The American Man Project

I have found myself in a season of great growth. Recently I married the woman of my dreams, moved into a small apartment downtown, traveled  and started to grow a beard. My recent endeavors have sparked an interest in what it means to truly be a man here in America. I have decided that while I grow out my beard and enter a new level of manlyhood, that I would photograph and write about all the things that either our culture, or myself have discovered to be deemed "manly."Some things may be incredibly stereotypical, sexist and probably a little humorous but the idea is to examine the effects of our culture on the way we grow up and perceive the world around us as men. I hope this little adventure will be fun, somewhat insightful and entertaining for anyone viewing it. Id like to introduce my first observation of masculinity.

The 45 Long Colt Hollowpoint

Guns; our second amendment right to bear arms. Its obvious that firearms play a big part of our history here in America and many men like to occasionally load up, head out to the middle of nowhere and squeeze off a few rounds of explosive metal.

OLD but NEW

Its always fun looking back on old photos that I have taken over the years, but as we change so does our taste in art and how we like to express ourselves. This post is going to be a collection of old photos that I have made new.

Grand Canyon University Cheer

For over a year now I have had the amazing privilege of dating the wonderful Jesi lynn Smith, which also means i've had the amazing opportunity to get to know some the best athletes and people that I could call my friends. These people are known as the GCU Cheerleaders. This group of guys and girls are incredibly talented and not only do they work their butts off day to day to be the best at what they do, but they love eachother in a way that is indescribable. Every year the team gains more and more talent thanks to the hard work of the dedicated athletes and the determination and leadership of their talented coaches Erin Ditto and Emily Stephens. The team has high expectations this year as they plan on competing once again at nationals and I have no doubt that they will place top 3. I can't wait to see some of GCU's best perform throughout this next year and show what school spirit is really about. GO LOPES!

-GCU Cheer and Dance

Ojai

It's really hard to get inspirtation in a place you've been your entire life, things just look the same and it's harder to find something interesting but I think I got one.

Something Special

So last weekend I was blessed to have someone so close to my heart come visit me here in ca and it really was the best time ive had in too long. It was my birthday but the real gift was getting to spend time with the beautiful Jesi Smith and of course I had to make her feel awkard and take a million shots of her when we were hanging out at our favorite beach in Carpinteria. You better see this soon cause its all for you, you're truly something special <3

Willow

Friends have always been a huge part of my life and so im always happy to get photos of all of them.Willow is and has been a great friend for a long time and even though I constantly give her a hard time she's never afraid to swing back which I have alot of respect for. here ya go Willow.

Spending Time Unwisely

So I came to class today completely unprepared with a project I didn't do and not a whole lot to print and mount. So naturally I just grabbed a computer and started to edit some old photo that really wasn't anything special. Well it turned out pretty cool and I think worthy of a blog entry so here it is. Heres to being a productive procrastinator.