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.

Lake Havasu Lights

So I just got back from a gorgeous weekend in Lake Havasu, Arizona and I had alot of misconceptions about the beauty of the state of Arizona, until now. The weather for the most part was still scorching hot at about 107 all weekend but the nights were amazing, particulary sunday night as it cooled down to about 85 with a perfect breeze, i got to spend some time walking around the london bridge with my someone special and then something amazing happened. At least it was amazing for me.. of course lightning is no big deal to someone who lives in Arizona and gets to have great weather and still see the sky light up like a candle every 30 seconds... needless to say i was in awe as we walked over the bridge to see the channel painted with neon lights from the local shops and lighting brightening the sky behind the clouds. One of the greatest nights ive ever had and i got a few shots out of it as well. ALOS

FOHO- Being Creative

So over the last few weeks ive been the summer program photographer at Forest Home Ojai Valley and it's been an amazing experience and a great oppurtunity to grow as a photographer and in my faith, but the only thing about doing photography for a summer camp is that you don't really get a chance to be creative because they really just want something mom will frame and put on the wall, i did get few chances to do something different when i wasn't on the clock and so here you are, these are for jesi :)

Out Of Focus

So it has been way too long since ive posted an update but here i am finally back on the computer. It's been a very eventful summer so far and it's only about to get better as i start my job as summer program photographer at forest home ojai valley. I've been working at camp for around 2 years now and it still amazes me how much fun working at a camp really is. Now i don't have alot to show as far as really creative projects so far this summer but i have gotten alot of really good pics while wakeboarding and visiting forest home mill creek and such. Well there was this one day i got to hangout with one of my goodfriends from elementary school who's in town for summer and i got a few shots of the old train bridge which for some reason i love going to. Welp here ya go.

People People People

I realized that most of my photos have been places or things but not a whole lot of people, so now that i have a new lens that is great for portraits i thought i'd start capturing, well people, whether they realize it or not.

Finally Back

After working on Cirque du Solei 3D in Vegas and spring breaking in Lake Havasu im finally back shooting again.

For Our Troops

I was at the Santa Monica pier today and next to it was a display of crosses for our troops that passed each one marking a life. Its crazy to think how long this war has lasted.

Fire

So I recently became really interested with low light photography and fire is a pretty fun thing to shoot, i just got my remote in the mail so you'll see some long exposure pictures up here fairly shortly, but for now here are a few recent pics

Canon EOS 60D

I finally upgraded my camera, from that dinky nikon to a much nicer canon and the difference is so satisfying. Here's a few shots tooken up in the snow at Frazier Park.

Making Memories

We recently went out and took some shots for our band at the oil refinery in Ventura, i set up the shots, Abbey Moreno took the pictures and then i did a little editing after. Turned out good, thanks Gail :)

San Diego

So i didn't get any internet service where i was in San Diego so i couldn't upload any pics but i got a few so here they are.

Snow

Very excited for the holidays, lots of good friends are in town and i've definetly been spending alot of time catching up. The other day we decided to go look for snow up the maricopa hwy... we didnt find much but i still got at least one good shot. Expect to see more within the next week, im taking a trip to san diego and im gonna be shooting the entire time im there and i will probably even upload some stuff when im down there so check back soon :)

Somethin New

I Recently learned an interesting way to edit my photos in Photoshop using infrared, gaussian blur, soft light adjustments and filters and i think they turned out pretty cool, here are a few i've done so far.

Ventura, CA

I had to do some shooting for a class project and I went a little overboard with the sunset shots, gotta love Ventura's beaches.