A weekend getaway to Parker, AZ (Part 2)

So on our 2nd day at Parker, we wasted no time getting pulled on the raft... which it seems fun until you get back there. Now I am not saying it was scary but it definitely made you feel nervous as we were on the edge of the waves many times. 

Later we realized that we needed to extend the rope out and get a bit further away from the waves that the boat was creating. This made it less nerve wracking and more enjoyable. 

As you can see my brother in law Billy is very much at home in these environments. 

So later in the day, I get a call from Billy that they dropped off my mother and father in law at the local casino. Then 20 mins later I get a call for a pick up. Looked like they weren't so lucky gambling the slots that day. They lost a good sum of money but them smiles... must of hurt bad lol.

I was burnt out most of the day because of yesterday's activities. So I do what I like to do best when I am chillin' at home, I cook! My mother in law grabbed some beautiful skirt flap meat at Costco the day before we left. This is one of my most favorite cuts of meats cause of its ability to absorb marinades and even more importantly, lime juice! 

I had some beautiful tomatoes, red onion and cilantro and made pico de gallo as a topping for our asada tacos. Only thing that was missing was some heat, habanero, serranos or my favorite, thai chilis. 

Loved watching the kids play a round of Monopoly... while the sounds of an old school movie played in the back. Now it was starting to feel like a vacation... 

Bishop was already back at fishing. He had caught a larger bass in the early morning and he was on the hunt for another. This boy loves fishing!

Took some landscapes of our view from the dock. You can see California across the river... the land where everything is expensive and taxes are high. It was nice to be on the AZ side.

At night, I decided to bring out the tripod and get some starscapes and various shots of the rocky terrain. The stars were shinny so bright that night. It was partly cloudy but more and more they started to dissipate. It gave me a chance to capture the stars and it was so dark outside, the stars really stood out.

As I noticed the Milky Way Galaxy above me and bummed that I didn't bring a lens wider than a 24mm, I only got smaller segments of the MWG. So instead I started to look for constellations. I was mainly looking for the Big Dipper because it has been so long since I have seen it. If you look at the photo above, you can see the Big Dipper if you look close enough. 

I photoshopped the lines above so it is easier to see the Big Dipper. It was so big above the horizon. I was blown away by its scale. One to remember for sure. 

Got a few shots of the house rental at night and one of the Milky Way and a shooting star blowing by. So cool...!

Next morning we started to pack up and then got together for a family portrait. Got one of the kids too... I already feel sad because I know they will look grow next year and we will look back at how small they were... ugh. :(

Found a local diner that served American Style Breakfast. I ordered the ham steak cause the waitress told me it was 1.5lbs. She wasn't kidding. The ham was super salty... but a good memory we had was when she came to check up on us later, she said, "The ham is really good. It is not salty or anything!". I nearly laughed my ass off when she said that but she was such a sweet old woman I left it as it is. Memories. lol.

On our way home, the Suburban got stopped. Needed to check and see if we weren't importing dangerous plants over from AZ. lol

There were so many beautiful clouds hanging around all day. The brown from the land and the blues form the skies were so harmonious. 

Then we found this... a place where people leave their shoes for some reason....? It smelt like a dingy old locker. So glad we stopped here. My life wouldn't have been complete without witnessing it. 

More landscapes and love's. Nuts and Iced Tea FTW.

Was a wonderful weekend to get away from the land of the crazy but glad to be back in action. 

I know a lot of you out there work a lot, don't work enough, wish you could travel more, etc. Stop making excuses in your life. Be the change you want to see. I know making change is not easy to do but with small steps, you can turn something mountainous and turn it into something you can handle on a day to day basis. 

Til the next,
Andrew Manley

Sept 15th 1995...

September 15th, 1995

The day that I asked her to be my girlfriend.

Circa Oct 1995-ish

Yup, 20 years ago that happened and now here we are... in a blink of an eye, in the future. 

I was only 15 when all of this went down. All of it fit like a glove, it was very natural from the start. Of course, I am not a normal person so she had some adjusting to do but I kept her on her toes. Never a dull moment. For example, when I asked her out, I didn't say "Would you be my girlfriend". No no no, that's no fun. We were shooting basketball in her backyard in the dark. I was so nervous the whole time and in order to break myself from my nerves, I grabbed the ball and yelled out "Ok, fuck the bullshit, will you go out with me?!". LOL... what a tool I was. She bought what I was selling, so all good hahahaha!

From the start, I knew that we were in it for the long haul. There was no pressure to be something we weren't. So our journey kept on chugging and chugging along. It all seemed like it was in a blink of an eye but when I sit down and think about it, we have been through 20 years of memories. Some of you reading this probably weren't even around 20 years ago. You were just a seed of a seed lol. We basically grew up  together, more than half our lives together.

You know when you know someone so well that you know what they are gonna do or say before they do or say it... yea... when you open yourself up and let yourself become vulnerable for someone else, it is easy to do that. Through high school, college, church stuff, our 20's, different careers, traveling, getting married and starting a family, it has been an incredible journey with you. I know in the next 20 years and 20 years after that, I already know a life full of laughter and joy will be ahead because no matter where we are, we will always have each other. 

It has been and is everything that I envisioned it to be and the joy in my heart is so full... my life has been filled many lifetimes over. I wish the world could love so deeply as we do, then life for all would be a dream.

11 years ago today, I asked this woman to be my wife. Surrounded by friends and family, it was one for the record books. She got quite a surprise that day. Mission completed gracefully and in less than 9 months, we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. I cannot wait to see you there.

So how did we celebrate our 20 year dating anniversary? Maybe a trip to Europe? Fancy Dinner? A getaway? Nope, nope, nope. We ended up watching the rain as it spontaneous poured down the entire day, eating Chipotle, shopping and eating dinner at a Korean joint. Later to be joined by my first "adopted" son Alec. Who so very quickly grabbed a photo of me in a very happy moment. Awakening from a 30 min nap that actually took 2 hours, group hugged by the wifey and my ever so handsome boy Calvin. 

I am so rich in love, I'll never be a poor man. I have been gifted with every joy that a man could and would want. A love that loves back endlessly, unconditionally and relentlessly. Thank you Lord for all that you have blessed me with. I am truly a lucky man. 

Happy anniversary love.

Photo by @alecnguyen http://www.alecnguyen.com

A weekend getaway to Parker, AZ (Part 1)

Last weekend was Labor Day and as a majority of American's leave on their vacations, my family chills at home. Why you ask? Well because of the traffic, congestion and sheer number of frustrations that go on with a 3 day weekend. So we like to go vacay on an off weekend where the mood is more relaxed. We head off to Parker, AZ, where it is right on the border of the California and Arizona border, split by the Colorado River. West side of the river is California and East side is Arizona. So cool to be at two places at one time.

 

We woke up around 5:45am and started to get things ready for the trip... we did hit the snooze a handful of time but we still kept on schedule. 

We met up with the rest of the family where we switched cars and followed my bro/sis in law along with their new boat. 

The kids were so excited... you can see how tired Bishop was still.

Since we all ran out of the house this morning, no one had time for a proper breakfast. So we stopped by Yum Yum Donuts for a filler until we got to Parker. Donuts, croissants, bagels, muffins, juice.. we loaded as much as we could!

It wasn't until we got to Palm Springs where we had a more interesting landscape to photograph. In combination with the Marumi 82mm circular polarizer, the blues in the sky became rich and contrasty and made for a more dramatic scene. All the windmills were standing still so I guess there was a lack of wind that day. Did a roller of a Chevy Suburban and a boat on a trailer. The longest vehicle I ever did a roller on. Had to shoot 4 lanes over in the fast lane while they were in the slow lane. 

We made our only pit stop in Coachella Valley at this Shell Gas Station. I guess I knew I was in the hot desert when I was welcomed by these cacti. 

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am a freak for fried chicken. I love trying all types of fried chicken but still broasted chicken is still the best. They are getting harder and harder to find. Found this Chester Fried and you know I had to get a few pieces. 

Right under the heating lamp laid my snack. Now if you have been following along my blog, you would know that I started a "diet" where I eat what I want but all I do is portion my meal. I used to eat until I was full or 110% full which led to the constant stretching of my stomach. So now I try to eat only up to 70% of capacity. In the past week, I feel better and less bloated. Two dark meat with a biscuit came out to just under $5. Ain't cheap but even worse was that it wasn't anything special. Not that I was expecting much but I love it when life throws me a curve ball. 

My mother in law loves to play her chances on scratches and Lotto. Today she won $15 but only broke even cause she bought a few extra scratchers. So it was a win but not a win situation.

So as we hit the road again, we were faced with more dirt, rocks and sky. I used slow shutter speeds to give the images a bit more character. Shot them between 1/15 and 1/60th of a second. The shot of the of the road, we ended up pulling over for it but the road had a lot of peaks and valleys so it didn't end up looking like what I wanted it for and finally we got to Parker, AZ. 

Made a panoramic of the area we were staying at.

We ended up renting out a house, got our own garage and security gate as well. It was only a 100 degrees when we got there but it got hotter as the day went on.

We started to unload and walk towards the house. This was the first part of the waterfront we saw and the dock where the boat goes. It was pretty sweet alright.

The unit had three bedrooms with a secret bedroom which had another two beds. Could have invited some more people but oh well... lol... Loved the kitchen as it was spacious and allowed for all of us to have enough room to eat and move around. 

By brother in law Billy didn't waste anytime getting the boat on the water and getting ready for a test run on the Colorado. This is where his heart is and where he wants to dwell, perhaps one day brotha. We all jumped in for a quick tour of the land and water.

We eventually came back and went out again with the whole crew and in our bathing suits. We were ready to jump in the water... oh cause you know, it was burning like hell. lol... Plenty of mansion styled homes for sale. Set you back a million+ lol.

We headed up river and eventually docked by a mini market to get some goods and jumped in the Colorado. 

The water was warm but it cooled us off nicely... here is a nice snapshot of how the next hour went. My niece Jasmyn loved the shot above. It is pretty cool that exact moment, the moment where we were just happy to be...

Photos of the happy crew... minus me of course... photogaphers always get shun'd. 

We were told by sold locals to go a bit more upstream to check out the Parker Dam. So we headed out and this is what we saw. Then we decided to go for a dip in cooler waters. 

Got some fun snaps of the kids jumping in.

Once we headed we rested a bit and the kids started fishing. I loved watching the kids be with each other. The way they played, fought, searched for each other. Watching them enjoy life in it's purist form. To be one with the land and bond with each other. I pray that their bond will always be this tight. I love you kiddos.  

We brought along some baby back pork ribs and I started to smoke them ribs... here is a shot of them closer to the finished product.

It was a pleasant first day, we got to enjoy the water and had some great family moments. 

Bishop was so determined to catch a fish and an hour in, he grabbed himself a tiny Bass! Way to go buddy!

Our lives should be spent more with our loved ones building memories. Love is the master recipe to life's success. Love something, someone, God, community, family... it never fails. I know life is never easy... we are always faced with tough decisions... sometimes circumstances make us make bad decisions but when you have something to live for... the decision is always an easy one. 

I will have more on tomorrow's blog so make sure to check it out when I announce it on Instagram.

Our very first Monarch Butterfly...

So a few weeks ago, my wife found a handful of caterpillars in her mom's backyard. Apparently Monarch Butterflies love milkweed leaves and apparently my mother in law has them lol... So my wife brings a handful of them home. 

She was so diligent in making sure that they were comfortable and had enough leaves, driving back to her mom's house to grab some more. Then apparently butterflies like a nice cool environment, how convenient since I do too and it is right in the middle of summer. So I lose a fan and they gain a happy cool place. 

It didnt take long for the caterpillars to turn into a cocoon. Suppose to take 10 days but the first one ended up taking 7 days. It turned into a chrysalis this morning and within the hour, the butterfly was out. Of course my wife freaks out and screams "She's out! OMG!"

So I grabbed the Canon 1dx and Canon 50mm 2.5 macro lens since I was using it in the morning to shoot my breakfast. Here are the photos. Enjoy

Monarch butterfly

Last minute NSX cruise from La Canada Flintridge to Lake Arrowhead

It's been awhile since I have participated on a drive/cruise and was informed of the Angeles Crest to Lake Arrowhead cruise at midnight the same day of the drive! Usually the meet up is pretty early but since I had to drive out to La Canada Flintridge, a buddy and I had to wake up at 5am and head out the door by 6 but you know how it is on a Saturday night... sleep late and waking up early is very difficult. So I think in reality we woke up at 6am and left at 6:30am but made it on time.... yay for procrastination!

A little backstory... last year in August, I blew the motor on my 2002 NSX while jammin' down ACH.... it sucked and it was expensive. It took about 7 months to get the car back and then there was the break-in period which I just barely made it over. The valves still have to get their final adjustments and such so driving the car hard wasn't an option for me. I wish I could say that I was sad to think about the unfortunate incident last year but I think I am over it as I wasn't really affected much by the thought. 

I keep my gas intentionally low in most of my cars since I do not drive them as often as someone drives a commuter. So I have to fuel up almost everytime I drive her.... just so the gas inside doesn't get too old. I love shooting at Chevron gas stations because they always have nice clean light.

Odometer is just over 78,000... check engine light due to test pipes... hopefully my builder will have a fix for that. 

Had to fuel the body after refueling the car... so headed to this McDonald's.... I knew that the food was gonna be terrible when I saw the large vinyl print they had of some guacamole burger... looked like some 3rd grader who learned how to use photoshop last month did the photoshoot and editing. Terrible. Perhaps I can lend my services to this franchise owner. BTW the sausage was over-cooked and dry. SMH 

When we got to the meeting spot, 6 others have gotten there before us and then we were met by another 8 cars I believe. Mixed crowd of young and older NSX owners. 

Since I was driving and not able to shoot, my buddy Frank was handed my Canon 1ds Mark II and I had him knock out some images with the Canon 35mm 1.4 L. Frank did a good job getting the feels for the drive. 

After an hour long drive, we stopped off at location #2 where we re-grouped and gave the cars some rest. After 30 mins, we hopped back on the road thru Silverwood Lake on Highway 138 straight to Lake Arrowhead. I was just at Lake Arrowhead last Sunday but life clusters so once again a revist to a nice little place.

Do not text and drive people... but wait... is SnapChatting ok?

VIP parking is always nice.... star treatment!

Lunch at a local Pizza joint... I guess I should have photographed some of it but I was distracted. My apologies... The thing with documentary photography is that you have to take photos of everything! You start talking to friends and this is the end result. No photos.

No need to talk to each other anymore... we have smartphones... just text/chat/message/snap each other instead. It's the only way

#keepnsxghetto

Well that was my Sunday.... I hope you guys had a good one. Keep chasing your passions and work your ass off during the week so that you can party during the week and work on the weekends... wait what? So confusing. 

Andrew Manley

Day trip to San Bernardino Mountains: Lake Arrowhead

Sometimes you dream about being in other places in a far away land but sometimes where you are may have places undiscovered. Today is not one of those days but a re-visit to a place visited long ago was pretty nice. 

Got a text from our sister-in-law Marlene about heading up to Big Bear since my mother-in-law was gonna watch our kids. Basically a free Sunday without the kids bearing down on us... so we decided a little day trip to the mountains was a perfect idea. We were really going to scout for a home to rent for the winter time but a relaxing and slow paced day was really needed.

My brother-in-law Billy is a big fan of Harley Davidson's and as an enthusiast of any motor vehicle, finding that special moment to take out your "baby" can only lead to good times, right? They ended up getting a head start on us since we still had to get ready. Had the grandparents come pick up my boy and then we hopped in my Honda S2000 with the hardtop removed and the soft top down. It's probably been 3 years since I had the top removed but today was a perfect reason to roll top down. Stopped by IEPR to grab the Sony A7s, generic EF to E-mount adapter and a Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II. Because I didn't have the Metabones available, the generic one didn't allow for aperture control so everything was shot wide open. 

Filled up at a Chevron in Claremont off the 10fwy. Took this with an iPhone since the A7s was packed away in the trunk. My wife is not familiar with using the new system so most of the way up was shot on my iPhone 6. Fancy I know...

S2000 is still a baby with only 23,857 miles for an 06. 

It's been a long time since I have driven the S2000 up into the mountains. Seems like every time I am in the mountains, I am driving some slow commuter car so today was a real treat, at least for me... the wifey was getting sick. Sorry babe.

One of the best parts about driving up to Lake Arrowhead are the double lanes. No need to worry about getting caught behind a family in a mini van driving the speed limit. I ain't got no time for that. Life is a race, need to get to the top fast!

Look at these roads... beautiful... anyone with any kind of sport vehicle needs to come up here frequently. 

After we climbed most of the mountain, pulled over to snap the landscape and let the S cool down for a minute. I have to say that I still have to get used to the focus peaking on the A7 series... the camera definitely showed the car in focus but when I got home, the bushes are in focus. Had to put the soft top on cause I was getting burnt up!

The generic EF to E mount adapter showed some significant vignetting and since I could only shoot wide open, it was what it was.... adds to the mood of the sky. Look at all that LA smog! Breathe it in folks, breathe it in... lol 

Leather brown Chuck Taylors

Setting the camera up, test subject... my trusty old leather Chucks

MBN (must be nice) to have a view like this in your backyard. I am guessing that is one of the perks of living all the way up here

Look at that smile... gazing out into the the world... next stop, Lake Arrowhead 6 miles away. 

If you look close enough, the wifey spotted a rock climber. Yup, some guy decided that right over there would be a nice rock to climb. Maybe one day I will understand the fascination of climbing rocks.... maybe... lol

When we finally got to the village, we got super lucky finding parking right away. It wasn't until after we started to walk towards the businesses how many people were driving around looking for a place to park. Life is always about timing... Met up with the bro and sis. I was starving and without jumping on my phone to look for a place to eat on Yelp, I just walked into McDonald's and grabbed a double meal combo. Double cheeseburger and small fries for $2.50? Sold. Yes @manleyeats will occasionally eat fast foods... it's ok, its fast and hits the spot... don't judge me.

After the fuel up, we were people watching by the dock and noticed something hilarious. I have to admit that dogs that live up here have lives better than most elsewhere. I want to be a dog like this in my next lifetime. You ready for it?

Without hesitation, Marlene was rushing me to get a photo of these dogs. The owners were real cool about it... but look at these dogs... they have sunglasses! I'm pretty sure they were more expensive than my Chilli Bean glasses. Will you just look at how happy they are?!

People were doing all sorts of happy things.... I need to be doing what they are doing... it's on the list of things I need to do. 

So one of the things I do best is critique shit... this drives some people crazy while some people like that about me. For me, it's what I do. If you don't like that, try talking to the tree at your nearest park, you might get a better response. jk #sorrybutnotsorry. The other thing is eating... I love to eat but I usually can't eat without doing the thing I do best, which is critique.... so I am kind of an asshole when it comes to food. At least that is what everyone thinks but in reality I just have a set of standards that needs to be met. That's why people get confused when I can enjoy a meal at McDonald's and a steak at Vic and Anthony's. You see, it is like this, you can take the same french fry from McDonald's, throw them in the fryer, fry until golden brown, remove them from oil, salt and serve. If you eat those fries within 3 mins, they will be amazing. Let them sit for 10 mins, game over. Just throw them away. I don't need to eat no 10 min fry. Timing is everything as I mentioned before. Of course freshness, balance, flavor, butter and salt are a must. Yes I can just do butter and salt as a meal lol.

They had a some interesting stores if you had a need to spend money... i.e.: a dinosaur store, dog desserts only, knickknack store but I was quickly drawn by the beef jerky woman. I mean all commercial beef jerky is so nasty in terms of flavor and texture. When I find a small business where they actually care about the quality of their product, I support. 

Sky Ranch Specialties has all sorts of high quality beef jerky for your desired palette. Since I enjoy things that are spicy, salty and vinegary, I opted for the Peppered jerky since that is my favorite. I bought a bag and when I chewed into them, I had to get another bag. What I didn't take a photo of is their Southwest BBQ Jerky... the semi-sweet but hickory smoked flavor got me... and this is coming from someone who doesn't like any sweets in my meats. Killed two bags before the end of the day. Get some!

Next stop was The Grapevine Store which was a very nice stop to cool down with some beer and wine. We ended up getting a sampler of their hard ciders. Two of the four tasted like candy.... on our way out, we ended up grabbing two bottles of their sweet beer later to find out we got the wrong one. We ordered Doc's Draft when it was really the Rekorderlig Berry we wanted. But no fret, we still handled it.

Look at how the ladies smile with glee when presented with cold elixir of a very sweet caliber. In combination with the beef jerky, all was good.

After the beer consumption, we headed out to the deck to check out the sights. Not sure why I posted a photo of the red umbrella... Red is my favorite color and I like the tones of this one I guess lol. 

As stated before, I am not a fan of sweets usually but I am a sucker for toffee... perhaps its the butter and sugar combination but that tickles my fancy. I am all about it. So walked into Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a bit of a sample. 

Next on the list was a short cruise over to our dinner spot. So we jumped into our cars and bike and had a beautiful scenic drive over. 

Did a quick photoshoot of my bro and sis chillin' by his Harley. Didn't go for a dramatic photo, just something to remember the day by. 

For dinner, we check out a restaurant on Yelp rated with a 4.5 star review called Stone Creek Bistro. Very hipster-ish restaurant, small but cozy, lots of wood decor and a nice and easy vibe. Our waitress was pretty funny, with her sassy spirit... made it a nice enjoyable evening. Billy ordered the New York Steak (it was funny to see the waitress' face when he asked for A1 lol), Marlene got the Pork Chops, Methuse got the Carbonara and I got the appetizer BLT. 

After dinner, there was still some daylight left. We walked out to this beautiful landscape.

We were debating about heading to Temecula Wineries but we started to get tired. Got home, put my head on my LoveSac to get a little nap in at 8:30pm and then woke up at 8:30am. LOL... it was a great day.

Andrew Manley

Olan Mills Styled Family Portrait... taking it way back

#tbt
So for the guys that know me well, know that I am not a "middle of the road" type of guy. Matter of fact, I usually like to do things way over board and I have little regard for other people's opinion. So hence why I created an image like this lol....

Every holiday season, my wife and I get holiday cards from friends and family but I wanted to do something different back in Christmas of 2013. I wanted to give people a good chuckle. 

One day as I was browsing for posing ideas, I saw this creepy ass family portrait. All of us who grew up in the 80's know exactly what I am talking about. I don't know how it became a trend but the entire 80's and early 90's was a big trip. So with this as my inspiration to replicate, I set forth in my conquest of an awesome but creepy family portrait. 

Had to get wardrobe down so I had my wife look for wardrobe at a thrift store. She found me a vanilla colored turtle neck that would be perfect. I was trying to find a wig to go with my 80's sweater but to no avail so I kept it OG. My wife found a velvet like sweater and we put my son in a vest with a turtle neck to match his old pops. 

When I was young, I hated taking photos... I would make stupid faces all the time. I had no care for photos so how does life repay me for all my bad deeds? My son does the same lol... but I had to bully him to cooperating. I guess it worked out since he wanted to make silly faces. Totally worked out in the last frame. (we did take more than 3 frames).

I used a black backdrop and board so that I can blend and hide myself into the tobacco texture. Used a simple two light setup with the key light being about 5 stops brighter than the fill. Just wanted subtle details on the right side of my face. Damn it was getting hot in that sweater, at least that's what I remembered... lol

Chimping... making sure it's all gravy.

Sat down for a quick edit to make sure that the composite is good and boom goes the dynamite. 

and just like that folks, I created magic. Sent it to all our friends and family where most of them died to mass hysteria. I have to give mad props to my beautiful wife for being down for the ride and thank you to my son for being who he is. This is my family, we are different and that's just normal to us. LOL.

Oh I totally forgot about these other two I did until Alec reminded me. I did a set with Lloyd on his scooter. He was so in love with her and that helmet. That hair doe... and then Alec and Mona were committed to the portrait. Look at all the fun these create! Life is all about being a G!

Hope you all enjoyed this one. 

Andrew Manley

Newport Dunes + RV

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people in my life. Family sometimes are out of our control and you have to deal with circumstances which can make your life difficult. That's why when I look at my immediate family, I am so truly blessed to be surrounded by an amazing set of brothers and sisters. I couldn't have asked for more.... and when you combine great people with great times, for me that is the definition of the Good Life. 

Yesterday, Methuse, Calvin and I headed to Newport Dunes (http://www.newportdunes.com) for a day in the sun. My brother in law Billy and sister in law Marlene picked up a 36 foot 'Class A' RV a few months back and they have been living it up vacationing everywhere. I am getting the bug for this lifestyle and have been looking into a RV but time will tell if we eventually get one. 

I brought out my trusty and simple setup, Canon 5d Mark III and Canon 35L. The 35L has been my favorite focal length since 2004 and has never let me down. When I travel or go anywhere for that matter, I like to travel lite as bulk is never a friend of my joints. Especially at the tender age of 35... yes I said tender! lol

Since I didn't bring my 24mm TSE with me, I started to play with the idea of detaching my lens from the body to give that tilting effect. Not too bad for my first attempt.

I tried these water obstacles last time... looks fun but takes a great deal of energy so this time I passed easily. lol

It's hard to get children to stand in front of a camera for more than 3 secs so I will chalk this one up as a win... caught them in a moment of sweet summer bliss.

I have always be infatuated with trying to lock down a technique where the subject is slightly out of focus. The photo above is not a sample of this per say since I tilted the lens by unmounting it but there is a beauty in things not perfect. I will try to work on that some more in the future. 

I like how people react in front of the camera... like many photographers, I also act strange when a camera is pointed in my direction and make strange faces as this young lad taking my credit card information for the kayak rental. 

Racks on racks of Kayaks... must be nice. Shot this one at f/1.4 at 1/8000th ISO100.

A photographer's life is tough... all my vacation photos look like my wife is a single mother... lol I know a lot of you have this same issue right?

As each year passes, I feel myself getting marginally older but when I see the faces of these loves of mine, I know I am getting old. Grade school, middle school, high school are all around the bend. ugh

Another father-less capture lol... Cal is a classic example of a person who loves all things water. His love fuels my love. 

I believe in exercising but damn it is a lot of work isn't it? The burn is real. Finding a good rhythm is a must when multiple people are paddling. Remember that next time you go on a multiple person kayak. 

Jazmyn paddle boarded the entire hour like a champ. So proud of this one... the family the rows together....

Bishop being the athlete he is also handled the waters like a champ. The smile says it all doesn't it? 

Even though it wasn't a holiday, seeing the good ole red, white and blue made this day appreciative. Thank you to all those that serve and have served. 

Lead the way Jaz!

Now selfies I don't do often but I got tired of the father-less portraits so I had to get one that I could remember... no worries, it only took me 42 shots to nail this one. SMH

BBQ + Beach is always a must

You know an Asian family is close when....

So out of nowhere, Calvin started to do backflips underwater after watching Jaz and Bishop do it a few times. His love for water is deep... I am proud of you my boy.

Innocent looking but a ruckus is a-coming

Splish splash

This one will bring me smiles for years to come. 

Deep into the night they run

After the kids have settled down, we take a moment to remember the day. The fire burns with passion.

I hope that all of you have been taking the time to enjoy your summer. I know as we get older, the days, weeks, months, years all pass by so fast. We get caught up in the routine of life and that ultimately kills us slowly. Decades later, we wonder where the time went. Break up your routine. Do something out of the ordinary on a Tuesday because every Tuesday should feel like a Saturday shouldn't it?

Thanks for inviting us Billy, Marlene, Jaz, Bishop and Addy... We love you guys truly!

Til the next time
Andrew

Farewell to Liz...

About 10 months ago, we found out that an extended cousin of ours was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. As you can imagine, everyone was terrified but Liz was a fighter and she had so many things to brave the fight for. Her teen daughter and her eldest son were on the top priority list but this woman being as loving and generous as she is, made it her goal to help everyone else during her fight with this ugly disease. 

If you ever met Liz, she was so warm and genuine to everyone she met. It's hard to find that quality in people these days and that is probably the reason why she had so many people show up at her funeral service today. At the end of July, Liz breathed her final breathe and left this earth in peace next to her loved ones. They say that she gave it her all to the very end. 

Today at the beautiful Covina Hills Forest Lawn, everyone was dressed in white to celebrate her life the way she celebrated her own life every single day. It was an amazing ceremony and very symbolic of Liz. She even rode cloud 9 over during the outside burial to make sure everyone was too hot. The light was so soft and allowed me to snap the photo of the doves being released the way it was shot. 

RIP Liz, we know you got lots to do behind the scenes.