13.01.11

Day 61

Guess what came today!!!  There was a bit of drama when Canada Post lost all my film and my stomach tried to wrap itself around my spleen, but all's well that ends well and it's here!

I had totally forgotten about these images of the Parliament building in Victoria that I shot with my Leica but I love them!  The Parliament is lit up so beautifully at night- people from all over the world stop to photograph it.

If you're reeeeeally nice I'll even give you a couple tips that'll help you with night shots like this....  Oh you guys are too sweet- here we go!
     a) Use a tripod or at least find a bench or something to rest your camera on.  You'll won't start to worry that you have the early stages of Parkinson's and will probably use a lot fewer curse words.
     b) Take the shots at dusk- don't wait until it's too dark.  That way you get the detail in the architecture AND the lights.  Win-win!  If left until it's super dark out, the lights will be the only thing that shows up in your shot, which (if we're being honest) looks a lot more DisneyChristmas than historic landmark.  

I'd been feeling a little ambivalent towards my Leica lately, and had been thinking about trading it in for a Hasselblad XPan (which is an amazing camera) with a 30mm lens (honest to god, this lens has, like, zero distortion, which is unbelievable for such a wide-angle lens!!!) but now I think I'm just going to need both.  I better start saving!

Have a great day :)

Love,
Hearts & Photos

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12.11.10

Day 57

I'm being indecisive today, so you get to see lots of different shots!

-Calgary (Hasselblad- see the funny little ghost where my darkslide tried to make an escape?  Ahh, film. I heart you.)

 -Tofino (Leica)

- Victoria (Hasselblad Polaroid)

Make sure you check back on Monday for the mini-series I've been working on (does that sound like a tv show?  I promise you it's not!).  

I know it's only November 12, but the Nutcracker has already been getting some serious airtime at at our place.  It can't be helped.  And then, of course, the volume gets higher and higher and the music swells and you really must spin and jump as if you're a ballerina (or ballerino, as the case may be).

I would listen to it year-round if I didn't think Steve would drive off a cliff.  Watching the Nutcracker is one of the things I look forward to the most every Christmas.  When I was a kid I would stay up late on Christmas Eve and watch it on the teensy old television in my room, holding the bunny ears to get better reception.

What are your favourite holiday traditions?

Love,

Hearts & Photos

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11.09.10

Day 54

My friends! I haven't been ignoring you- I've just been out of town.  Please, please say that you still love me!  If you're on the fence perhaps this will help- part of the reason I was out of town was to bring you more pictures (lots more pictures)!  I'll try to post at least one each day for the next couple of weeks.  After that, posting to the blog might be a bit more sporadic since I'll be all the way across the Atlantic.   

I'll make sure to do mobile uploads of my polaroids along the way, so follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates on our adventure through London and Paris.   

When I get back, though, expect me to be a few inches shorter.  I haven't been able to edit any gear from my bag, and right now Steve and I have 55lbs of camera equipment!!!  My shoulders are already aching at the thought.  Last week I was being ruthless- I weighed each piece on my kitchen scale, looked through each camera's portfolio (I organize my photos by camera as well as date, subject and location.  Sometimes I scare myself) and begrudgingly decided that I would leave behind my Leica to cut back on weight.  Then Friday I got the film back that included this image and the Leica snuck it's way back into my bag.  Sigh...    

Have a great day :)  

Love,  

Hearts & Photos

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20.08.10

Day 32

Dun da da!!!  More exciting news!  Hearts & Photos is now offering portraits!!!!!!  I told you it was exciting :)

Now, while some of you may already be drafting an email to book me for your next 20 events, some of you may be saying "Hmm... Teryn, I like your stuff but I have questions" and that's ok.  I'm here to answer anything you ask.  

So obviously here at Hearts & Photos, our focus is capturing life on film.  film + you = beautiful.  But we like to mix mediums, too.  Using a combination of polaroid, film & digital images gives our work both immediacy and endurance.  Kinda like if the Tortoise and the Hare had a love child.  

No matter what, we strive to present natural, organic-looking images that highlight your personality and capture atmosphere and character.

We want to chronicle every part of your life from family and engagement to your life and style.  Oh, have we mentioned that we're more than happy to travel (you have been reading the blog, right?)

If you're interested and want to book a date or have questions about pricing, feel free to shoot me an email at terynrobinson (at) me (dot) com.

We can't wait to hear from you :)

Love,
Hearts & Photos

P.S.  We vow that you will never have to look at black + white images "with a splash of colour".   Well, not from us anyways.  We love you too much for that.

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12.07.10

Day 15

Today we're taking a break from our regularly scheduled polaroid programming to bring you film!  Yes!  Actual, developed negatives!  From a camera!!  I spent all of yesterday sitting on my behind, working on my portfolio.  It's been a while (cough*a year*cough) since I updated it, and I had a bunch of images that I had shot, scanned, and swept into the dusty corners of my computer, left to languish while I avoided editing them.

Normally, I would have left this project for a day that I was supposed to be doing actual work.  If I was supposed to do dishes or had an essay to write, you wouldn't have been able to drag me away from the computer.  But Sundays are my fun day.  Every Sunday, Steve and I head down to the flea market, go for coffee, walk around Kensington and point to houses we'd like to live in.  It's our thing, and it's a nice break to get out of the house.  And trust me, after working by myself all week, I need that break.

I'm not going to lie, working at home is great.  If I want to sleep until 10 and work until 3 am, I can do it.  I can make lattes all day without spending a fortune.  I get to hang out with my pets and have manic dance parties in my kitchen without coworkers wondering whether or not they should have put 911 on speed dial.  But working at home eight hours a day is isolating.  By Thursday, I'm having full-on conversations with myself, and by Friday all I can think about is escape.

What could have convinced me to stay home and miss the freedom of the flea market, then?  Money, that's what.  A few days ago, Steve's boss mentioned that he had bought a summer home with a lot of big, empty walls.  He and his wife had been thinking about getting some art for it, and they were leaning towards landscape photographs of Western Canada to remind them of home.

It came up that that's what I do, and he said he'd like to see my portfolio.  Yikes.  I'm a little anxious.  It's nerve-wracking to give your work to someone.  You question whether your stuff is good enough, whether they're going to like it, whether you'll ever be able to make a living at it.

Hopefully they like it.  It'd be a huge boost to my ego to make a sale.  I'm trying a new portfolio format- presenting it on an iPad rather than a traditional portfolio.  I'll let you know how it goes, and how the iPad worked.  But, for now I just wait.

Until I hear back from them, I'm going to plan my escape from the house.  Maybe Steve will take a drive out to the mountains with me so we can watch the sun set.  It's a pretty amazing view and anytime you can get a photo like this, you know it was worth the trip.  Hey, if you're lucky, you might even get to see it in a year or so!

Have a great day (and wish me luck!)  :)

Love,
Hearts & Photos

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30.06.10

Day 7

Here's a big surprise- I like downtown.  A lot.  I'm a big fan of wandering through back alleys and checking out dirty little niches to photograph things that people try to overlook.  Sometimes this works in my favour (see above photo) and sometimes homeless guys use those niches as urinals.  While I'm standing in them.

This particular spot has become a favourite of mine.  It's beside a little cafe, this side of which, faces an alley.  As I mentioned above, some of Calgary's residents are not too particular about whether or not they have an audience when they need go.  In order to prevent their customers from relating their beef tartare to something decidedly less savoury, the cafe installed some heavy drapes.  (It's probably something a lot less exciting, like the drapes look nicer than a view of a dumpster, but just go with my story, k?)  They've yellowed and wrinkled, and most people walk by without a second glance.  I've done it dozens of times myself.

If you're lucky, though, you'll walk by just before sunset.  The alley is east-west, and just before the sun disappears behind a behemoth building downtown, it hits these heavy drapes and, for a few moments, you see the beauty in the texture of the fabric and the play of light and shadow.

It makes you feel like the world shifted just for you.  Like you were supposed to see this mundane little thing be elevated to something beautiful, and it makes you realize that everything has beauty- you just need to be open to it.

Have a great day :)

Love,
Hearts & Photos

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