Sneak Peek of Weekend Project

The Luckiest Girl in the World

Here in Los Angeles my family only had one relative – my Aunt Francie.

By the time my sisters and I came into the picture her parents were deceased and she only had one sister still living, who lived in Northern California.

As I like to say she was ours and we were hers.

So every holiday was spent at Francie’s house if it'd be Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas. She always made us lemonade from her Meyer lemon tree and she always used this glass pitcher. Because of my aunt I can make a really good pitcher of lemonade with just the right amount of tart and sweet.

Any trained actor will tell you the most important element of being a good actor is listening. I remember being five years old and no matter what I was sharing with her she listened intently to everything I had to say and had this wonderful conversation with me. In her eyes my sisters and I were never little children that could be easily dismissed. Talk about being spoiled at a young age. I always listen to what my friends have to say and they are always telling me I have the memory of a steel trap and I swear I got this trait because of her.

Francie never played with my sisters and I or got in the pool with us but we never expected her to. She was the quintessential hostess with her pitcher of lemonade and the makings for a martini or a bloody mary on standby in the kitchen.

Her dining room table always had tapered candles and placemats in colors appropriate for the holiday and she cooked everything without ever opening a cookbook. If you asked her what she put in a wonderful casserole she made, she would say, “Oh just a little of this and a little of that.”

So this blog entry pays tribute to the greatest Aunt a child could ever have.

More About My Photographic Series

I told you a little bit about my new photographic series last week.

I started working on the series yesterday and wanted to share this image with you.

My Great Aunt Frances Reid owned her home in Brentwood from 1968-2010 (42 years) and since she passed away our family has to sell her home.

In a perfect world I would be able to twirl a magic wand and have the home stay exactly like it is forever -- a museum of sorts. But since that is not possible I thought it was appropriate that I photograph the home. Not so much the rooms but the little things.

My Aunt Francie had a wonderful book collection so I thought it was important to photograph it.

My dear friend Ron Marasco came over yesterday and we went through all of her theatre books. Ron helped me tremendously figure out what was a rare treasure and what was as he calls it "readily available." I could not have done it without him.

In going through the books yesterday we found a book that belonged to choreographer Jerome Robbins (dated 1946), a book signed by playwright Moss Hart given to Francie's husband actor Philip Bourneuf and a script with a note from film/theatre director Elia Kazan.

I cannot wait to share more of this project with you.

New Photographic Series

I am starting to work on a new photographic series. A little info (or maybe more like a tease)

-- It has huge time constraints
-- It is probably one of the most personal projects I will ever work on

Intrigued?

More next week..........

More from My Garden Project

As promised, more from my photo shoot at North Hollywood High School's Garden.

Sneak Peek of my Latest Garden Project Shoot

More next week...............

Holgaroid Images from the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs

Two Holgaroid images from my trip to the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs in June of this year.

Click here to read my previous entry on my trip to this fantastic hotel.

My Latest Photography Project

Which of course involves Santa Monica.

I would not have it any other way.

Whole Foods - Santa Monica Showcasing My Photography Through July 20

The Whole Foods Store in Santa Monica (2201 Wilshire Boulevard) is showcasing my photography through July 20. Click here to see what it looks like in the store (apologies for the quality of the image. I shot this with my phone camera).

All of these framed prints will be for sale after July 20.

Ace Hotel & Swim Club - Palm Springs

My good friend and fellow photographer, Laurie Bailey, came back from this hotel a couple of weeks ago and told me immediately that I had to go there myself. I went to their website and I was hooked!

The Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs was a former Howard Johnson that had fallen into disrepair. It reopened as the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in February of this year.

I don't consider myself the queen of hip but I immediately felt at home in this hotel -- from the record player in your room, the vintage-looking bikes you can ride and the old GMC van near the swimming pool (I looked for a choke inside the van but alas there wasn't one, my Dad's 1969 Ford van had one).






When you hang out in the pool or eat in their great restaurant you hear Bill Withers, Johhny Cash and Nick Drake over their sound system. There is also a real and I mean real photo booth in their lobby (which I went a little crazy with since it takes credit cards). I mean you just can't beat it.





I asked hotel management if I could photograph their hotel and they immediately said yes. So I brought every camera I own and every type of film I had in my fridge and shot away. I even shot a roll of (don't freak out people)......Kodachrome film and used a pack of my very precious Polaroid Viva Type 80 film with my Holgaroid.



I will definitely be going back there some time this summer to shoot more.

I'm Going to be Announcing Something Very Exciting in the Next Few Days

Yes, this blog entry is a teaser to something very, very big that I'm going to be doing. It is something that is going to involve all of YOU.

Check the blog again in the next couple of days for more details.

A Sneak Peek of a Prototype I am Creating

Something I am creating to eventually sell on Etsy. It's going to be called A Little Piece of Home.

Station 26 - Santa Monica Beach - Holgaroid Image

As many of you know I'm working on a Santa Monica project. I went to my favorite lifeguard station yesterday, Station 26, but realized once I got there that I forgot a necessary piece of equipment to shoot it TTV. So instead I whipped out my Holgaroid camera and shot this image.

Being on that beach yesterday morning at 8:30 am reminded me so much of hanging out at the beach with my Dad while he surfed the waves. It brought me right back to being 8 years old.

I came home yesterday and anxiously went to my computer to see if this film was still available on Polapremium. Much to my disappointment it is not and I have only one more pack of this film.

This image will eventually be available on my Etsy site.

Announcing April Rocha Photography's Etsy Store

Etsy Buy Handmade aprilrocha

This year I have decided to expand my repertoire and include selling fine art prints.

I have been a huge fan of the website Etsy and have added my own store to their site.

I will be adding prints on a daily basis and at this point I have seven prints currently for sale. Click here to view them.

What I think I love most about this new venture is I can combine my passion for photography (and specifically TTV) with my love for paper, textbooks, maps, baby shoes (all of which are vintage) and also my love for flowers and nature.

New Book Project

I have been wanting to start a new book project and I finally decided on one. I grew up and still live in Santa Monica and want to pay tribute to my hometown.

Through the film process I use TTV (Through the Viewfinder), I am going around Santa Monica photographing Santa Monica landmarks. I'm not talking new landmarks but old landmarks from my childhood -- the Zucky's sign on Wilshire Boulevard, Fairview Library on Ocean Park, the Aero Theatre on Montana, Station 26 Lifeguard Station at Santa Monica Beach, etc.

I reached out to all of my Facebook friends who also grew up here in Santa Monica and their suggestions for landmarks to photograph has been absolutely amazing. Not only have they made suggestions but they have become just as excited about this project as I am.

I will keep you posted on the progress of the project and in the meantime will share you some of the images I have shot already.

The Oak Street photograph has a special meaning to me. It was the street that I grew up on.

The Missing Element

Here is the missing element from my photography project. Keep checking the blog to get more details.

Sneak Peek Into My New Photography Project

Here is a sneak peek of my latest photography project. There is an important element missing from these photos which I will tell you about in my next post.


The photo below shows all the camera equipment I used yesterday for the project.