chad

grandpa puente

when my friend steven asked me to take some portraits of his paternal grandfather, the initial idea he had was to recreate a image of gpa puente in his boxing shorts. I was excited. taking photographs showing life, history or stories of individuals are my favorite type of portraits. we never ended up being able to talk this 80 something man into changing into nothing but mini boxing shorts and then letting a complete stranger take photos of him...but in the end it didn't really matter.

he is a natural born story teller. he just talked talked and told and laughed and flattered and charmed his way into the middle of my camera, where I tried to bottle his charisma. we ate some oatmeal, hit some golf balls, rummaged around in the garage. he blew me kisses, told more stories and explained to me who people were in all the frames. we took a small visit to the community senior center where it was evident he had charmed everyone there as well, and then back to the house to pick some avocados off of a huge overgrown avocado tree looming in the backyard.

this whole shoot really got me thinking about how important it is to do family history...not only in writing but also with photographs! I know before I took some photos of my grandma henriksen I thought, "but my grandpa has already passed away...I should have done it earlier...maybe it's too late..". It's NOT too late! don't wait to preserve memories. don't miss a chance to help tell the story of a grandparent or a family member. I want to remember (probably the number one reason why I am a photographer) and I know you want to remember as well.

I feel honored to have been invited into grandpa puentes home. his life has been rich and full and I can tell and feel that he is loved by many people.

If you are interested in having me shoot a photo story of a family member, friend, or yourself, please let me know! It's great to have a nicely composed, picture perfect photo of your child or your family, but how amazing would it be to also document your family doing what it does, LIVING LIFE! in your home, neighborhood, favorite park, eatery...getting ready for school, making dinner, decorating the christmas tree... I would love to create a family history for you through photographs.

tis the season to remember and feel thanks.

xxoo- rachel

face film

I just got back my processed film from the film is not dead workshop and am so excited looking through the images. It was a great week with some great photographers shooting side by side....so I thought it only fitting to showcase some of those photographer faces first in what I'm sure will be MANY hawaii posts to come.

jon making the most NORMAL face I ever saw him make (thanks again and again for such an amazing week...I can still hear your shooting "wooOOooo" in my head).
natalie is SO full of energy and has 3 amazing boys and 1 amazing husband that match her energy. how does she do it all?! quite the inspiration.
leilani spent many years living in laie and was one of our island experts. I loved her free spirit and morning walks along the beach.
tracee was the bombshell photographer and mother of 2. thank you for all your advice on child rearing and motherhood. you took away some of my fears and actually helped me feel a little bit of excitement. not sure about your "baby a year" plan, but we'll see how desperate I get!

grandma henriksen

I have the world's coolest grandmas. my maternal grandmother featured, is a 30yr old disguised as a 80 something yr old. she is bubbly, energetic and still can hike and garden (cross legged). My paternal grandmother is equally as young and is taking me to hawaii with her next week (need I say more?).

my grandma henriksen (maternal) is who this blog post is featuring. her and my grandfather bought this cabin when my mom was still a child. we grew up celebrating holidays there and having cousin sleepovers. we swung on the rope swing, played backwards checkers with my grandpa and searched for "brownies" in the forest. we all fought over who would get to sleep on the smooshiest bed in the attic and loved driving down the road swinging our legs from the back of an open car. sitting around the campfire we would give testimony's and sing family songs including the goodnight song, when we would sing goodnight to every person there by name (even if there were 50 people). my grandpa would cook us floating pancakes for breakfast and grandma would always serve cantaloupe and bacon. I love those memories.

so here is to one of my favorite women on earth. thank you for the notes and gifts under my pillow. thank you for the gold fish. thank you for figi, the pioneers and the prophets. thank you for the music boxes and the laundry shoot. thanks for the wall paper in the laundry room. thank you for letting me live with you that one summer. thanks for being my "other" during a rough time. thanks for giving me space when I needed it and hugs when I wanted to be close. thanks for the orangesicles. thanks for showing up in the PERFECT outfit when I told you to dress for the photo shoot in what you would normally wear to the cabin. thanks for loving me to the moon and back.

I love you too.

xxoo-
rachel