Hi! My name is Heather Tristan. I’m the photographer behind Laughing Magpies Photography. I’m a mom of three of who has been working as a photographer since 2016, but maybe you have more questions about who I am, and why I love what I do.
I grew up in Texas, and have deep roots there. Even when I was a very small child, I felt an incredibly deep connection to literature. My favorite place in the entire world was our local library, and my second favorite place in the whole world was the “classics” corner of our nearest Half Price Books.
I would sit for waaaaaaaaaay too long (folks, you probably shouldn’t let Half Price Books babysit your kids even though it worked out for me), completely lost in classic stories of adventure, magic, and wonder. I sailed with Long John Silver, was shipwrecked with Robinson Crusoe, and wandered strange forests full of fairies with Shakespeare and countless fairy and folk tales whose first authors have long since passed out of memory. In case you are wondering, I ABSOLUTELY recommend letting classic books raise your children (haha).
It’s probably no surprise that I was hooked by the arts. I loved Renaissance paintings with big themes and lots of drama, and continued consuming lots of literature with big, sweeping landscapes as I grew older. Studying English and history at Baylor when I started university seemed like the next natural step. I even considered going to grad school to study folklore, (and started applying to PhD programs in Medieval history), before life took me in a different direction. I took photography at university too, and loved it – but our program was journalism focused and I don’t think I even realized that I could pursue photography strictly as an art at that time.
I met my husband and chose to spend my life traveling the world with him, studying the things I have always felt passionate about up close and in-person, taking jobs teaching English to children along the way – and we are still going strong almost 20 years later. All of those years of teaching ESL have paid off too – nothing quite hones those skills in connecting with children like being thrown into a classroom of 20 preschoolers who have no idea what you are saying!
Now, imagine you are a young wife, and you find out that you are going to spend the next 20 or so years of your life going to incredible far-away places. What is the first thing you do? You buy a camera, and take a photography class.
I will admit, those first photos were ROUGH. They were all on film (I’m an old), and back then we were guessing when we took pictures, y’all. My first trip to Paris with my husband is just a blurry, smudgy, grainy, crooked mess. All of our eyes were terrifying glowing bright red zombie eyes because we used flash. And I LOVE those photos. I kid you not – if you come to my house I can show them to you on my wall. And you know what? You probably have less-than-perfect photos of things you love that you will never let go of too. I hope so, because you shouldn’t HAVE to have an incredible photographer with you every time you do something you want to remember. Enjoy the moment. Take the photo. You will love it because you felt love at that moment.
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Time passed, and destinations stacked up, and we started adding little Tristans to our family tree, and I continued teaching English and studying photography. I bought every book. I joined clubs. (Facebook wasn’t really a huge thing yet, but when it came along, I found groups of photographers to learn from there). And we booked a photo session for our little family with a dear friend in Korea, where we were living at the time, and she captured the most beautiful photos of our family that I had ever seen. Shoutout to Karen Davis, y’all – if you are near Gig Harbor in the greater Tacoma area in WA, look her up!
From that point on, I knew that I had to learn whatever magic could make beautiful, vibrant art from family memories. I began my truly serious photographic journey, studying posing, lighting, mood, and all of the inns and outs of the great tradition of portraiture. In addition to visiting art museums and hanging out with my personal faves (Vermeer and Rembrandt and Caravaggio crew represent!), I also started seeking out my contemporary photography idols, and engaging with them in mentorship. I’ve studied in online classes with some of my favorite photographers in the world, from newborn photography with Ana Brandt and Kelly Brown, to landscape photography with Art Wolfe, to travel and journalistic portraiture with Steve McCury, cinematic portraiture with Chris Knight, and fine art portraiture with Gemmy Woud-Binnedijk, and so many more, but the most incredible lessons I’ve learned have been with the artists I have spent time with in person:
Cassandra Jones, the world’s best (no contest) outdoor children’s photographic portrait artist with her portrait business Noelle Mirabella Photography. I’ve been through four magical workshops with this woman and I would move heaven and earth to attend more. Every minute I spend with her is a balm for the soul, a blast of inspiration, and an opportunity to learn something new.
Paulina Duczman – one of the most acclaimed/ recognized children’s studio portrait artists. Her signature warm brown desaturated studio style may be the polar opposite of Noelle Mirabella’s vibrant colors, and couldn’t be a better complement for a student developing her own signature look.
Roberta Montagnini – Her ethereal, creative glamorous fashion shoots in studio push students to look at the photography session in new ways, and her multi-award winning results speak for themselves.
I love you the more in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.
John Keats
All of this experience and education have combined to help me develop the skills to realize my vision in my own personal style – one that harkens back to the beloved illustrations in those children’s books I read so long ago. I long to connect the childhood of today with every childhood that has come before – a simplicity, and a pure truth that shows that children are both uniquely themselves and part of an endless chain of childhood that reaches back into history.
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