Shoot To Escape - Apex Thread

This was a moment I’ll never forget. It was my son’s very first day in pre-school. I had just had a very emotional child drop-off that included him hugging my leg and crying, not wanting me to go. It took so much of me to leave, especially after being a stay-at-home Dad for his first years. Once home, I needed something to do so I grabbed my camera and headed downtown to see if I could find a composition to take my mind off things. Then I choose a super long exposure shot, leaving me with all this time to think about things and be even more emotional. This shot is entitled, “Apex Thread” and is a long exposure photograph of the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge suspension support in downtown San Diego.

Latte Art GoPro POV

I’m a little rusty, but still kind of managed to pull it off. Next time I need fresh coffee beans for good rich crema and not the long forgotten ones, lol. Shot with my GoPro Hero8 in a bite mount.

A Rare Moment of Emptiness

A very rare moment where the scene was empty. This doesn’t happen often at this place. The turbulent sky lent itself to the artful side of what one can do with a GoPro Hero8. This camera constantly surprises me. The images have so much life to them and they respond like none of my other cameras do in post.

The Grande Mirror

The Grande is a high-rise residential building in San Diego. Composed of two towers of equal height, the 39-story towers have a height of 420 feet and are a prominent fixture in San Diego's skyline, dramatically changing the way the skyline looks compared to how it did in 2002 . The Grande at Santa Fe Place was designed by the architect firm Perkins & Company Architecture and Urban Design Inc. and is based on late-modernist architectural style. This photo was taken through 17 stops of neutral density to achieve a “moonlit” look, but in reality, the photo was taken at noon. Mirrored buildings are rare in these parts, but I love the effect they give the observer.

It Matters How We Treat All Things

#WorldOceansDay

Resilience

It isn't easy to always keep a happy face when facing elements like these. Luckily I was able to capture Mr. Happy before this beach was deemed inaccessible due to dangerous erosion.

Some Soul Cleansing Beach Time Was Much Needed.

An image from the session in my live Instagram story from the other night. With everything going on lately, it’s been tough to get out and shoot, but things are starting to swing back into place creatively. The world sure is making it difficult, though. I’m thankful for a little ocean therapy with a good friend at one of my favorite places. Shot with a GoPro Hero8 and Polar Pro ND32.

A Photo From Last Night's Red Tide Bioluminescence in La Jolla, California

When you’re actually looking to have the blues. I figured with how long this red tide phenomenon is sticking around making our ocean waves light up bright blue, and that it could be the largest one ever, why not get down there and get some shots? The bonus is to get a chance to social distance with the amazing San Diego photographers I’ve gotten to know over the past few years. No better reason to get out and spend time in the dark until the early morning hours watching and photographing something that not everyone will get the chance to see in their lifetime.

Stay-At-Home Projects - How I Create an Illustrated Logo

In 2011 I created this logo for Bergie's Pub in San Diego, CA. Since we're all stuck at home in these weird times and people are looking for things to do, I thought I'd share how I create these types of illustrated logos. From quick sketch through to form, shadow and light, I discuss how the concept changes as the project moves forward, with revisions and new ideas. I used a Wacom Cintiq tablet, and to start, the drawings were done mostly in the same way they'd be done if on paper. From there I refine my illustration and switch over to Adobe Photoshop for shadow and light work to add form. Let me know in comments if you'd like to see more videos like this, and stay safe out there, everyone!

My video clip shot with pro skateboarder Jeromy Green Earns GoPro Million Dollar Challenge Award

I’m so honored and humbled to be included in this year’s GoPro Million Dollar Challenge video. It’s also extra special to share this honor with pro skateboarder Jeromy Green, who I’ve been shooting with for years now. We’ve put in some hours at the skatepark so to see all this time end up producing an award like this is something truly awesome. To be next to some of these other amazing clips just puts all this in to perspective - it’s HUGE. To all my fellow GoPro peeps around the world, thank you for your daily inspiration and for always crushing it.

It's been a crazy few months, complete with a trip to Asia, capturing content in hopes to make the cut for this video. To see all the time and hard work pay off, just proves that no matter how big the challenge and how bad the odds are, you've got to push through and don't look back. Go out and get it! Ours was one of 44,000 clips submitted. Thanks to Jeromy and to all the others who helped me shoot my crazy I ideas I had. I'm already thinking of next year and what new can be done. Thanks, GoPro! Stoked! If you want a part of the award next year, grab your GoPro and get out there and get it.

Yosemite National Park

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Vernal Fall shot with a GoPro Hero8 using the GoPro app. Thankful this isn’t spring water flow!

Finally made it to Yosemite Nation Park with some friends and glad I went when I did, since now that the Corona Virus is apron us (COVID-19) all National Parks are closed. Our intentions were to photograph the firefall phenomenon, but there wasn't enough snow on El Capitan to provide water for Horsetail Fall so we spent the week exploring the park’s other treasures.

What an amazing sight this valley is! I cannot wait to go back with my family so my son can see this park and take in the massive rock walls that surround you from every side.

Taiwan - Traveled By Bicycle

In this vlog, I travel to Taiwan as a guest of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau on behalf of GoPro to see what it's like to get out and explore the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful island in Asia.

One world meets new in Shiding District

In this vlog, I travel to Taiwan as a guest of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau on behalf of GoPro to see what it's like to get out and explore the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful island in Asia. Having not ridden a bicycle in years, it isn't without its challenges, but being a rookie I prove that even the 4th highest island in the world can be conquered if you get out and give it a shot. This is the Formosa 900 media tour in 2019. We travel from Yuanlin City to Sun Moon Lake, then the Chingjing Farm and summit at Wuling, at almost 11,000 feet in elevation. Giant Adventure guided us and kept us safe as we were able to experience Taiwan from the western cities to the highest peaks.

My new friend Cat and I captured the adventure on our GoPro cameras. These kept our packs light so we could concentrate on the road and get some unique perspectives. Especially with GoPro Max, the newest 360 camera. A trip like this is rich in culture and I'm so thankful for the people I met and for the food we ate! Traveling across the world to see Asia, we learn that even though the landscape is different, we share so many similarities with the friendly people of Taiwan.

Thanks to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, GoPro, Giant Adventure, GoPro Ammo and GoPro Taiwan, as well as those friendly folks who helped us along the way, fed us, and taught us about Taiwan and it’s rich history.

How a tourist handles the Ci En Pagoda in Sun Moon Lake

Views for Miles from my room above Sun Moon Lake

Having a little fun with the road workers in Yuanlin City

Getting a Little Studio Time in During The Holiday

Creative studio shoots are a blast when you work with a guy like Art Director, Rich Floyd. His meticulous preparation means everything goes without a hitch, even when an idea involves a crazy shoe sculpture for Dr. Comfort footwear, or even products suspended in air. There are times when I see his sketches and I’m unconvinced that we’ll be able to pull it off with the limited tools we may have available, and this guy puts his MacGyver hair on (jk) and somehow pulls it off, every time. Here’s to all the Rich Floyds in the world. The whole one of them. Oh, and his post work is pro too!

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The Status Crow Animated Film Concept

One evening in 1996 while I was illustrating tea labels for a cafe in Pacific Beach, California, I was approached by a man who asked me what I was drawing. When I told him, he asked if he could look at my sketchbook. The guy was pretty pushy and I was surprised by his aggressive approach to a stranger. Still, you never know who you’ll meet so I handed it to him. He turned a few pages in my book and then motioned to someone behind him to come take a look. I turned around and saw a whole group of guys of all shapes and sizes with excited looks on their faces. Okay, this is getting strange. They looked at the book in a group, whispering to each other, then pointing at me. They all approached now, the first guy started speaking again. “Can you draw characters? People?” “Yes.” I replied. “What about combining a human with an insect?” “Yes.” “What if the human is African American?” “Yes.” So I was asked by the group to combine an African American man with a dragonfly, then we’d meet up again in a few days.

Gary’s original concept for The Status Crow urban environment.

Upon seeing my insect-man the group asked if I’d be willing to join them as the concept artist for an animated film they’d been working on. When I accepted the role and signed a non-disclosure they started sharing their ideas/sketches with me. Their project was called The Status Crow. An animated gangster film with a good heart, and the characters where half man/half bird. The artwork they had accumulated from a few different artists to this point was fairly crude and I could see why they needed a fresh approach. What really interested me was that they intended this project to be a 3D animated film. 3D animation was in its infancy in the

nineties, and the look was often pretty rough and amateurish, even from the big studios. But one guy in our group named Gary Koide was different. His work in 3D, was mind-blowing, especially for the time. Highly detailed and extremely large-scale for someone using a home PC.

So I began creating characters to help Gary with his 3D models. I created cities made from tree branches, unique and powerful weapons that a bird/man character would use like a vortex cannon. I was tasked with texture mapping 3D models, bringing them to life. This is all I did in my free time.

The Status Crow Vortex Cannon Schematic

One day in a team meeting, one of the guys said, wouldn’t it be cool if we could get Coolio to play our lead character?! At the time, Coolio was as big as they get in the music scene and, although that sounds great to have him onboard, and all. We knew there’s no way that’s happening, We were just hoping to get this idea in front of people in Hollywood who can help us bring our concept to the big screen.

Silicon Graphics ONYX Workstation

We shared some of our urban architectural 3D images on our website and started trying to get our project out to someone who could help. Gary’s 3D caught the eye of both Rhythm and Hues Studios, who earned an Academy Award for Babe in 1995, as well as Silicon Graphics, who’s ONYX workstation (a small refrigerator-sized computer) was needed to render 3D to the level we’d dreamed of taking this project. After a short introduction, Gary and another member of our group were invited to the Bay Area to meet with Silicon Graphics to discuss getting some of these computers to work on our project with.

This is where things got crazy.

The Status Crow Character Head Concept

The day before they were to leave to meet with Silicon Graphics, an anonymous person sent us a message through our website saying they knew someone who may be interested in our project and we should contact him. Anonymous said the person’s name is Artis Ivey and gave us his email address. We contacted him and told him the situation and a little bit about what we were doing and got a reply saying that we must be trying to contact his son, not him. Drumroll, please….. Coolio. Shit you not. We have an in, but we have to go through Artis Ivey Senior and guess where he lives? Right down the street from Silicon Graphics. This is starting to get really weird.

Artis was somewhat combative and cold. As you would be if someone wanted something from your famous son, but he said he’d send a brief overview of our project to Coolio and see what happens, but no promises. Weeks went by and we received notice that Coolio wants to meet with us. All of us. Now this is going from weird to exciting and weird! So we drove up to Los Angeles to meet him in some talent office on Hollywood BLVD. We waited, as you do, for a very long time in a Hollywood waiting room with a bunch of other nervous actor-types.

Then we’re called in! Exciting times!

To meet Coolio’s manager. Sad trombone.

Josefa Salinas, was her name. Mighty is an understatement. We got through Artis Senior, now we have to get through a woman with a bigger presence. One who worked in juvenile probation. One who has a hugely successful radio career. One who is an influential voice for women and latinos. One who isn’t putting up with any shit from us or anyone. She questioned the hell out of us, but she did it with that voice. Calming AND commanding. Oh, she’s good.

The Status Crow Character and Environmental Concept Art

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From concept art to first texture mapped 3D model.

We spoke with her for a bit, showed her our concepts and explained what we wanted Coolio for and she had us wait back in the lobby again. So wait more, we did. Then the girl at the desk said “Coolio will see you guys now. You have to drive to Burbank,” Ha ha. This is how it goes. So we drive to Burbank and arrive at a compound of sorts. There’s a few fancy cars in the parking lot, a fence surrounding it with razor wire across the top. This is a music studio where Coolio is working. We go right in. All eight of us. And Coolio. Standing in vocal booth the size of a large closet. This isn’t intimidating or anything.

Coolio was more combative than anyone. Why are they birds? Why do they have to be crows? Who’s paying for this film? How can you guys put this together? What do you want from me? We felt his attitude toward us was that we were wasting his time. We left there completely defeated. All that excitement and divine intervention in life pointing us all right to this moment. And for what?! So I guess we can learn how to be shot down. Back to the drawing board, literally.

A highly detailed 3D work of Gary Koide as it evolved from my concept art.

A month or so later Coolio reached out to Gary and said he needed some 3D for some projects he wanted, mainly a laser disk and website project and he wanted Gary to move to Los Angeles to be nearby. Soon after, I joined him to provide the concept art from which he could model. And now working for Coolio was paying our rent. We used this time for Coolio’s project, and to further our Status Crow project. We’d show Coolio our progress on our film concept and he started to get really excited. Proud to see his likeness as the main character. He’d offer advice here and there, but pretty much let us do our thing.

Once we had Coolio on board we were able to leverage this to get meetings with the likes of Film Roman, the producers of the Simpsons, among others. Still, our project seemed too dark for anyone to take on. We continued working on our project in LA as we finished our work with Coolio. Then we worked for his producer on some 3D projects and after a few months time, things sort of fizzled out. I moved back to San Diego to continue working freelance in art and design. This is about the time my pastel work started to take off so my focus shifted and the group grew apart.

Every once in a while I wonder what this whole project was all about. I’m one of those “everything happens for a reason” people, and the way those things came together as quickly as they did, seemed like some sort of witchcraft happening. It could’ve been that Gary and his work was inspiration for me for something later to come in my life. Who knows. Until then, I have some pretty unique memories of a wild set of circumstances that led to one crazy winter in LA in 1997. Now I know when a group of random people want to see my sketchbook, I’ll hand it over without even thinking its weird this time. It may just be the one crazy LA adventure that doesn’t fizzle out.

The Steps it Takes

Sometimes unique perspectives can be found in the most mundane places, like this covered walkway in Capistrano Beach. All it takes is a camera that can bend reality a little to let you see more than you normally could. Shot with my favorite wingman with a mind-bending GoPro Fusion.

Imagination Can Become Reality!

Let’s pretend for a second you are a pilot and can fly anywhere you want. Where would you fly, and why?

This is my son under the flight path at San Diego International Airport pretending he’s flying his World War II era P-38 Lightning over snow covered mountains we can just about see and feel through the lens of my GoPro! This shot was featured by GoPro as their photo of the day on September 2nd, 2019.

We attempted this shot a few times. At first, we went with clothing we thought could work from his closet, but I wasn’t feeling his jacket. Since he is really into old planes and wants to be a pilot when he grown up, my wife bought his this aviator jacket from Up and Away Jackets.

Practicing our moves and getting into position! I can see the clouds lining up to be spectacular!

We waited for it to arrive before going out a second time, and I’m so glad this delay happened the way it did. Every once in a while when shooting sunsets I’ll have my camera set up, pointing out to sea, toward the sunset. Then I’ll scramble to try and find a new composition when nature plays a trick on us and all the beautiful color is in the opposite direction in the sky. I rarely end up with anything in this case because I spent all my efforts focusing the other direction. This time was different. I wanted the setting sun to be the fill light on my son so my camera was pointed away from the sunset. When Mother Nature attempted one of her fake-outs we were ready! Get your shot like this with a GoPro by visiting this link.

Kyle Harrison - The Total Pro

I always light up, knowing I’m going to shoot with Lacrosse Pro Kyle Harrison. He’s a pro in every aspect, on the field and on the shoot. He makes our job easier.

When we get the shot we had scripted, he’s already a step ahead of you as you begin set up for the next one. You can speak to him in production lingo and he understands it. It’s easy to see why since he’s also a pro in social media, co-founded Run & Gun Lacrosse and we all know this isn’t his first rodeo on a photo/video shoot. One particular shot I’d always wanted was this over-the-shoulder immersive target-on-goal shot with my GoPro. The clouds were working this day and we all the means for a practice/workout vibe so I was stoked we were able to get it.

BTS Shot by Ruben Gomez

Lifestyle Photo Shoot for Dr. Comfort Footwear

Hello.

Cranston Fire Earth Scar

Idyllwild is one of our favorite places on earth and right before we were set for a weekend getaway there, an arsonist started a set of massive fires, and one that nearly destroyed the town. We had to push back our trip due to the fire, but when we were able to get up there, I had an idea for a shot if I could find the right location to get it. I was looking for a place with a noticeable burn scar next to healthy trees. A before and after, to show the devastation that can be caused by arson. What I really wanted was a winding road cutting through the middle with cars driving through, symbolizing the human element at play. Both cause and observer. I found the perfect spot for this shot on Highway 243, just south of town. I drove up the hill a bit and launched my drone from there so legal altitude of 300 feet was more like 1,000 feet by the time I was over my target area. Choosing the right time of day was also important as the long shadows give that feeling of life being brushed away.