Family Portraits at Mt Baldy Mountains

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing three different families at Mt Baldy Mountains. It was such a lovely day to take photos as it was brisk yet warm when the sun started to break through the trees. 

I had the pleasure of documenting the lives of these 3 families all at different stages of their growth. A new family with a 5 month old, a family of 5 five with 3 pre-teens and a larger family where the kids were already grown and had their own child. 

About 8 years ago, I shot children lifestyle full time for 3 years so it has been some time since I have been hired to shoot a family. However old skills kicked right back in when I met these families and jumped right in to capture the essence of their lives. Since having a family of my own since then, I can understand even more deeply how important it is to capture children. Their lives change so fast and it's the only way to really remember them in all of their glory. 

Thank you to the Arevalo, Nguyen and Muon family for allowing me to capture your family.

Happy Thanksgiving all and spread love everyday. 

Andrew Manley

Emory Motorsports

It's becoming so rare nowadays to come across a business that is ran with great passion and with the utmost integrity. People are losing their ways because people are blinded by profits and have little regard for quality and patience. Great things come with time and some things are not meant to be rushed. 

For those of you who don't know who Rod Emory/Emory Motorsports, well you better take note cause he is the man when it comes to all things Porsche 356. He was destined to do what he is currently doing from the birth. His grandfather started Valley Custom back in the 40's and was well known for channeling and sectioning cars that had a very subtle but noticeable look from their stock counterparts. Rod's father continued the tradition with a small garage and ultimately started the Baja Bug craze when he gave new life to Bug's that were otherwise worthless from being an accidents. His father eventually started a Porsche parts business where Rod grew up being surrounded by car parts which basically were like Legos to him. Check out his piece on Jay Leno's Garage by clicking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwln2ji-yOE)

He started his first 356 build at the age of 14 years old. If you were to ever accidentally walk into Rod's garage and were looking for the owner, you may actually walk right past him. For all of the experience Rod has, you would have no idea cause Rod looks very young. Mid to late 30's but has the knowledge of someone in their 60s. He is a walking, talking history book for all things 356 and with this car growing ever so in popularity, the name Emory will be synonymous with 356. 

Since I have been in the marketplace for a Porsche 997.1 GT3 for the past 6 months, a purchase has been derailed by shortage of supply, purchase of a 964, patiently waiting for my S2000 to sell, etc but as we all know, life has it's reasons. Now I have been reconsidering the purchase of a GT3 for a 356 coupe. I have always loved the designs of the 356 convertible, especially watching it on Top Gun and Dylan McKay on the original 90210. However the prices of 356 convertibles are in the mid $200k range and way out of my budget. When I found out coupes were much cheaper, it started to dawn on me that one day I would add it to my collection. 

A buddy of mine who I will not mention, has been dreaming of vintage Porsches heavily for the past year. He is into 912s and SCs but it wasn't until you sent me a photo of the Emory 356's that it really caught my eye. I mean these gems were drop dead gorgeous and when I found out that Rod Emory started the whole Outlaw term and had them beefed up from 60hp to 180/200hp, I was game. 

I made a quick call to Emory Motorsports where I was pleasantly surprised that Rod himself picked up the phone. Not only that, he was super genuine and helpful in his conversations. When I found out his builds were "a tad" out of my budget, I still wanted to do what I could to see these cars in person and to meet the legend himself. I asked Rod to check out my website and see if he would be down to let me come by and perhaps shoot the garage. Rod accepted but I am sure he did it as a kind gesture however I know that he doesn't do something like this very often. So I was stoked and blessed for my appointment. 

I confirmed with Rod in the morning of our "date" to see if we were still on and after the green light, I invited a buddy of mine who is in the market for older Porsches and has a lot of experience with vintage aircooled VWs. 

When we got there and walked up to the entrance, I started to become very excited as I could see how amazing this hidden gem was filled with goodies that grown men like me drool over. Of course I was getting text messages from people who knew I was gonna be here wanting minute to minute updates. Of course I kindly ignored them as Paul and I was lost in the space of amazingness. 

What I loved most about meeting Rod was that he is the same guy on all the online videos and in person. So many people have tv personalities and in person are very different. Rod took 90 mins out of his day to show Paul and me around his shop, give us the history of his life in connection with the 356, the history of the many amazing 356's in the shop, old and present builds. It was surreal to say the least. 

Rod understands the ideal of quality and time and not being overwhelmed by quantity. He only builds 7-9 cars a year so he is picky about what comes in. He wants the builds to represent his artistry to the fullest. I loved him showing us how the cars go down a spot every time it finished rust repair, suspension mods, mod adjustments, etc. Plenty of room for their technicians to move around and get the work. It was a nice cool working environment. I never once felt like there was a whip out and technicians were getting whipped to get the job done. It was all a harmonious balance. 

Here is a chassis of a 964 getting chopped up to be utilized in a 356. It is sad to see a 964 like that but perhaps it was already on her death bed and now there is new life after death. I want an Emory 356. 

912's - 356's, ugh... just awesome goodness everywhere... hard to concentrate. It's a wonderland of lust. 

Part of what makes Rod's shop so amazing is his long family history of working on cars. Three generations of knowledge and 3 generations of tools. I mean look at this stuff. They don't make machines like this anymore. Vintage machines being brought back to life by vintage machines. Amazing! I want an Emory 356. 

Everything hand crafted by technicians who love what they do. It's Porsche Car Heaven. Below is a photo of Art strolling past trying not to get in the shot but loved that he is. 

Rod spent 18 years in Oregon building Porsches for a client of his. He still has his warehouse up there but love the Oregon plates to keep the roots of his past present. 

Everything is clean and organized. This is how a garage should look like. This is how I want a garage to look like if I were to bring my car in. Too many shady shops out there with little integrity. I know a lot of you out there got stories. 

Oh you know, just got random racing memorabilia hanging on the wall. No big deal.   

Drool...

Sal getting down and dirty!

Rod showing Paul and I his dies to add louvers to various parts of the car. 

You can see the outlines before it goes to the press machine

Another great thing about Rod is that he is not only at the shop everyday, he still gets his hands dirty every single day and puts in work. He doesn't sit behind a desk and point fingers. This guy leads his team by example. Emory putting in Outlaw work. I want an Emory 356.

One of those 356's will be a project 356 car for Momo. Wait until it is unveiled. It is gonna look nuts. Game changer for sure. 

Here is a portrait of #46. It is a 1951 LeMans Class Winning Porsche. In all of her glory, so beautiful

I've never been a big silver fan but after a single visit here, I understand why. Rod believes that silver is the best color to highlight all the great things about this car without a flashy color like red stealing all of the thunder. It makes sense but all I could keep my eyes on was the quality of the paint. It is a 12/10. Mirror finish. Gave me chills. I want an Emory 356. 

Various accessories considered "outlaw" by Purists but Rod says that he was just doing what Porsche was already doing. I am in love.

 Look at how happy Paul is right there. We were like kid's in a candy shop for sure. 

I want to thank Rod once again for opening his doors to two fans of the brand and his love of the 356 that gave us new generations of kids to dream and aspire for. Rod is a shining example of someone who is not only a leader but has turned his passion into a business that benefits the love we all have for cars. 

I am so grateful to have met you and have documented a small part of your journey. 
Check out Emory Motorsports at http://www.emorymotorsports.com

Til the next time,
Andrew Manley
Auto Enthusiast

Porsche Carrera 964 on GMR

GMR is a pretty famous mountain road out here is SoCal. It used to be a place a lot of young enthusiastic mountain drivers would go to test their driving ability at night.  

In recent times, the road has been getting a lot of attention from the media in which gives a lot of attention to the police. So police have been a bit more proactive about monitoring it for extra curricular activity. 

Last week we had a day with very heavy rain and the next morning, Phil with @handsomeandphilthy called me up to go take photos on GMR. Figuring rain photos would be cool, I agreed and met him up there.  

But the whole time, it never rained although we had very ominous rain clouds hanging right over our heads.  

For this shoot, I kept the editing styles more loose to show some variety in style. I'm happy with the way they turned out.

Hopefully next time around, I can actually get some rain photos and maybe getting someone to drift in the rain would be sweet.

Andrew Manley​
Automotive Photographer​

2014 Mitsubishi EVO X GSR Photoshoot in the IE

The Legendary Mitsubishi EVO has now come to an end. Hailed for all of it's accolades in the Rally Realm, the Evo has been a long lusted car in the US prior to it's arrival in 2003/2004. When the EVO and STI finally got approved to come stateside, you can imagine all of the JDM enthusiast that were so excited to see it here.

Back in 2006, before I got my S2000, I was on the fence between this and the EVO IX. Of course for those that know, the EVO IX was the ultimate in the EVO performance before the bigger, heavier, slower and softer X came in.   

My son has always since the age of 2 been infatuated with the face of the EVO. I mean it has a nice mean look to it. Since I needed a family car, it was natural for me to gravitate towards the sedan. 

However after a year of driving her, I realized that I wasn't so happy with her. Driving position, gearing, MPG, dimensions all played into what didn't fit for me. I mean she is extremely fast and nimble for a big girl but at the end, I felt disconnected from her. 

Before selling her after 18 months of ownership, I have decided to do one last shoot with her. So I headed out with Leonard Holland and Marcos Perdomo to document this night. 

I have always wanted to do a shoot in a self car wash but never needed to so this was a great opportunity to do it. Although I probably won't my car here again anytime soon cause the stress of trying to wash my car in 12 mins was too much. lol. Leonard and Marcos got some photos of me washing the car but I have not received them as of yet. 

Here is a shot of the gauges documenting the "low miles". 5000 miles in 18 months is pretty low. The gauges although not amazing were nicely done and got the job done without being a snore. 

My favorite shot of the night was done at Sonic's in Rancho Cucamonga. We got there close to closing so there were some people still dining. After they started to leave one by one, I was all set for the shot. I love the tones and color in this shot. 

After Sonic's we headed to The Hat for some late night dinner. Filled up with Pastrami, we decided to head to the very end of Lytle Creek. It took about 15-20 mins from the 15 fwy to get here but it was a very cool location indeed. Leonard has been here many times so it made us feel more relaxed since it was pitch black.... well most of it was but we did have the moon to light us. It was really chilly this summer night but got lucky cause I had 4-5 jackets/sweaters in there. 

 

All BTS photos shot by Leonard Holland at http://www.leonardholland.com

It was a good run, EVO X... I hope you have a great future with your new owner. 

Andrew Manley
Automotive Photographer

Conquer_LA, grub Little Tokyo and a walk along 6th Street Bridge in Downtown Los Angeles

A bunch of us at IE Photo Rentals decided to check out the latest meet up with the @conquer_la guys this past weekend. Leonard Holland (http://www.leonardholland.com), who is one our interns at IE Photo Rentals has been a part of these social media meet ups for some time. 

It was a great way for me to get out there and test shoot a new lens. Today I chose to shoot the newest Tamron 15-30mm 2.8 VC on the Canon 1dx body. All of the images below were shot on it, check it out at IE Photo Rentals Website.

Tamron 15-30mm 2.8 VC

This recent photo meet up was not a photo walk, but more of a gather and shoot event. Since most of us haven't attended an event like this prior, it would of been nice to been apart of a moving group to get a real feel for these type of events but I guess there is always next time. 

We all met up at the Echo Park Lake, which I remember to be a very sketchy area back back back in the day but apparently it has gone thru some serious gentrification probably from the help of some very hard working hipsters. 

The park summed up Los Angeles really well. You had all types of ethnic backgrounds, people of all ages, people hustlin' toys and food, hipsters and families. Although I didn't get any shots of them, the elote (corn man) and churro lady made the day at the park so much more memorable. The fact you can enjoy a day out and experience other cultures is always a win in my book. Look at how beautiful the sun was shiny between the trees....  yea it was a glorious day. 

You can see how happy Leonard is at these type of events. His whole face just lights up! My son Calvin was just happy to have gotten a Batman ice cream which he scarfed down in a few quick minutes. Left me none :(

Here is a shot of Pro with the Sony A7s and the Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art. That lens is no joke, probably the sharpest lens I have ever used. The crowd started to grow as it got darker. 

As the sun went down, the blues in the sky were glowing beautifully. All of these were snapped hand held at 2.8. With the help of the people in the crowd, light was abundant with the help of a few different handheld light sources. 

We hung out for a good 40 mins and decided to head out to Little Tokyo for dinner. We ended up at Spitz, which has amazing fries with gyro meat but I didn't snap any inside. My bad. 

Leonard had never been to Little Tokyo so we did a little tour of the area after dinner. Instead of taking photos of all the cool Japanese decor, we all stood there taking photos of each other. In this photo everyone is photographing me cause I might have flexed my guns or something awesome. lol

Last time I photographed this building, I had my older Canon 1ds Mark II and it's low light struggles quite a bit. With the Canon 1dx, it did a much nicer job picking up the shadow details. The images did have perspective adjusted in post due to the lens having very strong distortion at 15mm. 

The image below is a shot of a popular Japanese gift store. Just thought it was interesting with all of the Marilyn Monroe decor.

Chase bank had crazy blue neon lights going so we ran inside just to snap a quick portrait. 
Across the street, stairs led into an underground parking area. I loved the color and texture of it so I snapped for you guys to enjoy. 

A week prior to my boy's 6th birthday, he contemplates the journey of his life or perhaps he was thinking of ice cream again. :)

We ended up at the 6th St bridge shortly after walking around DTLA. Some of the guys we met at the meet up were meeting up here as well. Some guys climbed up the structure to get the higher perspective but it was a bit too nerve wracking for the most of us. Got some light streaks flowing thru...

Above is a landscape of the tracks that lead to the San Bernardino and Riverside lines. I think OC/SD lines are shown as well. 

We then decided to hike down to the LA River and under the 6th St bridge. It was a bit sketchy at 12am going into a pitch black tunnel but with 8 other friends and a flashlight, it was exciting. I didn't shoot inside the tunnel cause I was probably distracted. SMH

Below you can see the landscapes I took of under the bridge. It was so vast down there and we felt so small under these huge pillars. 

I wanted to check out California Donuts after but since it was close to 1am, most of the group was exhausted and we started to head home. 

Thanks to Leonard for inviting us out. We had a great time!

Til the next
Andrew Manley
Wandering Photographer

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

964 & 991 @Rusnak Porsche in Pasadena, CA

So the other night, a few Purist guys and I went out to shoot some old Euro cars. We had one guy drop out last minute and that was replaced with a newer JCW Mini Cooper Turbo. I will upload the rest of those photos another day.

We headed to Glendora originally to get a few shots at The Donut Man and as we waited for everyone, it started to rain. Then it started to rain real good... got me worried a bit since the roads were gonna be slick. Ended up stopping 30 mins into and then we proceeded to Pasadena.

While shooting around Pasadena, came across a Porsche dealership while we were waiting in the Ralph's parking lot across the street. I thought it would be cool to do a time piece showing the old vs new 911 since a red Carrera was right on the show room floor. 

I didn't know how the shot was gonna turn out since the lighting conditions were pretty lousy and on top of that, I only had a 24-70mm on me and the street was really wide. I knew that I was most likely gonna shoot in the street somewhere.

Luckily I was only 3 feet into the street to make my composition work but nevertheless it worked out fine. 

I started off by getting my ambient shots. I did a bracket shot and got the following below:

Shot on the Canon 1dx and Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II with a Circular Polarizer. ISO 100, f2.8, 2.5 secs, bracketed for 3 stops + and -

Above is our first run light painting with the Westcott Ice Light. My goal was to try and light the top and and the mid part of the lines well. We ran into some issues properly highlighting the hips of the Carrera due to it popping out. So we ran a handful of trials. Got it looking decent towards the end but I had to fix it in photoshop to make it more acceptable.   

Above you can see all of the various variations I did. You can see how gradually I added color tones, got rid of lots of reflection on the glass and poster, got rid of the tree and cleaned up the car as much as I could. In addition, I had to add a darker gradient going down the car and darkening the wheels to make it feel more natural. I also cleaned up the Porsche banner above the 991. The previous one was driving into the window break so I cleaned it up and applied a new logo on there. All about the details.

Above is the final image. I am pretty happy with the outcome and I think it shows the two off really well. I still like my air cooled better but I guess I am biased lol. 

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below and be sure to click on the like and share button!

TIl the next one,
Andrew Manley
Automotive Photography

Photo of me directing Phil (@handsomeandphilthy) how to light the Carrera. BTS Coverage by Danny from Blue Soul Photography

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.

First trip to Burger Parlor in Downtown Fullerton

The love for food is always a tug of war. We all love to eat but eating too much leads to bad places... the California Foodie scene is strong and the social media game for food is even stronger. Restaurants, food trucks, fusion dessert, ethnic.. we have it all here in Socal... but today I will be starting off my first food blog post with a burger shop in DTF (downtown Fullerton).

Located right in the heart of DTF on the East side of Harbor Blvd, Burger Parlor is nestled in a loft-like space where they make a variety of burger and burger accessorized sides. My assistants Hector and Nancy have been telling me to check this joint out for a minute but finally stumbled across it just over the weekend. Coincidently a few days ago I started the change in my eating habits... it's not really a diet per say but it's a diet which consists of watching my portions. 

I used to eat until I couldn't eat no more... my stomach would stretch with great joy but then I started the inevitable weight gain. So in order to continue enjoying my lifestyle, I will still eat what I love but will eat up to 75% of my stomach's full capacity. Hopefully this goes well.... so today's blog post didn't consist of beautiful greasy, dirty and calorie filled foods... well sort of. 

For all of your connoisseurs of beer, here is your selection on tap to choose from. 

Below we started off with the Snack Shack which is basically a chili cheese fries in a bowl. I love ketchup with my chili fries so it was quickly added after I took this shot.  

As my wife and I chowed down on the Chili Fries while we waited for some friends,  I quickly realized that I was getting full... so I was in a tough spot. Forget my own commitment to my portioning diet or just munch of someone else. So as I went up to order my son's junior meal, I ended up eating half of his. Sad isn't it?

Our friends ended up getting the Vegan burger and the Danish Blue with a side of waffle sweet potatoes. Both look delicious and cooked well.

I spoke with the manager who gracious allowed me to take some photos of the kitchen and then putting together a Captain Crunch Milkshake. Tasted just like a bowl of milk and cereal. Made with love and lots of soft serve. 

We ended up coming into the restaurant between the lunch and dinner rush so we didn't have to wait but by the time we were leaving, it started to get very crowded. 

Cool little spot if you are into boutique burgers... next time I will come in for the Old Fashion or Smokey.

Til the next,
Andrew Manley