tokyo | august.2015

So.. I'm super late on these posts, but I've had projects up the butt until Christmas and so I've been taking this Christmas day to clean up some photos from the last 4 months and wanted to share my trip to Tokyo first. 

This was my first time in Tokyo even though I've spent a good chunk of my life only a 4-hour flight away, and despite having been to Seoul a few times to visit family, Tokyo was just different.

This was the first leg of a 6-week long trip to Asia for me, and besides the airplane tickets and the airbnb, my friends and I had about zero plans set for our short weekend in Tokyo. Prior to departing, I got the scoop from homies like Bourdain, D.Chang, etc, and plenty of friends told us places to see, things to do, foods to eat, but for real, 3 days wasn't going to be enough and we knew that. As long as I got my food game on, I was good. 

The highlight of the trip would have to be when we visited the Tsukiji Fish Market and we made it safe and sound thanks to Google Translate. We spent the entire first morning we were in town walking through the seemingly endless market and looked for interesting places to stop.

Other stops included the famous Shibuya Crosswalk, a giant Hello Kitty department store, and the infamous robot cabaret in Kabukicho. 

Take a second to look through the photos and if you have it in your heart, forgive me for being almost 4 months late to post these. :P

Tokyo_Augt15-79.jpg

motos in moab | moab desert, ut

By now, many of you have already seen photo summaries and recaps of the first-ever (and wildly successful) Motos in Moab. This is my (late) version :)

Shortly after the end of the first CROIG tour in the Southwest U.S. last fall, they asked if I'd be interested in going to the Moab desert over Memorial Day weekend and camp out with them. Interested? Hell yeah

In true "fuck it" fashion, I quit my day-job the week before and couldn't think of a better way to kick things off by buying a new camera and taking a trip, right?

anyways... onto Moab

We arrived at the campsite just before midnight local time, and although it was very dark outside, the campsite was slightly different than what I had originally pictured in my head. I wasn't the only one surprised. Our campsite hosted people ranging from 2-75 years old, and enforced a speed limit of 5mph, so our group wasn't welcomed the way we had all thought. Still, I bounced around the different campsites and quietly exchanged introductions to anybody wearing some leather. 

The next morning the sheriff again visited our campsite and told us that we had been kicked out and would need to clear our group out of the campsite. A few of us decided to go into town to get some breakfast and buy some time while things were sorted out, and by the time we had returned, we had a new location, newly lifted spirits, and only 2 more days to go.(!)

The next 48 hours started off much like the previous day. We got our days started at the same breakfast joint in town (the Jailhouse Cafe, in case you were wondering), spent the days driving/riding out to some insane views, and cozied up to a 20 foot tall bonfire at nights. Photos don't do a place like this justice, but thanks for taking the time to look through some of mine as I tried my best to share the experience with those of you who weren't there. 

I really believe I came back from Utah as a better person, saw some old homies and connected with a lot of new ones. I can't wait for next year. Who's coming?!

Cheers

nyc

Having part of my childhood spent in Southern California, I'll always be a little biased when it comes to East vs. West Coast. That said, I left JFK feeling extremely satisfied after a 9-day escape - I met new friends, connected with old friends, lost my phone in a cab, ate too much food too many times, and found answers to questions I didn't know I was asking. NYC, I'll be back for you soon - in the meantime, thanks for hosting me and for giving me something to chase after. 

dan and eilise | st. paul, mn

I finally had an opportunity to shoot a winter wedding to kick off 2015! I met Dan and Eilise at the very first wedding I shot a few years back and stayed in touch until it was time for them to stand in front of the camera. Their wedding was a nice balance of classic beauty and contemporary style, so I wanted to shoot some classic portraits in addition to the candid wedding moments. 

appleman bicycles product stills

my friend matt has been building custom carbon fiber bicycles for a few years now, and I knew we would eventually have a chance to work on something special together. Matt brought over his latest masterpiece to the studio and we went to work!

http://applemanbicycles.com/