photography by wasim.

Tag: santa monica

TreyUSA Does L.A. – Trey Ratcliff’s Photowalk Tour Found It’s Way To Santa Monica

So that was a super fun evening! The one, the only Trey Ratcliff from www.StuckInCustoms.com and TheArcanum.com fame made his Los Angeles stop of his TreyUSA photowalk tour across the U.S. last weekend. There were at least 300 photographers crawling the Santa Monica beach and pier area, all of us learning, laughing, and snapping away.

The event even proved to be a night of firsts for me – not only was it my first ever photowalk but it was also the first time I finally got to meet my Arcanum master Robin Griggs Wood in the flesh, which was a very special thing for me. I also ran into Ibarionex Perello from The Candid Frame, in my opinion the best photography podcast around. Apparently the legendary Karen Hutton was amongst the chaos of the masses, but somehow I missed her!

This was also a big deal for me for Trey was one of the first photographers that I began following heavily on social media when Google+ first hit the scene about 3 or 4 years ago. His path and story have been incredibly inspiring and has helped open worlds to me that I never even knew existed. So to be able to meet, hear, learn from, and shoot with the man himself was one of those highlight moments in my continuing photographic journey. Thanks so much Trey for setting the thing up and hope to see you again soon.

Below is a gallery of some of my favorite shots from the event, all shot on a Samsung NX1 with a combination of the 16-50 S lens and the 50-150 S lens with the exception of the group image, which was shot by award winning wildlife and aerial photographer Laurie Rubin. Click on any of them and it’ll open up a lightbox slideshow.

And if you’re jonesin’ for some more stuffwhats and thingnots:
instagram: @wasimofnazareth
ello: @wasimofnazareth
google+: +WasimMuklashy

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August 24, 2015
Happy Holidays! A Few Words And A Few Gifts – My Best Images Of 2014

As another year comes to a close and we prepare to spend quality time with the family and friends, I wanted to take a quick short and sweet few seconds to thank every one of you for the support, the warmth, the encouragement, the inspiration, and the all around positive energy you’ve brought into my life over the past 365 days. It’s been truly humbling and everything that has kept me going, encouraging me to get out and make another picture, write another post, keep doing the thing. I can only hope that I’m able to reciprocate even a small part of that. Happy holidays all you beautiful people. Below are a couple of my favorites from the past 12 months. They’re high-enough-resolution versions for your desktops and mobile thingies and whatnots. Hopefully you’ll find one or two that you’ll dig. If so, just right click and save. If not, I’ll try harder next year!!! 2014, not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

2015, let’s do this thing!

Each and every one of these was shot on either the Samsung NX30 or the Samsung NX1 as part of the Imagelogger program and are being provided to you for your own non-commercial personal use under the CC BY-NC 4.0 Creative Commons License.

For some other stuffthings:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Ello: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

December 24, 2014
Get 1 of 100 Limited Edition 36″x24″ Prints Of My Image “Pole Position” From Angeleno Artistry For Just $40

This is sweet!! There’s a new company that just launched called Angeleno Artistry, who focus on showcasing 5 artists from the Los Angeles area each month, and they offer limited edition prints of a piece of work that we’ve created for them. Well, I am humbled to be one of September’s five showcased artists, as a matter of fact, one of their first 5 artists ever, alongside the crazy talent of Marilee Spencer, Stephen Paul, KFiSH, and JD Higham. If you want 1 of 100 limited edition 36″ x 24″ prints of my piece ‘Pole Position,’ and any of these other artists’ work, check it…they’re selling at AngelenoArtistry.com. They make GREAT gifts (yeah…that’s coming…). They’re only $40 bucks each. Pass it on…

September 10, 2014
I Got A Bit Jerky, And In Return, Topanga Got Fresh!

So this was fun. I recently got a minute to head over to Topanga Fresh Market & Cafe, the organic market in town, to check out the display for Topanga’s Finest Jerky, the beef jerky company that used one of my canyon images for their label. I must say, it looked pretty darn good in there. I thought I had posted this here already, and perhaps I have and accidentally erased it, so forgive me if that was the case (I have a vague recollection of the event…). Anyhow, check it, just in time for the flurry of spring activity that’s about to abound!! Oh, and it’s gluten-free for those of you that maintain a gluten-free diet (and each pack comes with a handy dandy flosser…it’s the little things…). You can either stop by Topanga Fresh if you’re in the area, or hit up www.TopangasFinest.com directly.

March 3, 2014
Bad Days Are The New Good Days! Thanks For The Reminder Photofocus!

So I know you’ve probably already seen enough of this set of images, but, well, too bad! Ha! An image from this series keeps getting around one way or another – this time absolutely humbling me by showing up on the homepage for Photofocus.com as this week’s ‘Featured Image.’ This is Scott Bourne, Richard Harrington, Melissa Niu and company! It’s madness! Check it out:

CLICK ME!

The crazy thing is, I thought I was having a bad day that day when I just needed to get out and away so jumped in my car for that ride up the coast where I ran into these buggers on that hill. If it wasn’t for that ‘bad day,’ I would have never been able to make these images, rendering that day not a bad day after all – it actually turned out to be one of the best days of the year. Just another one of life’s funny reminders that you never ever ever ever ever know what’s going to happen and why things happen the way they do. Whether a frown or a smile, just roll with it…after all, neither lasts, but one of them is always sure to return…

Can’t wait for my next bad day!!

January 28, 2014
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…

January 23, 2014
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.
(more…)

January 1, 2014
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?” (more…)

December 13, 2013
Just Flow – Pursuing A Life Of Being

In a strange sense, I feel like I’m preparing for something. I spend a lot of time alone, very little social interaction – isolated from the constant deluge of stimulation and media saturation. I’m left alone in my thoughts, in my being.

And I do it to myself.

And there’s an almost constant sense in me of, I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be down there either, but I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be somewhere. Elsewhere. Yet, only recently have I begun to accept and embrace the possibility that I truly am supposed to be here. For if I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be.

But I am.

The distractions, the noise, the static, the relationships from the past, most of which were based on toxic and flawed foundations, would have continued. I would not have been able to see them for what they were. The true essence of man that surrounded me would have continued to be masked by a show or a band or a story or the news or an event or a relationship or a girl or a guy or a lie or the tv or a film or some form of numbing deceit…adding layer upon layer on top of the only thing that truly exists. Layers that you’d eventually have to dig through. One after another after another.

And hence, the cycle would just propagate itself.

Is it easy? Of course not. But it’s not supposed to be. Is it valuable? Absolutely. For understanding what you are capable of and what you are not, is necessary if you pursue a life of being.

So it was necessary, necessary to step away from it all, and be away from it all, and be. Just marinate in being. Feel everything. Allow yourself to feel everything. Allow it to take hold of you. And then allow it to release you. However many times it needs to.

It was necessary in order to understand that the way it was and the way it seemed, is not necessarily the way it will be. It was necessary to begin to understand yourself at your core in order to understand how that core fits into greater moment.

Limitations are a gift. Limitations realized are a blessing. Knowing that those limitations are preparation for limitless expansion is the ultimate prize.

For without those gifts and blessings, you would never know where you stand. Where you should be.

So yes, I’m preparing for something. The only question is…

…what?

July 2, 2013
When you can’t get away from it all…get away from it all.

So it was one of those days, the thought process just goes into overdrive and begins to cloud any reasoning and logic. The past comes up, the future comes up, all of the baggage surrounding both start to rear their nosy and intrusive little lizard heads. Sometimes this would last for hours, then days, then weeks, but more and more you begin to see that there’s a way out…well, at least temporarily.

You recognize it.

You realize it.

You consciously stop it and remind yourself that none of it is part of your current existence, except the parts you allow to be.

And then just as you think you’re starting to get the hang of it all, you slip right back down. And that’s when you realize you need to step away.

Or maybe it’s just me.

In any case, I figured it’s been a long while since I’ve visited one of my little sanctuaries and what better time than now. So I jumped in the car, headed down to the gardens at Lake Shrine Self-Realization Center, and just sat.

Literally.

Just picked one of the benches and sat.

Watched. Listened. Felt.

And a few other people just came to the surrounding benches and sat.

Just sat.

Watching, listening, feeling…being.

And just like that, you remember what you’re supposed to be doing. And everything else melts away.

Thanks again for setting me straight Lake Shrine.

Until the next time…

June 28, 2013