When my roommate told me of his plan to propose to his girlfriend while going on a Gondola Adventures (www.gondola.com) cruise through the beautiful Newport Harbor in Newport Beach, CA. We were acquainted with a person that owned a house on the route, so i hid inside a boat with the door cracked open enough for my lens to make it through. Her family also hid in the boat with me, and it was hilarious. There were comments like “She’s Crying” then the response “Crying is good”, “he’s got the ring!”, and other precious gems. The best part is that this whole conversation was caught on video by one of the family members.
There was a point when i lightly tapped the door with my lens someone said “I can’t believe she didn’t hear that”, while she was 20 feet away reading the amazing message in a bottle Tiago wrote for her. Needless to say she was so swept up in moment it didn’t matter how much noise we made.
When she said yes, we gave them some time to enjoy the moment, then all of a sudden Mark (from christafari.com & Gospelregge.com) yelled out “Can we come out now!” then about 15 of us came out to congratulate them. It was an amazing day. We later met up with them for dinner.
When, I rediscovered Disneyland 21 years after my first visit as a kid, there were only a few things I remembered. Star Tours was one of them. Sure i could swear that the delis was Johnny 5 from the movie Short circuit (give me a break I was only a kid, and you r memories have ways of playing tricks with you). and I must have ridden it about 3 times in the last few years.
So when I heard they were going to refurbish and update I was not sure what to think. Mainly I was wondering about the “Jar Jar” factor, which I am glad to say is not present in this ride. And only recently did I find out that it would be in 3D.
As I mentioned in my previous post Disney drew my name to be one of 1200 winners and we were allowed to bring a guest. We arrived at the Disneyland Resort at 6:30am. We checked in and got in line. At 8 am they let us into the park and and they started loading people into the ride at 9am. I do have to say it was impressive that the ride serviced over 2000 people in less than two hours.
With all that said our Star Tours started in a hanger that was surrounded by the empire. Darth Vader makes a very memorable appearance. Needless to say R2-D2 & C3-P0 worked their magic and got us out of there.
Our Tour took us first to Hoth where we had some close encounters with AT-ATs and just plane snowy mountains. After surviving this frozen Tundra we made our jump to light speed and ended up at Geonosis. We got to check out the Death Star while being chased by a bounty hunter. Once he was taken care of we met up with the rebel fleet.
The 3D was extremely well done, there was not a single cheesy 3D moment when something almost hitting your face. But I would have to say my favorite part was jumping to light speed.
And considering that there are 8 locations and 50+ combination starting on June 3rd, Star Tours will be the must ride attraction at the Disneyland Resort.
I didn’t Have my camera, because I wanted to enjoy the experience, So here are a few pictures from my Blackberry®. If you visit the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. Make sure to take the tour that takes you to a galaxy far far away…
This pin was the token given only to the people that participated in the event.
I'm not sure if many people will see this door once demand goes down. This was a separate room that we were filed Through while in line
This pin was the token given only to the people that participated in the event.
So, I’m a huge star wars fan, and I could say that I feel the same way about Disneyland. So, when I heard there was going to be a drawing to ride the new Star Tours a few weeks before it opened to the public, I jumped at the opportunity.
So a few days later I got a the notification. Saying that I got picked. So I had to go searching my library for any pictures I had of the original star tours. I’ll post another post on my experience.
The tree images below are of images I found from the original Star Tours, before they closed it down for renovation.
As i have stated previously, i was exposed to the Beloved Movement at a photography conference earlier this year. The concept was amazing, it had nothing to do with posing techniques, awkward situations nor complicated lighting. It all had to do with relationships and guiding a couple through a journey that would ultimately remind them of how precious their spouse is. I am not married, but i have seen life, work and even family get in the way of a spousal relationship. My personal goal is for the time we spend together to be one of the best moments of their lives. It goes beyond a beautiful picture which contains true beauty, it is my way to minister to the world and leave a mark of lasting change.
At first i was not sure about the concept, i did not see how photography could bring such an impact. The first few moments were enough to convince me that it went beyond photography. I came to the realization that experience does not require photography at all, the camera simply makes it less awkward to stand close by and guide them through different experiences. I find myself honored to be invited not only to capture, but also to witness such beauty and authenticity.
I hope to be able to dedicate more time to this type of photography in the future. I am including some slideshows of some of the beloved sessions that i have done this year.
Mark & Avion: I had known them for about two years years and i told them about the concept and that i wanted to try it out with them. So they were the guinea pigs for this whole beloved experiment. San Pedro is amazingly beautiful. I’m just glad we didn’t make it down to the rocks. Both Mark and Avion are part of an amazing Reggae group called Christafari (christafari.com). Music is by John Torres who has a show at The Hotel Cafe, 1623 1/2 N Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, CA at 9:00pm http://hotelcafe.com/tickets
Elton & Andresa: Two great people, I was visiting family in Maryland in the Summer. We set this up a few hours before their trip to Italy to celebrate their first anniversary. It was a perfect day, in the 70s, low humidity and sunny. All the other days had unbearable humidity or thunderstorms. The only regret was that we didn’t have more time together.
Elida & Ken: What can i say, I love mom and my stepfather Ken. When i was back home to be a groomsman in a friend’s wedding, i extended my stay for my mom’s birthday. This was my gift to her, I could think of nothing better than i could give to her.
Dave & Judy: Well Judy is expecting twin boys, so we did a beloved session. It was fun, because some of the invites had to be adapted to an expecting mother. Obviously i could not have her jumping around all over the place or rolling on the ground. Newport Beach is beautiful, but it was a little “cold” by California status. One of my favorite moments was when Judy was trying to make Dave laugh and he was making a funny face to keep from giving in. his face would ultimately bring her to laughter and create a great moment.
As i was typing this post, I re-watched all the slideshows and it was great viewing all the images that reminded me of those great experiences.
More information can be found at youarebeloved.com
Here is a compilation of several beloved sessions. Music by Shannon Curtis.
I have been privileged to have been part of Mosaic’s Annual Fashion show since it began 3 years ago. This year it was officially part of LA Fashion Week. There was a combination of aspiring and accomplished designers. Each year the event has grown exponentially, It has transitioned amazingly from a setup in a park to the Vibiana in Downtown Los Angeles, CA. This venue is amazing, at times i regret not being at the bottom to capture the outfits that the local artists made which required it to be made of at least 80% LA Weekly magazine paper. But the truth was that there were already 3 other photographers at the bottom, so i hope they got the shots. So I decided to move around and got the sots that i wanted to get (including the venue), not the traditional pose at the end of the runway. I know I was the only one to get pictures from these angles, because i was the only pro photographer in these places. It is always fun to do something different in the realm of photography.
The proceeds for the show went to Beyond Us (www.mosaicbeyondus.org) Which is a non profit who’s vision is to unleash human potential to serve the world. A shot i took from the balcony was used in the 2011 Beyond Us booklet which can currently be viewed at www.mosaic.org on page 24
I would like to Tammy Borrero and her team for making this whole thing possible.
Pics below.
Music by Apoetnomadali Apoetnomadali.com (music will play so adjust your speakers accordingly)
Location: Vibiana vibianala.com
214 S. Main St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
