Prime Perspective Photography

Sometimes owning your own business means not clocking out at...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:22:19 -0400

Sometimes owning your own business means not clocking out at 5pm. (Taken with Instagram)

“Just a bit of a break from the norm.” - Will Smith,...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:03:00 -0400

“Just a bit of a break from the norm.” - Will Smith, “Summertime”

“Let’s go on a roadtrip!” - Aimee

“Yeah sure let’s do it.” - Me

“No, I’m serious. Let’s go to SF this weekend with whoever wants to go.” - Aimee

“This weekend?” - Me

“Yeah. Don’t be a little bitch.” - Aimee

“My bags are packed, Ms. Thaaang. Just start the car.” - Me

That’s how this started. A simple thought to do something epic. Be a part of something. To someday say you went on a random roadtrip with two friends just because. That’s always how I think right? Absolutely not. I know who I am and I’m comfortable with that, as we all are. We are in our comfort zones and we feel safe. Kids today say, “I’m good,” when they’re ok with what they have. I’m one of those kids. I calculate everything, make sure the funds are good, I take headcounts. I’m basically a chapparone and I think it comes from the fact that I’m the oldest of 12 other siblings (including cousins). Everything must go right. This trip broke me apart.

It broke me apart in the sense that the shell that I was in was broken in order to see something new. Feel something new. DO something new. Not to discredit that everything else I have ever done doesn’t mean a thing to me, but everyone knows that I don’t do random road trips. I don’t even do that much random meetups at restaurants with my friends or random house parties. So SF was a BIG jump. But I’m glad I took the leap. Being pushed a bit out of your limit to know your limit is always good. Booking a hotel for the first time on your own two days before you go, packing on a short notice, not that much cash. It all added to the experience and the fun.

We had a crazy morning with almost no sleep and we were going to take on the California Highway System. With my Nerf gun ready for anything that comes our way so I could protect Aimee and Eileen, we start the car and drive. We practically have the whole damn Costco in our trunk and backseat. It looked like we were handing out earthquake emergency kits to kids on the street. We start the music and crank up “Call me Maybe” and decided that that was going to be the song of the trip. Then we started to get bored so I started to play the plate number game with them just to keep them awake. If you haven’t played before, any plate number that’s outside of the state you’re in grants you one punch to anyone in the car. You have to call it, point it out to everyone, and choose your victim. I was 6-0 in the first 10 minutes and I couldn’t punch Eileen because she was behind the wheel. So Aimee suffered. HAHA. Rookie.

We’re going, going, going, and going north. You never know how big California or America is until you freaking drive across the land. America is still so untouched and it was nice to see nature just be there with no cities. I’m a city boy so the fields of gold and camping grounds in the middle of nowhere were a sight to see. We get to the coast and stop by Avila Beach for a second. Take some pictures and walk on the boardwalk. Nice people up north man. Real happy and welcoming.

We go up north a little more and roll through SLO, Gilroy, and all these cities with the hardest names to pronounce. Farms, farms, strawberry fields, outlets, oh and farms! We were all wondering, how do people get the groceries for something they need quickly? It would be a fight over who would have to go 80 miles out to get a gallon of milk. But nevertheless we saw towns like this, and they were happy. It was nothing new to them to have their own town to themselves without city life at all. I know I couldn’t live there, but not everyone is like me. It opened up my eyes to see what California means to people. To me, Cali equals beaches, LA, sports teams, food, technology. To these people, probably their happy with farming, riding horses, farmer’s markets, and enjoying the outdoors. The beach is a FAR concept from their minds. To me, Huntington Beach is a 30 minute drive. It’s just nice to see that different things bring happiness to people even though it might not coincide with whatever makes you happy.

So we get close to the outskirts of SF, and I take the wheel finally. I get to take us into SF. This would be the start of something that was planned 3 days earlier. We didn’t know what to expect, but we knew it was going to be good. We were positive, nervous, excited, sleepy, and willing to take a chance. All these emotions would keep us running even though we had 10 hours of sleep combined.

We see the water, the cliffs, and the street signs that finally said “San Francisco City Limit.” We knew where we were and what we were about to do to this city without a clue on how to do it. This feeling is priceless.

SAN FRAN: “Dude, we are here,” were the first words...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:55:43 -0400

Photo Credit: Aimee Ruaburo

SAN FRAN:

“Dude, we are here,” were the first words uttered out of my mouth as we go up the 101 North and see SFO, then Candlestick Park, then the financial district of SF where the Transamerica building stands. I’m behind the wheel and I wanted the challenge of driving downtown SF. Nothing like DTLA, which I’m used to, but more like NYC as I remembered it. People walking whenever they please, me running red lights, and having every single form of transportation in one lane. Getting lost in union square trying to find parking ranging from $32.00 - $50.00 a day was fun, but even better was being charged a full hour while asking how much overnight parking would be, only to find out that it was cheaper to valet at your hotel.

I think the best thing about this trip was the attitude that the three of us had. We understood that nothing would go right. The whole trip could aboslutely go wrong. The trip to and from SF, the car could break down, we could run out of money, we didn’t know where to go. EVERYTHING could have been a complete bust. But we understood that. Therefore we had no fear to try anything because we accepted the fact that it could go wrong. So even if it did, we weren’t disappointed. We were ready to deal with whatever obstacles came our way. This attitude added to that “freedom” aspect of the trip. That should be life on a daily basis right? Having no fear and doing the things you want, knowing that somethings might not go your way, but you try anyway.

Union square was a trip. We went shopping and thankfully the girls let me go into Niketown SF! (drool) I didn’t know heaven had four floors. Well the one at Cesar’s Palace in LV is still probably the best one due to their wide array of basketball products, but still. That’s another blog. The girls went into F21 and H&M which had the BIGGEST men’s section ever. Gotta go back and cop some stuff.

The only way to capture memories is to copy it onto some media. Paper, video, recordings, etc. In this case we chose photos. My personal favorite form of media. Taking photos everywhere, photo-bombing other tourists’ photos, and snapping the shutter like there was no tomorrow, because there literally wasn’t enough time to explore all of SF. We made a pact that I like to do whenever I travel: don’t delete any pictures until we get back home. You can always decide later if their good or not, but don’t jump to conclusions right away. We do that sometimes and find out it was a bad decision or that we could have slept on it. So at the time a photo might not agree with what your mind says at that moment because you’re distracted, but it might look good to you later on when you’re editing pictures in a quiet place. They agreed to this pact and now we have some nice photos that really tell a story.

I’m writing out what we did and what I felt, but my pictures should do that on their own. They should speak for themselves and let you know exactly what I was thinking, feeling, and seeing at that moment in time. “Photo” in Latin means “light,” while “graph” means “to write” or “to draw.” We literally write light onto film or paper or digital sensors. I like to take it a step further in the sense of thinking that we write stories with our pictures. If you patch all of these together in a storyboard display, you can tell exactly where we went and what we did, the expressions on our faces, what we ate. Everything is there. I always try and put the viewer in my Nikes, Sperry’s, or Clark boots, meaning I want them to feel like they are standing right where I am. They should feel like they are wherever the picture tells them they are.

Homeward Bound: So of course, we had to come home. The hardest...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 06:11:00 -0400

Homeward Bound:

So of course, we had to come home. The hardest part of the trip is ending it. This reminded me of the journey that life is about. It’s never the accomplishment, it’s the trials, successes, and errors that you go through that make everything worth while. The whole trip of doing something completely out of my element was an adventure within itself. Plus all the near-death driving, hurting my wallet for parking fees alone, and trying to survive in a city where everything is new becomes another adventure.

Driving down the 101 South, I asked the two girls if it was ok if we stopped by Big Sur. I gave them a little history of what it was, showed them a picture on Google, and immediately they said, “YES!” Driving down PCH (as in literally the coast of California) was a thrill. Knowing that one false maneuver of the car would send you plummeting down a cliff kind of adds to the thrill. Doing it at night makes it even more exciting. After about an hour of watching the sun set upon farms and campgrounds, we reach Big Sur, the bridge that connects two cliffs of the California Coast line. Amazing. It was one of my photographic spots that I wanted in my collection before I die, and I was finally there at the turnout to snap the shutter. I was in awe because I met one of my goals with the help of some trooper friends. To look at something on Google on my iPhone and then see it in person is something else. We snapped pictures and finally got to drive it. That last picture is us moving at around 50 MPH and I stuck my hand out the window, aimed it at what I thought was a good shot, and snapped. It turned out to be the shot that finally made me cry. There’s always that one shot in your camera from a trip that breaks you down (at least for me). That one where you can’t believe you yourself took that picture. That was the one.

After a quick stop over for gas and some snacks, I finally got in the driver’s seat to give Eileen a break. We went back through the fields of farms for hours and hit a detour on the 101 S and the 10 East which we needed both of them to get back home. Siri helped us out though. Finally got to Aimee’s house, rested for a bit, then drove back to Eileen’s, and finally picked up my car. Might I say that my car ride alone back to my house was one of the loneliest rides ever. You just spent a total of 18 hours in the same vehicle with the same people, and now I had to make my own journey solo. Pretty sad, but as soon as I came home, who’s there to greet me? Champ, my six month old Jindo puppy. One of the happiest feelings ever. It cancelled out.

There are only a couple things in this life that we can experience that makes you feel ALIVE. For that one moment, day, or just a few seconds, you feel FREE. I went on this trip without knowing a single thing about San Francisco, living on our own basically, and not knowing what other things could go wrong. But to TAKE CHANCES is sometimes the best option. You can’t play it safe all the time. Sometimes you have to steal second base, or take the shot at the last second, or ask that cute girl (Pauline Andres) to be your girlfriend. How will you know what it feels like if you don’t try? I’m not saying try everything even if you know it’s bad, but not going on this trip I would be thinking all weekend, “What if I said ‘Yes?’” “What if I went?” Now I know that San Francisco is one of my top five favorite cities that I will always want to go back to, and the best part is that I didn’t do everything in that one day. I only scraped the surface of what SF has to offer, and I need to go back to find out the rest.

Thanks to the young and adventurous minds of Aimee and Eileen, I had one of the most fun times of my life. Sometimes people are brought into your life for different reasons. Some are here just for one opportunity, then leave. Others stop by from time to time to say, “Hi.” Then there are those who choose to come in, sit down, have a cup of coffee, take the time to catch up, and find out that it’s so late in the night that they sleep over. I hope these two friends that I gained will know that my door is always open.

———

I think the only part that was hard for me to do was to know that Pauline couldn’t go. It was a tough decision for me and knowing that she had to stay back and study for finals while I was in SF. If I wanted to share this life with anyone ever, people know damn well it’s Pauline. We’ve gone through life together since high school and all the experiences that life has presented us since then. Although I went, instead of leaving my heart in San Francisco, I left it in Rancho Cucamonga. It was hard for her to let me go for 24 hours, but she did so selflessly. For that I owe her. She knows how much photography means to me, and that’s what these pictures in the blog are a result of. It’s because of her selfless actions that allowed me to go even though it broke her heart. People don’t know how “love” is measured. It’s measured by the amount of give and take and the actions that you do or don’t do for that other person over a period of time. This woman loves me for sure, and if it ever showed, it was during this weekend. I’m definitely planning our own SF, Chicago, NYC, and London trip. Write it down on the bucket list. Love is crossing out your bucket list with that one person that helped you write it in the first place.

#corkyfund (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:34:29 -0400

#corkyfund (Taken with instagram)

#LGOD (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:35:57 -0400

#LGOD (Taken with instagram)

My passion for sports photography isn’t just hype. It...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:47:14 -0400

My passion for sports photography isn’t just hype. It drives me and inspires me every time I wake up. (Taken with instagram)

My refuge. My getaway. My vacation spot. (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:02:13 -0400

My refuge. My getaway. My vacation spot. (Taken with instagram)

No filter, the square crop doesn’t do this justice. ...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:15:06 -0400

No filter, the square crop doesn’t do this justice. (Taken with instagram)

My Facebook before I get timelined by mr. Zuckerberg (Taken with...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 03:23:02 -0400

My Facebook before I get timelined by mr. Zuckerberg (Taken with instagram)

The start of something new. (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:49:44 -0400

The start of something new. (Taken with instagram)

College attire #6 (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:54:58 -0400

College attire #6 (Taken with instagram)

@pgatourr don’t play with the gifts (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:43:59 -0400

@pgatourr don’t play with the gifts (Taken with instagram)

A recent photoshoot I did with Swag Syndicate for his review of...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:28:50 -0400

A recent photoshoot I did with Swag Syndicate for his review of the United denims.

Get some. (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:04:36 -0400

Get some. (Taken with instagram)

My baby girl. (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:18:08 -0400

My baby girl. (Taken with instagram)

Guess where? (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:26:24 -0400

Guess where? (Taken with instagram)

#collegeswag (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:28:02 -0400

#collegeswag (Taken with instagram)

The best fix after dtf. (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:11:35 -0400

The best fix after dtf. (Taken with instagram)

#yearofthedragon (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:14:13 -0400

#yearofthedragon (Taken with instagram)