California Finally Got Rain And Left Us With A Gift – Another Perfect iPhone Wallpaper!

So I was out on a job on Monday afternoon, and it was the day after Los Angeles finally got a bout of MUCH needed and necessary rain to break the spell of the drought, and the Southland's citizens weren't the only ones happy about it. The skies and trees and flora and fauna went kinda nuts as well. So here's a capture taken on the Samsung NX300 that's optimized for iPhone 5 parallax fantastica, and, as always, if you'd like it for a different device, let me know, I'll be more than happy to size it for that as well. Anywho, just right click and save the source image. If you missed my last few batches, here are some others that might work for you:

A Fresh Selection Of iPhone 5 Parallax Wallpapers If You Wanna

Happy iOS 7 Day! Here’s A Fresh Wallpaper For That Parallax iPhone Action!

Happy iPhone Day! Here’s Some Teasers & iPhone Stuffs

Some Autumn Themed Parallax Wallpaper Madness for your iOS 7 iThings

No Matter How Often You See It, The Magic Of Yosemite Will Always Seem Fresh

So this is pretty sweet. The Roosevelts just published a post entitled "45 Photos That Will Make You Want To Visit Yosemite National Park." That first picture look familiar? It is just about that time of year again...might be time to dust off the ol' packs... Anyhow, click here to see all 45...

It's Official! I've Been Labeled! And I'm Totally OK With It!

So this is kinda neat! Remember that beef jerky company from last year that licensed one of my images for their label? Well, they're now at market!!!

If you're a beef jerky fan (as I most certainly am), you'll love this stuff. I've had several batches of it and it's the perfect consistency and toughness. None of that soft madness, and not so tough it's like biting through leather, it's right in between.

And tasty.

And juicy.

And spicy.

And gluten-free.

And you even get a free flosser with each pack (clever...).

If you're around Los Angeles, you can pick it up at Topanga Fresh in Topanga Canyon and a few more stores that I'll list here soon.

If you're not in the area here in Los Angeles, you can order directly from the website, www.TopangasFinest.com, where you can also see the image on the label!!

Can you tell I'm sorta excited about this...

Not A Bad First Sunset Of 2014. Happy New Year From Topanga State Park. 01.01.14

Topanga State Park, January 1, 2014. Shot with the Samsung NX300.

Photography Lesson Learned - Don't Fight It, Just Succumb To It (It's More Rewarding)!

When you feel something, your mind and body are trying to tell you something. Listen. Don’t ignore. Today was just another reminder of that basic instinct that we so often and easily seem to lose touch with in our hyper-‘connected’ day and age. There were a few things going on that were weighing heavy a bit on my mind, and something just kept tugging at me saying, forget everything you're doing right now and just go. Doesn't matter where or what, just go. Get out of here.

Go!

But I had work to do, and I was on the clock, and so I kept pushing back..."No, no, you can't just go. What are you thinking?” 

That practical, responsible nonsense went on for about an hour before I was too exhausted to fight it anymore and just gave in, figuring, if anything, at least it would shut my brain up for a minute. So I grabbed the new NX300 that Samsung put in my hands, jumped in my car, and headed the 12 miles through the canyon down to the coast.

I pulled off to the side of the road at Topanga Beach, stepped outside, and sat by the ocean for a while, watching an older couple try their luck with their fishing lines. My brain tried telling me I’m supposed to be making pictures, but, well, I wasn't feeling it. I know I could have forced it, especially as one of them caught a fish and they were taking iPhone pictures of their prize together, but still, I just figured right now, I'm better off just marinating in this moment with no purpose other than to take it in and enjoy it. And that was that.

After about 15 minutes, I figured the sun's about to set in an hour, I should find a nice place to sit down and soak it in, so I headed up Pacific Coast Highway away from the city, and just as the sun began making it's decent over the horizon, I found myself in front of Pepperdine University, which, if you've ever seen it, sits right on a gorgeous grassy knoll overlooking the Pacific. As I was pulling up, a group of cars started to slow down and the first thought I had (and if you’re from LA you’ll immediately understand) was “Damnit, of course. Traffic!” So I looked up to see how far ahead of me it stretched, and, well, I didn’t find traffic. What I found caused me to pull over, throw park, grab my camera, and jump out of my car.

If I kept working, I would have never caught this. If I stayed and forced shots with the fisherman and woman, I would have never caught this. If I didn’t decide to give in to that tug at the gut, I would have never caught this. I simply just let go and succumbed to my feelings, and 15 miles up the coast, this is what they led me to - some of my favorite images from the past couple of months.

All images were shot on the Samsung NX300.

For more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

Vote For Me!

This is just a quickie...so I entered a couple photos into a contest sponsored by the National Park Service. The opening exhibition is tomorrow, November 2 at 1pm and it will be open through November 24 for viewing and voting. You should go vote for my images. It's nice out there. Grab some wine, a sandwich, and some Oreos. Have a picnic. These below aren't the ones I entered but were taken within a half mile of the place just a few days ago. Voting and the exhibit are at the Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center located at King Gillette Ranch at 26876 Mulholland Highway, in Calabasas, California, 91302

3 National Parks, 3 States, 2 Weeks, 1 Crap Bag - Part 6 - They Could Have Been Serial Killers!

Oh yes…it was incredibly striking how the landscape changes immediately…literally immediately once you cross the border from Utah into Colorado. The golden red sand and tan desert hues that were the prominent feature for the past 5 days begin to melt away within mere miles of crossing over that invisible line, and they're replaced with a green, lush, and seemingly more oxygen friendly palate. It was striking how quick and abrupt the transition was. After about an hour of climbing up a mild grade along increasingly green roadside fields and streams and rolling hills filled with meadows and rivers that could compete with the Palouse, it started to get steeper and steeper. After shaking off the plains of the desert behind us, it was hard not to embrace the fact that we were headed into arguably the most magnificent mountain range in the country…the Colorado Rockies. Not a bad introduction to the second half of this trip. 

Being a huge mountain and running water and tree and forest guy, this is the point when my intuition coerced me sit back and just marinated in the environment that we were floating through. I immediately felt at home.

Our first proper stop in Colorado was about 3 hours in. My friend that joined me on this trip was itching to go fishing from the moment we left Los Angeles, and as we rode alongside a grand rushing river, it was killing him not to stop. Granted, I had no complaints, so we found a small town called Hot Sulphur Springs that ran right along the Colorado River. While he pulled out the tackle box and the rods and set up shop along the banks, and I decided to wander the town a bit - get a feel for this seemingly mythical landscape.

What I found in Hot Sulphur Springs was the kind of place where the local children tube down the river that connects their backyards, where the remains of an old 'mercantile' store sit beside the ancient whitewashed brick building that still serves as a post office, where children's bikes are left strewn about in front of the 'Town Hall,' where the trout run rampant and the sheriff stops in just to say hello. The sort of place where a stranger sees you walking in the streets, asks where you're headed, and then offers you a ride (yes…that happened…not once, but twice. Coming from L.A., I had no idea what to do with that).

This sort of place. Is Colorado.

After a little more than an hour of hanging out in this charming town, it was time to get back on the road. We still had to make it through Rocky Mountain National Park, over the 'hills' that divide the East and West of our great country, down through Estes Park, and finally into Loveland, Colorado, along the front range of the Rockies, where a mutual friend that was putting us up for a few days lives and was waiting for us with a fresh home cooked 'supper.'

Now, if the day ended at this moment, it would have been a perfect day, but it didn't, and what it still had in store for us blew my hot damn mind into stratospheres I have only thus far read about and admired from calendars and picture books and vague recollections of out of print geography class text books. The next leg of our trip was taking us directly through Rocky Mountain National Park, and as soon as we entered that gate, it was like Mama Nature's magic wand went ballistic.

We rode into the official park entrance along the 34 highway, otherwise known as Trail Ridge Road, just as the sun began it's decent over the western range of the valley, and we couldn't have been in a more perfect position. The centerpiece of this part of the park is an insanely stunning elk and deer-laden meadow that stretches a solid couple of miles through the center of a valley flanked by aspens and Douglas firs and purple ponderosa pines. When the sun is setting in a flawless meadow, and everything starts to glow pink and purple and gold, there's only one thing you're required to do - hit the bloody brakes and get out of the car.

Now.

We parked alongside the road, I grabbed my camera, and ran directly out into the middle of the meadow. By now, my buddy knew the drill…I was gonna be a while. So he gave in and gladly grabbed his fishing pole, and jumped into the stream. He did his thing and I did mine. I felt like a frickin' child running around and ducking and hiding and frolicking in the 3-foot tall blades of grass, grabbing every angle and light beam and cloud formation I can in my viewfinder before the sun disappeared behind the range. This went on for a good 45 minutes where nothing. Else. Mattered. And this was the sight where I made some of my favorite images of the trip.

However, there was still a good drive ahead of us to get through the park and over onto the front range and we knew that. What we didn't know was the surprise that awaited us just a few miles up the road…I don't know why it didn't even occur to us until we were in the midst of it, but all of a sudden, we're driving, the trees begin to disappear, we realize we're way above the tree-line and that's when we saw it…the sign: Continental Divide - 11,000 feet. We were literally at the top of the Rocky Mountains, the dividing line where the East meets the West, the top of the fence from which the waters flow east into the Atlantic and west into the Pacific. We were driving along a ridge line where we were simultaneously watching the sun set on one side and the moon rising on the other. The timing was psychotically impeccable. And in this situation, when you're literally on top of the world, there's only one thing you're required to do - yup…you guessed it, hit the bloody brakes and get out of the car!

This is where I'll let the pictures in the gallery at the end of this post try to do the talking/typing…they won't nearly do it justice, but, well, it might just be one of those things you have to experience for yourself. It's like that.

Now the sun was down, the moon was up, and we hunkered back down in the car for the 2 hours that lie ahead of us through Estes Park and into Loveland, Colorado. We rolled in to our friend's casa, exchanged hugs and pleasantries, and did what any group of long-separated friends do when they get together…ate and drank. We popped open a bottle of wine, settled down on the table outside with our plates of fresh salmon, asparagus, and grilled vegetables and laughed and drank and merried til' we passed out, one by one, in the warm summer air - the sounds of Coloradoan crickets and distant rush of the Big Thompson river lulling us to sleep.

zzzz...

If you've only just joined me on this "3 National Parks, 3 States, 2 weeks, 1 Crap Bag" journey, and would like to start at the beginning, click here.

Til next time...

For more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

The Undeniable Importance of 'Me Time.'

So yesterday I posted about my whirlwind experiences shooting a few well-known personalities and their closets. Today I'm posting about me.

Through the whole experience shooting Kyle Williams and Rod Streater in San Francisco, I also knew it was going to be an exercise in something I've been focusing on making a priority over the past few years…whether it's for a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days - meditation, a hike, stopping for a few deep breaths, whatever - making it a point to always find time for myself. I've so often times in the past lost vision of why I was doing what I was doing…the passion…and it's been nothing sort of soul-murder, leading to derailment of my original vision and purpose and intended paths, some that have lasted for years. For this reason, it's become a priority to always make sure to do something to try to keep that vision at the forefront. Especially in the midst of running from one house to another to another location to another and between cancellations and reschedulings and all the psychotica that comes with being in the midst of a commercial shoot along with portrait and closet shoots for 4 professional athletes in 3 days, where it can be easy to lose track of why you love doing this to begin with. So on the final evening of a 3 day excursion to San Francisco, I took a couple midnight hours to hang out on San Francisco's Embarcadero overlooking the new Bay Bridge light show. Snapped away and came away with a couple that satisfied the soul.

But even past this, I decided to extend the 'me time' through the next day. Figured Jennifer from WhoHasItApp could use a break from her devices that she's insanely married to (iPad, iPhone, even a Blackberry, all at once) and since I had yet to make my yearly excursion to Big Sur along the coast (and knew there was no reception there), I made up my mind that I'd force one upon her and we'd make our way back to Lalaland via Pacific Coast Highway. And, well, that's never a bad idea. Sure, it adds an extra few hours to the trip, but a few hours is nothing compared to the benefits it provides the mind.

We got to drive through the redwoods, see the waves crash against the coastline from 2000-foot cliffside vantage points that most see only in pictures and films, the elephant seals at San Simeon were out basking in full force, stopped for some insanely mouth-watering barbeque at Alex's in Pismo Beach, which I'd HIGHLY recommend...it was perfect. Well, almost. While I'd love to say it was all good, there was a moment when the government shutdown madness truly got personal, and that's when I slowed down to show Jennifer the best campsite in California...and we ran across this:

Again, the silver lining...even Mama Nature needs her downtime.

Anyhow, below is a gallery of some of those 'myself time' images. Hope you enjoy.

Ok then, so the final episodes of the "3 National Parks, 3 States, 2 Weeks, 1 Crap Bag" series coming soon…I promise…Thanks for waiting, thanks for reading, and thanks so much for all the wonderful comments that have accompanied these posts both here and on my Google Plus page. It's been a fantastic experience so far and you all have a huge hand in pushing me to keep on keeping on. I only hope that some of my posts resonate enough to help you do the same.