Kyle Hepp

January 23, 2012

ARGH!!!! We had two weddings this weekend and even though I’ve been working non-stop on the pics since we got back from our Sunday session I’m still not done with enough pics to post a preview from either yet. And we have a wedding from December and countless sessions that we’ve yet to post. Sigh. Bad blogger. This is so not like me.

I’m not even going to try to make excuses. Instead I’m just going to keep posting shots from when we were down in Frutillar for Vale and Stanley’s destination wedding in the South of Chile. As soon as we got home I ran a quick action on these shots and had Seba upload a whole bunch of them so I’d have something to post over the holidays. Then I proceeded to ignore my blog through Christmas and the New Year because I was too lazy to write the post text nobody was online.

So now I have all these gorgeous frames left to share with you from my favorite place in the world!

We had seen these volcanos from afar and thought it would be fun/grueling to go up one.

And then when we drove around the lake and part way up one, we realized, hey! We could make some dreams come true! There was a ski lift that would take us part way.

All aboard. Ash was scared of riding up this thing and I can’t say I blame her. It looked very ummm, metal and rusty and unregulated and un-inspected as things in the South of Chile tend to look.

These brave souls walked up, bless their hearts.

The view was spectacular. That’s Lago Llanquihue we’re looking down at here. If that was the only thing we’d seen all weekend that still would’ve made the trip worth it.

Doesn’t this next photo look like a dinosaur spine? No, that’s just my imagination? Whatever.

Hahahahaha! Ash has her camera phone in her hand and she’s making fun of how serious we were with our big kid cameras.

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January 17, 2012

I’ve been watching Bethenny Ever After. Yes, I enjoy reality TV. At the end of the day I want to relax and turn off my brain, not watch something smart that makes me think. I tend to read a lot more than I actually watch TV but every once in a while I’ll stumble across a show that catches my eye. I started watching this the other day because I wanted to zone out. I remembered that I had liked Bethenny when I saw an episode of The Real Housewives of New York so I thought I’d watch one of her spinoff episodes. I did, and I loved it.

I’m amazed at how much I relate to Bethenny. Not only because of her extreme vulgarity. But because she’s a business owner. She is ridiculously hard on herself and the people around her. Seba watched part of an episode with me and he said, “She almost makes you seem sane.” I got really excited…and then he reiterated that whole part about “almost.”

One part of the show that made me stop in my tracks, was when she talks about how she never stops to enjoy the successes she’s already had, she’s already looking on to what’s next (and beating herself up because she’s not there yet). It hit me hard. That’s very much the way I am. Who cares that we’ve photographed weddings in three different continents? Why haven’t we shot in all seven yet? Oh wait. Chileans think there are only five, continents so I guess that does give us better odds. I’m happy now. Just kidding.

Every now and again I stop and smell the roses. And I’m always happy I did. I remember when we were here at the Saltos de Petrohue, as part of our quick trip down to the South of Chile for Vale and Stanley’s destination wedding, we laid on the beach overlooking what is probably one of the purest lakes I’ve ever had the pleasure of dipping my toes in, and I felt gratitude. I felt happiness. I felt relaxed. I felt recharged. I felt like I couldn’t believe that this is my life.

I need to stop and appreciate the little things more often.

Behold the great beauty of the Saltos of Petrohue.

We drove here on our way to the volcano.

The Saltos of Petrohue are where Lago Todos Los Santos spills into Rio Petrohue. I’m guessing that because it’s near a volcano (everything in the South of Chile is near at least one random volcano) that’s why they have all these cool rock formations, where the water tumbles down in a bunch of mini waterfalls. It’s very noisy and very pretty.

Oh and hey look, there’s a second volcano in the background.

The water was the craziest green color. It looked like toilet water. But clean.

Leeeeeeo. 

This is the little beach I was talking about. It was so peaceful. The best thing about the South of Chile is that nobody really understands how amazing it is, so they don’t come and I have it all to myself, MWAHAHA. I should totally stop blogging about it.

Aaaaaash!

See, we all felt the peace.

Want. To. Go. Back.

….

….

…….

NOW!

We tried to plan a vacation with some friends in Feb. to go back to Patagonia but wedding season got in the way! Oh well, hopefully sometime this year we’ll make it down again.

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January 16, 2012

When we were in the South of Chile to shoot Vale and Stanley’s destination wedding (which AHHH, I haven’t even blogged yet even though they’ve had their photos for like…a million years now) we took some time to explore the area a little bit. We rented a car and buzzed around Lago Llanquihue, in search of volcanoes. Actually, that’s a lie. It’s the South. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a volcano. We didn’t really have to search, we saw three on the drive from the airport to the hotel in Frutillar.

One of the days that we drove around exploring, we passed through the tiny little town of Puerto Octay. It’s so picturesque and just has that South of Chile feel to it. The colors and textures of all the houses really reminded me of Chiloe — though maybe not quite so beaten down by the wind and rain.

So on our way to the volcano we stopped at a little lookout by the lake. It had a sign telling us that we were getting near Puerto Octay. Not only that, but they have had a Rotary Club since 1956. Does anybody even know what a rotary club is? Or why they would be in a town with a population of 3,494 people?

Seba stopped at a conveniently located tourist information booth. He spend a solid 30 minutes chatting with the woman manning it. People in the South are chatty. So Ashley, Leo and I got out and stretched our legs. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snap a few shots.

Pretty sure this church probably made out of tinfoil. Whenever I see that material in siding it always looks fragile to me for some reason.

The Chilean flag always makes me feel patriotic. Wait, except I’m not a patriot of Chile.

The town seemed fairly deserted. There weren’t many people walking around on the streets, even during the middle of a beautiful summer day.

I loved the colors. The blue sky, the bright roofs. The South of Chile always reenergizes me.

But after a quick stop for gas it was time for us to leave Puerto Octay behind and move on!

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