Point Reyes

December 22, 2015

Words and photographs provided by Neil Mortensen

After taking a break from shooting, last Saturday I picked up my friend Jeanna in Petaluma and we headed out to Point Reyes. She had just gotten a new camera that she wanted to try out and I was in need of a new adventure. It had rained the day before so it was as fresh out as I had hoped. Luckily it was the only day that weekend that it didn't rain and there were still lingering clouds that created the diffused light I was looking for. After exploring Point Reyes, we had to make a stop at In-N-Out which is essential after an adventure. Then finally, after it got dark and we were on our way back to Petaluma, we saw this Christmas tree farm off the freeway that was illuminated by these little white lights strung up around the farm. Jeanna probably loves Christmas more than anyone.. I've never seen someone so happy to see Christmas trees haha.

I love taking photos of Jeanna because of how fun and easy-going she is. She doesn’t force anything or take it too seriously. A lot of the portraits I took were serious but most of the time we were cracking up in between shooting and a lot of them during but most ended up out of focus haha. I always love the photos I capture of her because of how naturally happy she is. That, coupled with her beauty, always makes for some amazing photographs. To be honest, these photos are some of my favorites I’ve ever taken for a number of reasons, but mostly because of how genuine and organic they are. I’m known mostly for taking photos of landscapes and cityscapes but portraits are secretly my favorite because of the story they tell and the memories they capture. Nothing can tell more of a story than the emotion on someone’s face. I think of my photos as a journal, capturing memories from my travels and stopping moments in time that I don’t want to forget. I think of the pictures I take as something I'll show my kids one day and hopefully inspire them to see the world, and not just for what it is, but for what it could be- for what they could make it. Same goes for everyone else I share my photos with. Photography has taken me to so many places I never would've seen if I hadn't picked up a camera and for that I'm forever grateful. It's changed the way I see things and enhanced my perspective on life while keeping me on a positive track. This day was the most fun, rewarding day I’ve had of shooting in a while. It was a reminder as to why I love photography when sometimes, its over-saturation and hype discourages me. Thanks for stopping by. With the holidays approaching, I hope everyone enjoys the time they have to chill with their friends and families.

Joshua Tree AKA.. The middle of NOWHERE

October 31, 2015

Words provided by Sasan Sayyar

Photographs provided by Sasan Sayyar & Michael Casatico

Sasan here, some know me as Sas(sauce) because my name is like sauce on a sandwich. My childhood friend Michael & I run this brand/blog/company called Tribe, or more formally, “Those Rebels Inspired by Everything”. On behalf of he & myself, I'd like to apologize for an unexpected and prolonged absence of activity here on the website. Unfortunately for now, Tribe has to come after school and work for us. With that being said, it’s practically November, past the middle of the semester, finals are coming soon, and we’ve both been overwhelmed with work. We are in no rush with Tribe. We’d much rather remain patient, and have a period of absence and focus on bringing quality product, than try to pump stuff out just for the sake of having content/product… after all, this is art, and if there’s one thing I’ve ever known about art, it’s that you CANNOT force it. AKA, we have not yet, and will never sacrifice quality for quantity. Huge thanks to all of you who’ve been rockin with us & supporting us from the start, we owe you. We’re surely working on some more things for the winter time, and always developing new ideas, and it’ll only ever be a matter of time until we implement them. Much love always.

Here’s a story I wrote about a full day trip that Mike & I took to Joshua Tree National Park over the summer! Enjoy.

It was the fourth of August, an early, blurry, & delightful Tuesday morning. The night before, Mike & I set up a plan to trek out to Joshua Tree National Park & see what’s going on out there (not too much lol). So it’s about 7 or 8AM on a Tuesday, in the middle of the summer, and we set out on our almost 3 hour journey from San Marcos to Joshua Tree. Armed with only our cameras, a full loaf of whole grain bread, an almost full jar of peanut butter, a case of 32 bottled waters, and desert style hats, we start mobbin out to the desert. Keep in mind I’m only visiting from the Bay Area for a few days, so the seemingly endless straight and flat roads are somewhat unfamiliar. Anyways, let me fast forward to the part where we get there, since it seems like the whole drive there was just a blur of falling in and out of short naps & what not. Apparently after 3 hours or so I realized that my iPhone’s GPS had seriously led us into the middle of nowhere, Joshua Tree. We drove Mike’s Honda Accord at least 5 miles on just dirt haha, I can’t say I’ve done that before. Shit out of luck, we have no choice but to drive all the way back and around since we landed in a super remote area of the park, instead of the main entrance. Once we’re finally on the main road that runs through Joshua Tree, you could say that both of us are blown away by the nothingness over there. I mean, you literally are in the middle of the desert (in the middle of the summer heat too) with a whole bunch of nothing around. Sure there are some cool rock formations here & there and some awesome looking trees, but that’s about all. I didn’t expect much more judging by the pictures I had previously seen from the park but still, it’s not too often I’m in a place where there’s just so much nothing. It’s just gorgeous actually in it’s own unique way, it makes you feel like you have a bunch of room to think.

Longer story long, Mike and I spent the whole day mobbin around different spots, stopping and going, hiking around a bit, shooting photos & just exploring. I think throughout the day I had a total of 8 peanut butter sandwiches and 10 water bottles myself. I have absolutely no doubt that I wouldn’t have survived without my desert hat and those sandwiches and waters. It must’ve been 100 degrees minimum for the majority of the day... I believe the most distance we traveled in one outing (outing meaning getting out of the car) was just under 2 miles or so, and it seemed like we walked a damn marathon lol. We came across some pretty cool things, read some signs and learned some history of Joshua Trees and their habitats, as well as all the neighboring vegetation. We also discovered a parked buggy that looked like it was straight out of GTA V. There was no owner to be found for miles, or so it seemed. I would’ve tried to steal it but there was no steering wheel. Anyways, if you’ve read this far, let me tell you something: I feel like I could write pages about this day and still not be able to express how it made me feel. It was a really remarkable experience, and I had to drive Mike’s Accord all the way back and I can completely remember dozing in and out of sleep while doing 90MPH. Somebody loves Those Rebels…

555

September 14, 2015

“It’s good having friends in high places”

— Anastocio

Words and visuals provided by: John Asuncion

I’ve only ever been on two rooftops, both being in SF within a week apart from each other and both in 2015. One being in China Town that everyone has been to and 555. When Omeez, Sam Martin and myself hit the C. T. rooftop, Omeez said it would be awesome to hit that super tall building.... “555”. Then a week later, we got the chance to photograph from the rooftop of 555 at night. After that experience I told Omeez to let me know when he gets another chance to go up there and shoot during the day.

A few months went by til Meez told me about another opportunity that we had to shoot from 555 during the day... After a little scheduling and waiting for the right weather conditions we were on par to shoot during the best time & conditions. So on a Sunday afternoon I swooped Meez, our homies Chose and Carlo and headed to SF. When we were driving over the San Mateo Bridge, looking over at SF, there were some patches of small clouds hitting the skyline, which we wanted. Once we parked and got to the location, the fog was slowly moving in. We all got in the building, took the long 55 story elevator ride to the rooftop, and walked down this hallway that led to the door that let you on the roof. Opening that door to the roof is a crazy thing, because when you open it and look outside the only two things you see is the sky, and the tip of the TransAmerica building. Then, when you walk to the edge of the roof and look over the ledge, this is what you see..

Soulection to Beats 1

August 09, 2015

Words & photographs provided by Michael Casatico

Last weekend I had the pleasure of heading up to Los Angeles to take some photos at The Sound of Tomorrow show hosted by Soulection. Since the last time I was able to make it out to a show, Soulection has made some big moves with the transition of their weekly radio show from London based Rinse.fm to Beats 1 Radio hosted by Apple Music. Incase you didn’t know, Beats 1 Radio is a 24 hour ‘listening experience’ brought to you by some of the world’s greatest music experts and enthusiasts. Not only is Beats 1 broadcasted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but it can also be heard in over 100 different countries. Beats 1 is a massive musical stage, and Soulection fits the part perfectly every Saturday night from 7pm to 9pm. Hosted by the man Joe Kay, every Saturday you can expect good vibes, good music and powerful energy. If you missed the show on Saturday, or can’t tune in during that time, Soulection uploads the recording of the radio show to their soundcloud. If you haven’t checked them out, or if you need some new inspiration, Soulection will bless your ears with some hidden gems and unheard music from producers that span across the globe.

For this photo set, I used my 35mm prime lens and tried to utilize as much natural light as possible. I have never really been a big fan of using a flash; one because I feel like they bug the shit out of people with the constant blinding flash going off, and two because I feel like the photos look more dramatic and capture more energy in the low lighting.

As usual, everyone who preformed last weekend absolutely killed their set, and it was priceless to able to document it. Huge thank you to my man Dom Stills and Joe Kay for having me. I hope everyone reading this enjoys the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Cabo San Lucas

August 02, 2015

Words & Photographs provided by Taylor Scalise

The only other country that I've been to outside of the U.S. so far is Mexico. I grew up going just across the border to Rosarito or Ensenada, so it was time to head down the coast of Baja, California. Some friends of mine planned a trip to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate a few things, and we had an amazing time to say the least. It will probably go down as one of the best trips ever since the whole stay was filled with great times, lost of laughter, and just soaking in the beautiful scenery that Cabo had to offer. I was hesitant to even bring my camera at all but as always, I'm glad I did; even though it got soaked on the boat ride to Lands End. We got dropped off by boat at Pelican Rock beach where we hung out and snorkeled a little. There was also a thunderstorm back across the water with some rare lightning that I'm lucky to have captured at that moment in time. Even though I was drunk for about 5 days straight, I was able to concentrate enough to capture some of the moments from our trip. Here's to the crew that we had down there and to the many more trips to come.