The Moment: A Proposal in Motion

I got an amazing opportunity to shoot an actual proposal in action over the weekend and I couldn't have been more hyped to do it. I met up with Eric the day before to plan how we were going to do it and where everything was going to take place. It was a great time to get to know a little bit about the couple and why the planetarium holds special significance to them in addition to being a very breathtaking backdrop. After Eric told me that nine years prior they had a picnic date there, my hopeless romantic, giddy side kicked in and I was really excited to see what I could do to capture their special moment.

The tricky part here was that I had to capture everything without her suspicions. So with my best paparazzi face on, I strolled around pretending to take pictures and video of most everything in the area. I thought I'd stick out like a sore thumb with my tripod/glidetrack/giant video head setup, but luckily for me, I went unnoticed. While I was shooting, I actually ran into another couple waiting to shoot their engagement session who thought the idea of capturing a proposal extremely romantic - they even offered to act as a decoy to help me get the shots I needed, haha. I ultimately didn't take up the offer, but it was great to chat with another enthusiastic couple while shooting.



Oh, and speaking of people I ran into, Albert from Second Print Productions and Mike Fan of Mike Fan Photography were there shooting an engagement session themselves. Nice running into you guys!

I have to say big thanks to RJ Borja for referring me for the shoot and to the future Mr. and Mrs. Eric Salud for the amazing opportunity. You guys are awesome! Here are some of the photos from the proposal:

The Sierra Madre

The M3 will be picking up a few new things soon with some help from WheelSTO, so it seemed like a perfect time to capture what it has become up to this point on video. It's been a fun ride piecing it together so far, but I haven't really had a chance to enjoy the car properly with how much I've been on the grind. Still can't believe I have over 13k miles on it. It's coming up on two years of ownership already, so I think it's about that time to change a few things up for next season. The car has been my little brainstorming office these last couple years - a place where I can conceptualize shoots, talk to clients and preview new mixtapes I've come across for different videos.



Anyway, buying a new car of this caliber was never really a part of my agenda when I started UMG, but I am wholeheartedly thankful that things have came together the way they have. Thank you all for supporting UMG through the years and believing in the work. It's been a trip so far working with some amazing people. I've learned a great deal (especially in the last year) and been inspired by more people than I can count, so I am definitely excited to see what the future will bring through these doors.

Have You Seen A 3-Headed Elephant?

The newest tee by the notorious Chicago-based brand: Ethnikroots. Stay tuned for the full release!

New WheelSTO HQ x M3 Shoot

My friends over at WheelSTO just moved into a brand new, enormous facility so I decided to drop in and celebrate at their open house meet. I remember when these guys first started and its because of how well they take care of their customers and how hard they work that they have made it to where they are today. Amazing job guys and GREAT new shop! It was great to catch up with the WSTO guys and some old friends. And I gotta say, it definitely rekindled the mod bug inside me, but more on that soon. Here are a few photos from the meet that my friend Jesal from Project 808 took:








After the meet, I had a bit of time before my next shoot so I decided to snap a few pics of my own. The car hasn't been getting a lot of photo time since it's been more preoccupied hauling photo and video equipment around, but it still cleans up nice. A few changes to the car should be coming soon, so stay tuned. You'll be hearing more about WSTO in the near future too, so keep up with the blog! In the meantime, enjoy the snaps:

















If you guys ever need any wheels/tires/accessories for your car, give WheelSTO a call - they are amazing guys! They definitely helped me out big time with my HRE P40 x Nitto Invo setup.