa, was actually the one who met with me and booked me for their wedding so this session was the first time we’d met the couple! I wasn’t worried about it though — Marissa is the nicest woman and I knew her daughter would be just as kind. My instincts did not fail me in this case 
Not only is Carla incredibly sweet, but she’s got a great sense of style too. She and Marco were both a little shy in front of the camera, but it was fun getting to know them and watching them loosen up little by little. We hit it off perfectly and I can’t wait for their wedding this weekend!
La mama de Carla, Marissa, fue de hecho la persona que se reunió conmigo y nos contrato para el matrimonio, asi que en la sesión fue la primera vez que conocimos nuestra pareja! No estaba preocupada al respecto — Marissa es súper agradable y sabia que su hija seria como ella. Mis instintos no me fallaron esta ves. No solo Carla es increíblemente dulce, si no que también tiene un gran sentido de estilo. Ella y Marco eran los dos un poco tímidos frente a la cámara, pero fue divertido conocerlos y ver como se iban soltando poco a poco. Nos caímos bien y no puedo esperar por su matrimonio este fin de semana!
We photographed their session in Barrio Concha y Toro. It’s an old neighborhood in downtown Santiago. I love the architecture and colors and textures around the area.
Fotografiamos su sesión en Concha y Toro. Es un barrio antiguo en el centro de Santiago. Me encanta la arquitectura y colores del sector.
This next shot in black and white is my FAVORITE from the day. I love the lighting!
La siguiente foto en Blanco y Negro es mi favorita del dia. Me encanta la Luz!
November 29, 2011
A photo session for the adorable Chilean clothing brand, Santos y Diablitos.
I am obsessed with all of these pictures. SO OBSESSED. Seriously, is this not the cutest set of pictures you’ve ever seen?
November 28, 2011
Más…that means more in Spanish. You like how I did that? Just to remind you that I’m still a Chile blogger, I thought I’d throw a little españoly in there
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First of all, I blogged twice this weekend. Once to show a preview of Vero and Pablo’s wedding at Estancia del Cuadro, and once to show Ivana and Jorge’s full wedding at the Sporting Club in Vina del Mar. Since I don’t normally blog much on the weekends, just thought I’d point out that those two posts exist…in case you’re interested
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Next. So the lovely Caroline reminded me that I need to choose a Print of the Month winner…Sadly, she did not win. Happily, we do have another winner. I used Random.org and did not cheat. The winner is…DECOY BETTY! Not only do I love her blog, but we’re also shooting her and her fiance’s (blog alias, Inspector Climate’s) wedding in September. Sooooo excited! So it’s only fitting that she win a print for her bff. Miss Deirdre, I will email you with details
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While we’re on the subject of Print of the Month, I’m going to do a Cyber Monday sale as well with 20% off prints for anyone who orders before Midnight EST tomorrow (today?) 11/28. The regular prices are shown on the page at the moment if you want to order one at sale price, email me (kylehepp@gmail.com) telling me your order and I will send you the google checkout invoice with the discount shown manually because we accidentally effed up our lovely checkout system that Jennette had set up for us! Oops.
And while we’re on the subject of Cyber Monday, if you’re going to take advantage of the online sales from Amazon, pretty please use my affiliate link! I’ll love you forever, kthanksbye! PS. A giant thank you to those of you who have been using it for your Christmas shopping and other purchases. SO appreciated!
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Lastly, remember how I mentioned I was writing a book? It’s a sort of mini memoir focusing mainly on my complicated and turbulent relationship with the entire country of Chile. Since all my Chile-writing efforts are going into that for the time being, and all you’re getting here are photos, I figured I’d post a small excerpt from the memoir so you can get your expat fill in the meantime.
These next couple of paragraphs are from the third chapter, where I’m arriving in Chile for the first time as a 13 year old, by myself, after my mom decided to send me on a “study abroad” with no program but a random Chilean family she’d met through her work. I hope you like it. If you hate it, go ahead — email me, tell me and crush my dreams. Or let me go on living in blissful ignorance. Either way.
The major Chilean airport, to this day, remains a breeding ground for a dangerous, but not deadly parasite called UnethicalTaxiDrivers. Their buzz is incredibly loud and annoying and they feed mainly on unsuspecting tourists. When you arrive in Santiago via plane and come past the glass divider separating the official customs area from the regular passenger pick up spot, they swarm and attack trying to get you take a ride into the city with them and pay them sixteen times the price they would charge a regular Chilean. I am now 27, have been in and out of this country dozens of times, and remain just as overwhelmed by them as I when I was 14.
I pulled my enormous two pieces of luggage out of the customs exit and almost burst into tears instantly. There were at least 100 dark haired old men shouting things at me, I couldn’t understand them. I didn’t know where to go. I took a deep breath and scanned the crowd. Rita had promised me that my host family would be there bearing a sign with my name on it. She said they’d be on the look out for me. Rita might be a bit unconventional and often scatterbrained, but she was nothing if not an amazing mother. The only thing holding me together was the fact that I knew she’d keep her word and would’ve gotten somebody to that airport even if that had meant that she’d most likely forgotten about it until the last minute and ended up calling the family in the middle of the night while I was en route, somewhere over Ecuador, to tell them, “Oh, did I forget to mention? My daughter’s actually coming tomorrow. You can still go pick her up right? POR FAVOR?”
So I pushed my way through the Chilean airport jungle. When I was about to give up hopes of finding the sign with my name it, turn around, fight my way back through customs and try and do reverse immigration so I could get back on a plane and go home, I heard someone shouting my name – or at least a Chileanized variation of it. “Keelay! Keelay!” I looked and saw the piece of cardboard with what appeared to be “Kyle Hepp” hastily scrawled in unintelligible chicken scratch handwriting. My gaze continued on to the people holding the sign. My entire host family had come to greet me. They embraced me in a massive group hug and spit off questions at me speaking faster than even the parasitic taxi drivers. I kept smiling and nodding as though I actually understood what they were saying.
The Chileans were happy enough to keep up the charade and pretend we were having a two sided conversation so they continued chattering at me as we went out into the car and then all the way home to the Uncle’s house in the Santiago neighborhood of Ñuñoa where I would be living for the next three months. Or not.
Welcome to Kyle’s First Major Miscommunication in the Spanish Language. I’ll give you a hint – Kyle’s Last Major Miscommunication in the Spanish Language started with me talking on the phone to a boy without understanding a word he said, continued with me not realizing I’d agreed to go on a first date with him until he was knocking on the door at my house (which I opened while I was still in my pajamas) and ended up with me walking down the aisle in a white dress. Yes, I’m talking about a real wedding, people. Language barriers are serious business. From the get-go I knew I was headed down a dangerous path.
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