 WHAT'S NEW????
February 1st. 2008
Studio Hera Bell's new promotional audio visual. Enjoy watching it.
October 15th. 2007
Dear Hera,
Congratulations on being a Nominee in the categories of Fine Art & Nude at the 2nd Annual Photography Masters Cup.
Over 15,000 images were received from 69 countries and your work received a high percentage of votes overall. Certainly an outstanding achievement, well done!
The Jury were passionate about viewing the images, spending eight weeks reviewing entries online before making their final selections. The Awards could not have asked for a better group of professionals to work with. All credit goes to the judges, and the photographers who provided the best images in their class.
Congratulations once again on your achievement and we wish you a most successful photography year.
Best wishes,
Basil O'Brien Creative Director
This 24"x30" limited edition framed photo from Hera Bell is now in exhibit/sale at McCord Museum.
McCord Museum of Canadian History
690 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E9
Phone : (514) 398-7100
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April 30th. 2008
My Limited Edition Litograph Painting Is In The Erotic Museum at South Beach Miami
My hubby & I we just returned back from a wonderful 13 days road trip to Miami.
Several years ago when I became the editor in cheif of 2 very special German/English publications I also was creating limited edition litograph paintings. My limited edition litographs then were sold in some stores (Europe & USA). Then I entered the photography world and I stopped the distribution.
Miss Naomi (a Folrida millionaire lady who holds the world's largest Erotic art collection) called me on day and asked permission to include a piece that she owned from my collection to include in a hard cover book (2nd edition) depicting her collection. I said yes to her.
When we were recently in South Beach Miami, my hubby told me that he read that there is an erotica museum. I asked him if the name of the owner is mentioned in the travel book. YES! It was Miss Naomi. So we went there. Spending $15.00 entrence fee for each, luckly Miss Naomi was there in her office. We met and she gave me a big hug, and long and behold she showed me my art on the museum's wall. There was 12000 square feet of erotic art to discover. I asked her where did she keep all this before? She answered in her house. Now she lives in South Beach and opened the museum.
My litographs were signed back then under my pen name. I know some of you own some of the collection. Well! All I can say one of them is exhibited in a funky museum in a very trendy part of world.
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October 18th. 2007
LAKESHORE HOSPITAL 2008 CALENDAR PROJECT
A fundraiser in collaboration with Hera Bell's Photography
COFFEE TEA OR US!!!
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October 17th. 2007
LAKESHORE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION 2007 AD CAMPAIGN
Here Bell is the photographer behind the ads.
The ads were created by a West Island agency Parachute Communications.
They will be appearing on buses, train stations and in newspapers by the end of October 2007.
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October 10th. 2006
A CUTE THANKSGIVING CARD
We recently celebrated our Thanksgiving in Canada .
My seven years old niece Alexandra gave each of us very unique personalised hand made greeting card.
This one was mine.
Notice that even though we are living in a digital era, in the young child's imagination, us photographers, are still shooting with a large format.
And yes, Alex knows that I am quite the adventurous type. Although I have never shot a turkey in my studio, I have shot a 6 feet alligator who posed for me in the studio.
Cheers,
Hera
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March 23rd. 2006
HERA BELL'S WINNING PRINT "PURE LINES" AT A VANCOUVER EXHIBIT
Few weeks ago I got an invitation to enter a photo competition with quite a short deadline.
The 30 winning prints would be exhibited in Vancouver's Buschlenmowatt Art Gallery www.buschlenmowatt.com which would open this year's Vancouver's Fashion week April 4th. with a cocktail. www.notfitforprint.com Here is the web site for the event.
And mine will be there among the 30 prints chosen by the jury.
The image was created back in 2004. My model is Colombian, Karen had just arrived to Canada as a refugee with her hubby. Later on we learnt that she was pregnant for 2 weeks during the actual shoot. Her husband was thrilled. He kept telling me, this was the first photo of their baby. Karen, my dear, your beauty now won a national competition. You should be proud of it.
Come to think of it that day I only covered you with a lamp shade material found in a dump. As I draped it as a dress on you I got a great rush. You looked serine and beautiful. People when they look at it they assume that is a Japanese designer's wedding gown.. HAHA! Sometimes all you need is imagination and a dream.
Cheers,
Hera
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March 20th. 2006
HERA BELL WILL BE FEATURED ON MOUNTAIN LAKE PBS
Hera will be featured March 8th. at 8pm. March 31st. at 10.30pm, and April 2nd at 2.30pm. (Eastern Standard Time) during the Art Express Show on Mountain Lake PBS.You can also now view the segmant of the program at "Hera Bell On TV"
Paul Larsen visited Hera's studio during Fall 2005, and for two days he assisted on 2 photo sessions, interviewed Hera and the two models, then he visited Hera's home and taped the artist's everyday environment. This is a documentary not to be missed.
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February 1st. 2006
HERA'S ROME PHOTOS WILL TRAVEL THIS YEAR TO ANNUAL WEST ISLAND PALLIATIVE CARE CENTER'S FUND RAISER BALL
During the seventh annual Valentine's Gala "La Dolce Vita" Hera Bell's Rome images will be projected on giant television screens throughout the evening This black tie event will take place at Chateau Vaudreuil Pavillion Friday February the 10th.
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July 22nd. 2005
MY NEW ARTICLE
The Canadian Camera magazine's new Summer issue is now out. It will also be distributed during Canadian Camera College Photo Conferences this summer. The magazine changed printers. The quality and the content of the publication became much better under the skillful direction of the editor Joy McDonel.
Here is my full page article regarding how to shoot fierworks with a digital SLR camera.
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February 8th. 2005
"GETTING SHOT WHILE SHOOTING"
One sunny January afternoon I went to shoot the Great Grey Owls around Ile Bizard. I parked the car on the side of the road where I saw few other cars were parked. Soon after I ran into this photographer who somehow knew me. From one ditch to another walking through knee high snow covered fields, we followed the owls as they flew under the glowing afternoon sun. We both had a lot of fun that afternoon.
Bruce was his name, and he kept telling me that I might make the cover of National Geographic. I smiled and said "Yeah! That will be the day. From shooting nudes to birds, hahaha.."
The next day I got this jpg from Bruce. A mock National Geographic cover. He was shooting me while I was shooting the owls. And this is one of my owl shots.
 
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January 7th. 2005
"POSTCARDS FROM ROME" Upcoming Conferences
My first conference this year will be on my trip to Rome last Spring. It will be presented at the Montreal Camera Club's Westmount local on Monday, April 18th, 2005.
My new computer can handle my large sized digital images without freezing, as my old computer did all the time. I have a huge job ahead of me, but it sure brings back wonderful memories of a great two week trip with my hubby.
By the way Happy Birthday my love...
I shot the equivalent of 52 rolls of 36 exposure film digitally in RAW format. The range of this digital presentation will be quite wide, and includes; street life, people & lovers, architectural wonders, historical ruins, the interior of several museums, as well as some of the amazing art from their collections.
This was my first trip relying completely on my digital camera Canon 10D. I was traveling with 3 flash cards (SanDisk Extreme 256MB) and an image storage device (palm size) that could store 40 gig. That's all.
I must admit that it was a great experience which I will share the details with other photographers first at Montreal Camera Club, then at the Kingston Camera club in May.
You are welcome to join me at both evenings. The attendance is free.
The shot below was shot hand held (no tripod or flash are allowed anywhere in Roman museums and even around some outdoor historical ruins)... Technical data is 100 ISO f 3.5 1/80 sec in existing mix lighting
with a 28-105 Canon lens...
Happy New Year to all.
Cheers, Hera
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November 25th. 2004
NEW 6 PAGES ARTICLE FROM ITALY
One of Italy's oldest reputable photography magazine Fotografia Reflex published 6 pages article on Hera Bell's photographic works in their November 2004 issue.
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October 18th. 2004
NEW CAPA ARTICLE
CAPA's editor Joy had asked me to write an article for the publication's Fall 2004 issue. It is out now.
Check out "A Word From The Pro" section.
The funny thing is that between this debate film versus digital, the 2 images above that the editor Joy McDonald ended up publishing are from very different eras, yet they seem to have the same technical feel to them.
I had shot Jessica with Tmax 400 ISO B&W film and a Canon AE1 with a 50 mm lens under natural light. I guess this is as basic as one can get with equipment. It was over 6 years ago. Then I printed it at a color lab myself under a color enlarger with a texture on to color paper. It won an award in Europe 4 years ago.
The one armed Canadian Triathlon champion Marc Martel was shot this summer with my digital 10D in color under studio lights. Then I used a wall texture I had shot earlier then sandwiched the two together in Photoshop.
This shows that digital or film, it really doesn't matter what one uses when it comes to create such shots.
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September 25th. 2004
SHOOTING THE FINE ART OF SUSHI
Last Thursday I arrived to Yoko at 6pm. After shooting few shots of the locale I started shooting several plates of sushi till about 7.40pm.
I now invite you to see the samples from the actual shoot.
>Just click here to explore "YOKO's UNIVERSE"
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AN E-MAIL FROM A CUSTOMER
Tue, 31 Aug 2004 12:35:17 I woke up this morning and started to read my e-mails.
With her permission I would like to share this e-mail with you. It truly made my day. She came to me to do a glamour session recently. And now she is getting married.
I am all smiles right now.
" Hello Hera,
I was just thinking about you recently... my boyfriend proposed two weeks ago (those pictures you took really worked!) and I am now in the planning stages of my wedding! So as you can guess, I will be in need of a photographer to capture the moments of our special day.
If you could send me your price list and/or packages you offer for this kind of service, I would really appreciate it.
Take care,
Danièle xx " |
July 1st. 2004
CAPA magazine featured Hera's works on their cover with an inside article.
The publication was given to all the participating photographers and merchants attending this years annual CCC (Canadian Camera College) Conferences which were held in BC at the end of June.
" The feedback on your portfolio was all positive, really! One board member who belongs to a very conservative club (squeamish re nudity I guess) was going to use it to convince his fellow members that the human body is an incentive for true works of art, and they should all lighten up.
Cheers,
Joy (editor of CAPA magazine) "
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They say it can run in the family.
Today I was in my studio shooting my seven years old niece Angelica for some stock images we needed to create together. She shows such a great passion towards photography that I allowed her to do 3 shots of me at the end of the session with my Canon 10D. I showed her how my zoom works, where she should press to make the photo. Voila. If she can learn that fast, I think that no one has any excuse not to shoot great portraits of their family. It was her decision to use the grapes all over me.
Now did we ever have fun today together? YES! It was a nice way of her spending a day of her Spring Break with her auntie…
You can have a look at it at "Photographing Hera" section.
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