I was born and raised in Southern California and it's been home ever since. My early years were spent living in Riverside and eventually moving to Norco, Ca where I started school through to my Senior year. Since I was young I had always had an interest in music, thanks to both my parents, but more specifically the drums thanks to my dad who played when younger and was always playing the steering wheel with his sticks. So in fifth grade my parents enrolled me in the school band where I started learning percussion and continued to do so until my last day. It wasn't until my sophomore yeah that I took an interest and class in photography. So I asked my dad if I could use his old Canon AE-1 Program for the class. Thats right, 35mm. Film. Digital was still in its infancy. It was a good experience learning my way around the dark room...but hardly my favorite aspect of the art.
So I took the class...I think I got a C, and then I put down photography for quite some time. Senior year I started a band with some schoolmates and that was what I did for the next 8 years. Every day. We weren't the most talented. But we practiced every day and played sometimes 4-5 shows a week, which made us Musically tight. Pin drop tight. We played every where from house parties, to every bar you can think of, to venues like the Showcase Theatre, Chain Reaction, Hard Rock Cafe, to all over the Sunset strip (Roxie, Dragonfly, Coconut Teaser) we even had somewhat regular spot on the Santa Monica Pier at a bar called Arcadias. Universities like Redlands, San Bernardino, UC Santa Barbara and even some television spots. Spotted by Kim Espy at Arcadia's, we signed with EMG music for a production deal. Tracked in Kim Espy's Hollywood studio and then went showcasing for A&R reps in the hopes to get a deal. Needless to say...it didn't pan out.
It wasn't until around 6-7 years later that I was brought back in to the world of photography. Starting an online business with my Boss/friend, we realized we would be needing product photos for the website we were building. Thats when I decided to buy my first digital camera. A Canon 80d. But a month prior to my purchase I got online and re-familiarized myself and learned about these "new" Digital SLRs and how manually operate my new camera. The business my friend and I tried to start failed. These things happen. But there is a silver lining. That failure brought me back to photography and now videography. And Its been not only my job but pretty much all I do ever since.
