happy holidays

foto fun

fun sequence from lisa's expat holiday fiesta...lisa has a lot of cool friends and a lot of cool cameras. thanks for sharing them with me!

duerme en paz

Last month sandra, her boyfriend peter, and I decided to sneak off to the beach on...a monday. I ended up not being sneaky enough though, an editor called minutes before we arrived, and I ended up having to stay on the bus for the ride back into the city. sandra and I like taking the $2 colectivos to the beach whenever possible, they're cheap, frequent, and usually the jumping off point for some sort of adventure. I remember this particular trip because it was the first time that I had the opportunity to finally meet her long time boyfriend, and because of the music. Pirated anything is popular in Venezuela, and street stands of dvds and music cds abound on most busy streets. The colectivo drivers love to jam their musica, and on this particular trip, our driver was blaring a pirated compilation of 80's/90's love songs. I groaned through the mix, sending text messages to myself with the names of the songs, thinking that at some point, this 'colorful detail' might be useful to future story. As I texted, "1.) Celine Dion..the titanic song" "2.) Whitney Houston..I will always love you" Sandra sang along, with Peter's head on her shoulder...declaring in my misery that she loved the colectivo driver's choice of music, laughing as each new song began to play..each one cheesier than the one before it. "3.) Brian Adams...Everything I do, I do it for you.." "4.) Up Where We Belong, Joe Crocker & Jennifer Warnes.."

The lyrics to these songs don't seem so cheesy now, remembering Sandra singing them to Peter and being with her now without him. "Who knows what tomorrow brings...In a world, few hearts survive...All I know, is the way I feel...When it's real, I keep my pray alive" or "Near, far, wherever you are...I believe that the heart does go on...Once more you open the door...And you're here in my heart...And my heart will go on and on."

My heart is so heavy for you Sandra. Te quiero mucho y estoy aqui para ti siempre.

Q.D.E.P.
Peter Antonio Repillosa Segovia
1/26/1989 - 12/08/2008

playa

my caracas happy place. 20 minutes and a $2 buseta. chevere!

these were all taken with with a handy coolpix...perdoname for the blown out highlights...taking good gear to the beach = not being able to leave it to go swimming...so not an option today!

new clips

chavistas

venezuela votes

recent revista clips

familia

by far the best part of going back to texas was getting to spend time with my family...i'm blessed to have an incredibly close-knit family who all live relatively close together, so i was able to see just about everyone. my very sweet parents and sisters carefully planned each day that we had together and went above and beyond to make sure that i had the opportunity to do all of my favorite things and visit all of my favorite places...we had a great trip to lake austin and wakesurfed past sun set under the 360 bridge....kayaked down the brazos river...and celebrated our first "Christastergivingirthdayween" the coolest family holiday get-together, that combined an entire year's worth of holidays that i've missed over the past year. my sweet grandma made her thanksgiving dinner, we had birthday cake, a christmas tree, easter eggs, halloween costumes...and my sisters decorated the house with nearly every holiday decoration stuffed in the attic. it was so memorable and so special. thanks to everyone who drove out to visit, i miss you all loads and think of you often.

speaking of holidays, today is my dear dad's birthday. we stopped counting, but he still looks better than most 35 year olds that i know, and can also paddle down a river quicker than most people decades younger than he is! feliz cumpleanos papa! i love you!

savannah

while in texas, we also shot a last-minute portrait session with savannah...who i think just might be the most brilliant 12 year old i've ever met. we spent all morning climbing on hay bales, navigating fields of wildflowers, sloshing through mini waterfalls and dressing up in princess dresses. i've known savannah and her family for years and was delighted when her mom booked a shoot to capture her coming of age. my sister morgan was savannah's nanny for a long time, and that is the age that i automatically pictured savannah in my thoughts preparing for this shoot. i still have to do an occasional double-take looking at these photos making sure that it is really her...i can't believe how quickly she has grown up...but am quickly reminded that she is 12 when remembering the tactic morgan (who graciously came along to help and lug around a 6 ft ladder!) used to render a 100 percent success rate of getting the most genuine smile across savannah's face after hours of shooting...embarrassing potty humor stories...it worked every time. my favorite story morgan told her was of when savannah outed her dad during a christmas eve church service while she was quite young. when being interviewed by the pastor in front of the entire congregation, savannah announced exactly how and how long it takes her dad to go #2. if he only knew how we got that smile of her in that sweet princess dress...i hope the photos we produced were able to capture her as she grows into an even more beautiful young lady...

updates updates...

thanks for all the emails and pulse checks from everyone that reads this blog...i'm still around just busy busy with a lot of travel and shoots that are still under embargo.

here's some recent photos from my october trip to tejas....i flew back to document justin and mandy byers' wedding...which was pretty incredible. they were real troopers adjusting to a lot of changes in their plans consequential to hurricane ike...thanks to tam and bob for letting us shoot in your beautiful home when ike destroyed their wedding site! justin and mandy, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day...it is so great to witness the awesome love that you both have for each other! i hope you enjoy your photos as much as i enjoyed making them with you.

mano amiga

I've had the opportunity to work with a very special local NGO this week, Mano Amiga, and their staff in Barrio Turgua. Special thanks to Padre Carlos Zancajo, Rosa and Luciana. more soon...

san antonio de tachira

old film from guate

border run

(2) fifteen hour busetas, (2) two hour por puestos, (1) moto taxi, twenty-four hours in the fancy hotel francy....six hours at Colombian immigration....four new passport stamps....three more months in Venezuela!