Categories
Engagement Sessions

Engagement Session Giveaway

Dart4

I am giving away to a lucky couple a FREE Engagement Session. Newly wed couples can also enter and they can use the images from the shoot as their holiday card or as holiday gifts.

The session will take place around Los Angeles using a fully restored 1962 Dodge Dart. Love of vintage clothing preferred.

You can view some of my engagement sessions by clicking here.

To get a sense of what types of vintage items I love you can click here.  

Email me at april@aprilrocha.com with your names, wedding date (if you have one), a quick blurb of why you want to shoot with this car and attach a snapshot of the two of you.  Please put on the subject line of your email FOR THE LOVE OF VINTAGE.  Emails must be sent by Monday, September 12, 2011. 

Some rules:

The photo shoot has to take place the afternoon of Sunday, September 25
The shoot will take place somewhere in Los Angeles (probably on the Westside)
Hair and makeup is optional for an additional fee(fee given directly to makeup artist)
You will receive an 8×10 or 2 5×7 prints from the session
You will also receive a discount on holiday card options from April Rocha Photography

Categories
Austin Texas Photography Project Toy Camera Why I Love Film

Another Abandoned House and It Involved a Corn Field

I must have had my abandoned house radar in good form the day we found this house outside Austin, Texas. Suzi and I were driving along this road and I saw this house way, way in the distance past a lot of corn stalks. We quickly discovered there was no way to get out there except to walk there. Yes that’s right no driveway, no road, nothing………….not even a trace of one. It was a glorious feeling to stand on the front porch of the house and look out at the growing corn stalks. Enjoy these images and make sure to check out Suzi Q. Varin’s blog as well.

old-farmhouse-Texas

Austin_01

Texas-botanical

Austin_032

Austin_19

vintage-house-siding

broken-window-pane

Austin_23_edited-1

vintage-ceiling

Texas-wasp-nest

vintage-light-switch

Categories
Austin Texas Photography Project Toy Camera Why I Love Film

Added Bonus During our Photo Adventure in Texas

We were there to photograph the church steeple in New Sweden, Texas.  Added bonus?  An abandoned house on blocks next to the church.

Make sure to check out Suzi Q. Varin’s blog entry about our adventure too.  

Hollywood_083-3

20110508_4073-21

deco-bathroom-mirror

Austin_43a

clothespins-screen-door

Categories
Austin Texas Photography Project Toy Camera Why I Love Film

Abandoned Houses

When the genesis of a project starts in my head I usually picture myself doing it alone.  When I was in Austin, Texas visiting good friend and fellow photographer Suzi Q. Varin I was thrilled to discover a partner in crime.  Over two days we trekked through small towns surrounding Austin, Texas looking for abandoned houses.  We proudly carried our film and toy cameras with us wherever we ventured. 

Forget needing a GPS as I started referring to Suzi as “my little GPS.”  She was better than any electronic device. 

We also were on the lookout for church steeples and would gleefully drive towards them and usually weren’t disappointed.  Almost universally you would find astroturf on the steps of the church which I found funny and had to document.

Make sure to also check out Suzi’s blog as well………………….

kiss-pinball-machine

Austin_29

abandoned-shed

Texas-church-new-sweden

Austin_33

Austin_37

Texas-swedish-church

Austin_25

Rocha_April_Gate_to_Nowhere1

More to come…………………….

Categories
Polaroid Film Weddings Why I Love Film

Sneak Peek of Bride Ashley on her Wedding Day

Polaroid_1

I photographed Ashley with my grandfather’s Polaroid Land Camera and Chocolate 100 film.   I can’t wait to share this wedding with you. 

Categories
Headshots

Lisa Arturo

IMG_2004

IMG_1974

Categories
International Printing Museum Paper Goods

Save the Date – LA Printer’s Fair October 1, 2011

IMG_2090

I am pleased to announce that once again April Rocha Photography is participating in the LA Printers Fair at the International Printing Museum in Carson on October 1 from 9am-5pm. 

The goal of the fair is to showcase the art of print and paper in historical and contemporary forms. Like last year there are many amazing vendors who are participating in this year’s fair including:

Tiselle 

Papermum Press
Joie Studio
Pie in the Sky Press
Legion Paper
Fugu Fugu Press

Click here to view a complete list of vendors.

I will be selling my fine art cards, Christmas gift tags, fine art prints and and the very popular International Printing Museum 2012 desk calendar. 

Categories
Paper Goods

Busy Morning – The Standard Up-to-Date Practical Letter Writer

Storyboardcomp009

I have some obsessions,  Yes I admit it.  One of them is old books on letter writing.  I found this one on Etsy and it was published in 1914.  Chapters include Penmanship, Blots and Interlineations, Folding, Stamps and Orthography.

The Preface of the book states:

“What to do and how to do it” is the key note to success in almost any calling.  Especially is this true in the writing of letters and other social and commercial forms.  It has been the author’s purpose to furnish just such information as may meet the wants of the public.  The plan of the work embraces the whole field of letters, — their structure, rhetoric, literature, and classification, as well as the uses of forms and notes, cards and commercial paper.  Foreign Phrases, Abbreviations, Proverbs and Quotations, etc., and other subjects for reference, are conveniently arranged in the back of the volume, and it is intended to be sufficiently complete to meet the ordinary requirements of the public.

The work is submitted with the hope that it may assist in promoting the social and literary culture of all who may have access to its pages. 

The most appropriate chapter for my letter writing this morning would have been “Letters of Love and Friendship.” I was busy indeed this morning and hopefully promoting the social and literary culture of all in 2011. 

Categories
April Rocha Happenings Diana Toy Camera Why I Love Film

Road Trip! Exhibit at the Darkroom Gallery in Essex Junction, Vermont

DarkroomGallery

Austin_34

Rocha_April_Gate_to_Nowhere

Rocha_April_Leaving
Rocha_April_Abandoned_Six_Flags

It is with great honor that I announce I have four images in the upcoming “Road Trip” exhibit at the Darkroom Gallery in Essex Junction, Vermont.  The superb photographer Douglas Beasley was the juror for this exhibit and I am so flattered that he chose some of my images.

Three of the images are from my trip to Austin, Texas this year and the fourth image is from my trip last year to New Orleans, Louisiana.  

Douglas had this to say about this how he chose the images for this exhibit: 

The Road Trip is the most classic of photo themes and one that got many of us started down the path of making photography a serious part of our lives. The very thought of imparting on a road trip is the start of the journey, which is both internal as well as external. A road trip can be as much spiritual journey as it is physical journey.

 In judging photos, I am looking for photos that speak to me, that have something to say. This is completely subjective and it is important to realize it is only my opinion and not fact. It does not mean one photo is better than another. But it is an informed and educated opinion. Yet still opinion, not fact…….

I look for photographs that have a sense of mystery, a deeper meaning or even layers of meaning. The composition must be strong and purposeful, not haphazard. The photographer should have an awareness of the whole frame not just subject and background. The intention or ‘voice’ of the photographer should come through. I look for a strong and personal point of view rather than a ‘me too-I can shoot like that’ visual attitude. I want to feel the photographer had a personal connection on some level to their chosen subject rather than finding a random pretty or interesting scene. I would rather see photos with a fresh perspective or an authentic voice than the same tired subjects redone. I would rather the photographer look deeper within his or her self and photograph from an authentic place of connection to the subject rather than copying past photo contest winners-which is a little like coloring inside the lines when you were a kid because you knew you might get praise. I would rather see a photograph that erases the lines altogether.

A compelling image may ask more questions than it answers. A good photo leaves room for mystery and interpretation and is more like a poem than a novel. The novel tells you everything in exacting detail but the poem hints at the story in the simplest possible way, removing all that is not essential to get to an essence, leaving room for mystery and interpretation. To me the best photographs show not only what the photographer saw but what and how they felt. This way of interpreting your subject is much harder to do but well worth exploring…

 The exhibit opens August 16 and includes an exhibit catalog.   You can view all of the images in this exhibit here