Hello and welcome back to our monthly newsletter, where you’ll get all the latest a&b and studio news that’s fit to print: Where we’ve been and are heading, what we’re shooting and studio updates, along with some of our favorite things & people. Know someone who might like to receive this in their inbox on First Friday’s as well, please forward this free post to them and thank you!

current location📍

The always enchanting Santa Fe, New Mexico! We’re thrilled to be back in one of our favorite towns. It’s filled with vibrant art (and equally vibrant people), warm light and never ending skies which continue to inspire us. We’re excited to shoot some more while we’re here.

ICYMI, we put together a Santa Fe city travel guide for readers with some of our favorite restaurants, coffee shops, tea houses, best happy hours, hot springs and other quirky attractions we’ve enjoyed in our visits over the years.

in the rear view ↩️

Spending last month outside of Austin was wonderful. Not so wonderful was not getting to see much of it! Anne unfortunately dealt with an ongoing health issue for the majority of the month so we weren’t able to explore the city as much as we would have hoped. (Also, why this is a little late to your inbox, too. Apologies if you like to start your First Friday with coffee and an issue of Road Trippin’.) Well, we’ll just have to come back then and you know we will! Austin is lit.

We did make it out to see Project Hail Mary at Alamo…soooooooo good! Bill read the book after Anne suggested it. She, however, didn’t finish reading it and decided to wait for the Ryan Gosling version. #noregrets (Bill adds: Readers will be generally pleased, even if the movie glosses over some things.)

And we greatly enjoyed a late birthday dinner for B at Clark’s Oyster Bar. (Thanks so much for the generous b-day gift card, A&J!!)

next exit 🛣️

Time flies! It doesn’t feel like it’s been five months already since we were last in our old neck of the woods, but May will see us back in sunny Colorado. We’re very much looking forward to hitting up some of fave restaurants. Yet probably not looking quite as forward to the cadre of doctors appointments to squeeze in while in town. Getting to visit with so many very missed friends and family though always make the trip more than worthwhile.

construction zone 🚧

Wait, so Social Media didn’t give us all giant warm fuzzies and Connectedness with a capital C after all?

Pardon our snark, but seriously, in this crazy world we live in, a real, honest-to-goodness connection with another human being is just what the doctor ordered. It’s one reason why we like sharing our studio updates, or writing Tranquil Tuesdays, etc. It’s because (a) we love it, and (b) it helps us connect with you.

Longtime friends will know our intense and everlasting love of paper. (See annual holiday card.) So in that spirit, we’re starting our possibly-soon-to-be-world-famous-you-never-know Quarterly Postcard Club! Who doesn’t love getting something lovely in the mail?

Each quarter club members will receive a collection of curated postcards featuring our photography in various themes—some broad, some more specific, along with a personal note from us to you giving the background behind the images, our inspiration, etc.

And get this, the postcards will arrive in your mailbox already stamped (first class because nothing deserves to be mailed third class)! So no more nuisance post office visits for you—we’ll go for you! The only thing to decide for each postcard is whether to mail to a dear friend or keep it for yourself for display. Lastly, we’ll also include a little surprise gift with your subscription, because why not. All beautifully packaged, of course.

We’re still putting the finishing touches on everything, and will share all you need to know in next month’s Road Trippin’. (We’re aiming for a June inauguration so you won’t want to miss it.) Hit reply and let us know what you think of all this. Also of course, start thinking today about all your friends you’d like to surprise with a beautiful, heartfelt postcard. Who would you like to reconnect with and brighten their day with a surprise piece of mail? Even better, forward this email to them so they can start it with their friends!

wild hearts 💓

Where we share sightings of hearts in the wild, because who among us couldn’t use a little more love?

cats crossing 🐈‍⬛

As you know, we’re not alone on this journey of ours, thankfully. Our dear kitties, Frankie and Willow are with us providing much needed cuddles and lots of laughs, always.

And an honorable mention wild heart💓 courtesy of Frankie one lazy Sunday morning! (Terrible photo, but adorable kitty, no?)

Willow getting her box on.

u-turnin’ 🔙

ICYMI, our March Tranquil Tuesdays…click each one to open the post.

point of interest🤳

Where we offer a digestible photo tip you can use next time you’re out.

Take a look at each of the photos in the below collage. What do you see that’s common between them all? Outside, of course. Beyond that, notice how in each one the sun, even though you can’t see it, is clearly low in the sky? You can tell in some parts due to the warm light. But mostly, your long shadows is the big tell.

Why do we care? With long shadows, there’s more drama. More drama = greater interest. And greater interest leads to higher viewer appreciation. And how do we get long shadows? By shooting earlier or later in the day (or in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky). Golden hour is great for warm light, but the real magic is in the shadows. Use them to your advantage.

One small add…when you’re shooting fall foliage like the aspen photo above, shoot with the sun in front of you-ish so the leaves are backlit. But don’t take our word for it…try it for yourself and see what difference it makes.

Happy shooting!

on the radio 📻

As you can imagine, we spend a fair amount of time driving so Anne recently made a Road Trip music playlist (Apple Music | Spotify). Sometimes we’re in the mood for a book though, and recently listened to the brilliant Cory Doctorow’s Enshittification, which you’ve undoubtedly heard of. It’s worth your time and will probably make you mad. At the very least it will make you think. And for a book to make you think? That’s pretty darn excellent.

Admittedly, this paragraph has the potential to get really long so we’re going to purposefully keep it brief. Cory has thought-provoking post on using AI, especially in art. It’s pretty easy to agree with him—and we do—to a point*. Brad Frost brings up a more expansive counterpoint worth considering too, where any historical technological change tends to widen the membership for creators in a given endeavor. And in the process, societies get to collectively decide what is acceptable and what isn’t, what’s good and what’s not (even if it’s hardly ever a consensus).

You can imagine the kinds of discussions we have around AI on our drives between campgrounds! We’d love to hear your thoughts, too. Have you read/listened to this book? What do you think AI’s impact is/will be on creatives of all types?

* And no, AI didn’t help us write this. We’re just fans of the em dash, like Elle Cordova.

packing for our trip 🧳 

Holland Photo Arts Print Shop (and the Oh Those Hollands! gift shop) is our full-time work. As artists, we love nothing more seeing our pieces proudly displayed in our clients’ home (yes, yours!). Giving a piece you love a home is one of the best ways you can help support us and our work. Also, see above Postcard Club!

Thank you! It means the world to us both. 

Lastly, if someone you know would enjoy this and Tranquil Tuesdays posts, please share this email or send your friends to our Connect page.