What's the Hold up Harts?

You know, you hear about it, you do the walks to raise money for it, you see it , and because you dont trully grasp the concept of it, you never think that you would have it. But let me set the record straight now, before you start jumping to conclusions thinking i was diagnosed with the big "C" word. Hi, I'm Gabriel Harts Ortiz, and I have MS, but MS doesn't have me. For those of you who dont know what MS is, this blog is not a lesson in what MS is. If you are curious go to wikipedia and take a look ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis ). I was diagnosed a little over a year ago, but even then it didnt sink in. I mean i even called my best friend started talking about electronics, parents, and bullshit before i bluntly said "hey the doc just told me i have MS," and went right back into what ever convo we were talkin about as if it was nothing. Fast forward to now, ive finally come to terms with it. Between the doctor visits, the pains i feel and research ive learned so much about this life altering disease. Yes it can be a fatal disease and yes i could just give up, but i wont. I plan on living a great life and continue changing other peoples lives a long the way. But, in the last 2 months a lot has come up with my health thats finally starting to ease back to normal. The only reason im writing this blog is to finally set the record straight with my fans. 1) Yes i am still here and the art work will slowly start coming back on a regular. 2) Any Cutomers i owe images to please bare with me, life is starting to get back to normal slowly i promise i have not forgotten about you. and 3) I love you guys for the last few weeks msging me and wondering whats up with my work no new things on the fan page, just means you guys really watch, so thank you.
I will be fine and like i said earlier, I have MS, but MS doesn't have me. All this means is one more thing to influence my work. See you guys around.


Harts

The grown and the restless

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Hardcore Gamers...its a Life Style

I found it ironic that yesterday the two shoots I had where BOTH gamers! Now as a father I don't have time to play video games anymore, but I definitely remember living my life around games. So I understood the ride or die attitude towards gaming that both Reyna and Richie had towards their gaming systems and games.

The first of my shoots was the amazing Reyna. What a blast I had shooting this hardcore GTA fan. I mean when I say Hardcore I mean it. She had every game and came to the studio wearing a Rockstar (Company that made grand theft auto) shirt! I wasn't sure if I should be scared of her or tell her that she was the type of friend I use to love to hang out with back in the day. Why would I be scared? A girl that loves a game that revolves around killing people and robbing cars? You're right, if i wasn't married haha, just kidding. Back to the shoot! We focused on her personality which clearly revolved around the gaming world. But she had a soft side as well, loved reading  (was a huge fan of the Godfather Saga) and loved writing. She was down for all my ideas including hanging herself with her Xbox360 controller and play dead. Awesome. She spoke about how she was a trash talker when she played online so i decided to make her battle herself for the controller. Both of her personalities, take a look:

For more of Reyna's picture go to hartstopdesigns.com

She walked out saying that mid way thru her shoot she already had convinced herself that she wanted to do this again! Even more she wrote on the fan page a beautiful review that i felt i had to share here:

"Left the studio a little while ago...what an experience! Harts has real vision, creativity and talent. He's easy to work with and very personable. He also has amazing people working with him. Annie does awesome makeup and Nadyne was an absolute pleasure to talk to in order to set things up. I definitely want to come back soon and do some more photos!!"

That made me smile, because as you know my goal is to make people not only get timeless pictures but to really walk out enjoying themselves. Her personality was great but the next shoot i had, this 13 year old boy had so much character that i cant even call it a personality. This boy was indeed a character.

What can i say about Richie? This boy had me rolling with laughter! He was not only insanely comfortable in front of the camera but he also was all about the "cool factor." I think its a teenage thing. But this kid had it down packed! He knew what he wanted and he posed how he wanted. But there was one thing he took more serious then anything, his gaming was his life. He took it serious and knew that he was the s#*% when he played his games. I mean take a look at his personality in just this picture:

For more of Richie's picture go to hartstopdesigns.com

Serious? Yes? Do you want to challenge him? I wouldnt want to, look at his serious face! haha.

Don't forget to look for me on facebook  or on Twitter to see the rest of my images, and find out what the current promotion is. 

If you have any questions or just want to find out more about a session, email info@hartstopcompany.com. Or if you're ready to book a shoot email our diary manager at nadyne@hartstopdesigns.com or text her 646.770.2411.

Also if you are into photoshop at all dont forget to join the contest im holding! Rules can be found here: http://hartstop.blogspot.com/2010/08/contest-1-081810-090110.html

Hope to capture you soon

Mr. Harts Ortiz

What a Weekend. My First Official Blog

This is something new for me. I am NOT a writer. My talents do not go towards writing anything, but I want my readers to understand the magic behind what I do. I want my readers to do brain surgery behind the eye. Soooooooooo,.....here it is. My first official blog about the past couple of photoshoots that I've had.

On Friday, I had  Mike & The Perez Family. On Saturday I had Gio and on Sunday I had Krystal.

I have this journal that I keep of all the ideas that I have per person that I shoot. And I filled up two pages alone with Mike.

When I spoke to Mike on the phone the day before the photoshoot, I was already excited. He told me he used to be a tattoo artist and all these ideas started forming in my mental canvas. Instantly I wanted to see what he looked like tattooing somebody, so I knew I would capture that in my camera. He told me he was in the airforce, that he did martial arts, he was an artist, but most importantly, he was publishing a book. I was picturing him fighting, hopefully getting him to fight himself, I knew I has to capture his peaceful side, the artisic side of him. After the conversation finished, I seriously thought he was older. He seemed to have gone thru so much, and I was anxious, almost losing sleep with all these ideas that kept running thru my head.

Mike finally comes (early at that) and my first impression was "wow, this guy is well groomed and not an old guy. Nothing like what I expected." He walked into the studio, and told me exactly what picture he wanted, and that's how it started off. We then went to his artistic, martial arts, tattoos, and so many more. The more and more pictures we took, the more and more he started telling me about himself and the more I just wanted to take pictures. The 90 minutes definitely just flew by. Here's one of my favorite pictures of him 

I had this other shoot with the Perez Family. I had actually done a photoshoot with them before, but of just the kids, this time, I promised that it would be mom, dad, brother and sister. When they came to book, we saw that we weren't available at a mutual time and I agreed to meet  late night, so I scheduled them in, and it was extremely fun.

They bought a bunch of clothes and toys to play with. We did some playful shots, lovable shots, and family shots. I could tell they had so much fun. We actually just stayed here and started talking and getting to know each other on a deeper level and they started throwing ideas to me and the camera just kept clicking. They actually ended up staying here past midnight just doing photoshoots, changing clothes, and just talking and having fun. My Stomach hurt from laughing so much with them, especially the oldest son. He is the one in the head lock

 

On Saturday I had baby Gio. Two nights before I had. spoken to his mom, and the main point was to capture his first birthday. Now the thing with babies, is that they get overwhelmed with an all white studio. It's just what babies do! We got some great shots, some awesome things were bought in, and I really loved capturing him. But because I know how "on their own schedule" babies can be, we had to cut the session short. I rescheduled their appointment for that Monday coming, after the studio was closed, so I could have all the time with him. It's important to me that we get the shots we plan on getting so rescheduling is not an issue.Besides, I know that when he grows up he's gonna love these pictures, because seriously,..who doesn't love a laughing baby? Here's one picture I got on Saturday. I can't wait to see what Monday will bring. Isn't he a cute one?

On Sunday, Krystal came over to the studio. When we were discussing here photoshoot she had explained that she was thinking about getting a hair cut, and right there I knew that I wanted to do a before and after of Krystal. I knew at this point that long haired Krystal would be fighting with short haired Krystal. I told Krystal to come first thing Sunday with her long hair, we were going to do some poses and have fun with her long hair, then she'll get her hair cut and come back later that day to do a similar photoshoot. At first she was shocked that I even suggested it, but when I told her my ideas of having her fight herself, and having her face her alter-ego, she was really excited. I kept the whole day free just for her because I wanted to keep all my ideas for her fresh. Her mom participated in helping me as well. I know that they had a blast doing this shoot, because I did too. Here's a picture of Krystal with her alter-ego. 

I had a crazy weekend with back-to-back photoshoots, but honestly? I really could wait to just sit down and start editing all these pictures. The thing I love most about my job, is when people look at my images and say in disbelief "Is that really me?" Because they never thought they could have so much fun in one session. My goal is to capture the real you, and if you're always smiling in real life, I want to capture that. If you're always listening to your music and your life revolves around your music, I want to capture that.

Don't forget to look for me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/hartstopdesigns or on Twitter http://twitter.com/hartstopdesigns to see the rest of my images, and find out what the current promotion is. 

If you have any questions or just want to find out more about a session, email info@hartstopcompany.com. Or if you're ready to book a shoot email our diary manager at nadyne@hartstopdesigns.com or text her 646.770.2411.


Also if you are into photoshop at all dont forget to join the contest im holding! Rules can be found here: http://hartstop.blogspot.com/2010/08/contest-1-081810-090110.html

Hope to capture you soon

Mr. Harts Ortiz

Contest #1 (08/18/10 - 09/01/10)

Contest: #1
Ending Date: 09/01/10
Who May Submit: Any Member of www.hartstopdesigns.com
Theme: Transition

The Rules:
The photo that will be used is a photo that was shot at the HSD Studios. This photo must be used in your Art piece. The piece you submit must have a theme of Transition. There are no limits as to what you see as transition but you must demonstrate your vision of transition with in the picture in one way or another. The picture is NOT a Raw file format it is a jpg but at high res. The image must be Submitted as a High Res JPG. Also Submissions must be submitted via comment to this specific contest blog. Submit it with a link to the image. We will then post it in this blog for everyone to see. Please submit with your name, email, and webpage (portfolio or even just fb is fine). If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at harts@hartstopcompany.com .

The Prize:
A photoshoot at HSD with a CD of Edited images for you to do with what you want. All completely free. A price valued at $310.99. There is only one place for a prize and thats first. Good Luck. And all opinions are welcome.

The Picture:

Download image at full resolution at the link below, GOOD LUCK:

http://www.zshare.net/image/794609754a9a6128/

-Harts
www.hartstopdesigns.com
harts@hartstopcompany.com

You Asked For It, So Here You Go....

On the fan page, I asked if there were any ways that my fans would like to communicate. A couple stated a Blog! So, here it is The HSD Blog. This will feature News, fun info, contests and more! So make sure you stay tuned, and dont forget to leave comments on the fan page (www.hartstopdesigns.com)

-Harts