365 Days
Back in August, Kayla and I decided to look into a professional camera. She ended up buying our camera and the rest was history. I told this story already, so I won’t go into detail. I wanted to get better behind the camera since I’ve always leaned on auto settings. What better way to learn more about photography than to embark on a 365 day photo challenge.
I told myself that I’d post a photo every single day for an entire year. I pushed myself to go out as much as humanly possible and take photos. The crazy thing is that it never, ever felt like a chore. I absolutely loved going out and taking photos. Whether it was long walks by myself or trips with Kayla, there was rarely a moment I DIDN’T have our camera on me. I actually found myself very anxious when I wasn’t out and about, making photos.
August and September pretty much consisted of me taking walks around my neighborhood and taking photos before and after work or during my lunch breaks. I picked it up a lot in October because we had a trip to Disneyland in California, so I wanted to make sure I was ready to take the sickest shots out there. I ended up getting fired from my job literally 2 days before going to California so that would open up a lot more time for me in the coming months. But that’s a story for another time… Maybe I’ll write a piece about that one day.
With our trip to Cali right around the corner, I was stoked to bring what I’ve learned in these short few months with the camera to Disneyland. Equipped with Sigma 56mm (84mm on the SONY ZV-e10) and a Sigma 16mm (24mm on the SONY ZV-e10) prime lenses… and my GoPro, which I don’t think I used at all… I was excited to say the least.
We had a free day planned for our first day out there, but as we woke up to get ready to head to the airport, Kayla got an email saying our flight was delayed. We were both looking forward to getting a little day out in Cali before we were consumed by Disneyland. That was definitely a bummer, but we still had an entire week ahead of us. Disneyland was super fun. The photos I made were so awesome I made an entire photo book dedicated to that trip. Some of my favorite photos I’ve taken in these 365 days came from that trip.
After coming back from that trip, I relaxed for a bit while I edited literally hundreds of photos. It wouldn’t be long before I started to take advantage of not having a job. I’d get up and take the camera out and walk all around. I hung out with my friend, Luke, in the city to take photos out there. I was having so much fun with all this free time.
December was more of the same… except more trips to the city. Hung out with my friend, Johnny, taking some bangers in Chinatown. Took a trip with Kayla for a brunch date at this restaurant in Midtown that was decked out with Christmas decorations, then took photos by a few spots around the area. We took another trip to take photos by some trees in lower Manhattan. I also took some REALLY long walks through Park Slope and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn.
I didn’t waste any time in January either. I started off the new year with a bang. I took a bunch of walks to the Verrazano bridge and back. Me and my friend Ryan took a walk from Bryant Park in Manhattan to Domino Park in Brooklyn, crossing the Williamsburg bridge in the process. I learned a LOT that day. Oh, and we had ANOTHER trip to Disney… Disney World this time for a short little weekend vacation for Kayla’s birthday. This trip was not as frantic as our usually Disney trips with the gang. We took things easy, enjoyed the surprisingly great weather in Florida… it’s usually always super hot and nasty down there. We hopped on our favorite rides and took a lot of photos. I even got up early and took a nice little walk around our hotel (Pop Century) and got some cool photos. I think January was one of my most active months of the whole year. I was racking up the photos and the steps. I also picked up a 30mm (45mm on the SONY ZV-e10) Sigma Prime lens, which would become my new go-to later on in the year.
February was pretty chill. Probably one of my most laid back months in this 365 Day Challenge. But this is where my obsession with squirrels began. I’d take a lot walks to Owls Head Park in Brooklyn. This trend would carry over to March (… and April).
March was filled with squirrel photography. I absolutely fell in love with these little critters. I’d buy bags of peanuts and make my way to the park to hang with the squirrels. I even have some names. We also had a trip to Philly planned. Technically it was all to go to a horror convention in New Jersey to meet Art the Clown from Terrifier, but most of our time was spent in Old Town, Philly. We hit up a few restaurants, caught a few movies (which seems to be a tradition whenever we’re out there) and had some fun at the convention. I took some time before we had to check out on Sunday to take a nice long walk around and do my “street photography” thing. All-in-all, we had a nice time out there.
I think April would be the month of vintage cars for me. I kept discovering old Cadillacs, Fords, Chevys and more around the neighborhood. I’m pretty blessed with the crazy amount of car repair shops around my way. I’ve never been a HUGE car person, but I do love me some cool car photography. April also just happened to be the season when cherry blossoms were in peak bloom, so there was a lot of shoots with Kayla that month. We took trips to the Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Central Park to get some beautiful photos. I’m very fortunate to have a beautiful girlfriend to take photos of and beef up my portfolio for potential work in the future. So April had its fair share of squirrel photos, car photos and vibrant photo shoots, but April would also bring me my first ever opportunity to do something I’ve been dying to do for ages… shooting a wrestling show.
Thanks to some amazing friends, I was able to shoot at Legacy Pro Wrestling’s Emergence… a House of Glory student showcase event. I ended up capturing some really cool images and made some awesome friends in the process. We’ll circle back around to this later on.
May was a HUGE month for me and Kayla. We were coming up on our trip to Vancouver, Canada and our Disney Cruise to Alaska. This was something that we’ve been looking forward to since Kayla started planning this the year prior.
I didn’t really go on my usual long walks outside of a day here or there because we were prepping for our trip. I did dust off my old Canon Powershot to take out on the trip AND I accidentally stumbled upon my first ever film camera. You can read more about that here. Armed with our SONY ZV-e10, 3 Sigma Prime lenses, the 16-55mm kit lens (just in case), my old Powershot, my newly acquired Yashica FX-70 Quartz and a GoPro, we were ready for one of the biggest trips of both of our lives.
I don’t really want to get TOO much into this trip here because I feel like both Vancouver and Alaska deserve their own blogs, but this trip was amazing. It was difficult balancing taking photos and taking it all in with my eyes, but somehow I managed. I am so grateful to have someone like Kayla who, without second guessing, takes me along on these amazing adventures. Vancouver was stunning. There’s nothing quite like a city with mountains towering in the background. The cruise and Alaska were both amazingly beautiful and surreal. I couldn’t get enough of just looking out at the beautiful scenery. There were times where I didn’t want to do anything but just sit on out chairs on the balcony and just take in all of the beauty that nature has to offer. Being a city boy, I felt like I was on a completely different planet.
This trip will be something I hold dearly for the rest of my life. I’m uncertain if we’ll ever be able to go out there again, but I’d love to make that happen somehow. Regardless, I’m happy to have been there at least once in my life. You can check out my favorite photos from Alaska. My photo book, Alaska, is available in both physical and digital formats.
After the trip, I honestly didn’t do much. June was filled with mostly editing photos from the trip and wishing I was back out there. While I was editing photos from the trip, I brought out my Yashica as much as possible and shot a lot on film. I honestly shot way more rolls than I had ever imagined I’d be shooting. The only shooting I did with the Sony would be at our friends’ wedding and a Legacy Pro Wrestling show I shot at the end of the month.
Our Sony would see a lot more action in July, though I was still shooting a lot on film. We went out to Long Island twice in one week for some photo shoots. First one was at Lavender by the Bay, a lavender field out in Long Island. We’d follow that up, later that day, with a small 4th of July BBQ at our friend’s house. 4 days later, we’d be back in Long Island for a photo shoot at a sun flower field. A week later, me and Kayla would venture to the city for brunch at a restaurant with a “Barbie” theme… nothing too crazy. We’d cap off July with a day out to see Barbie and Oppenheimer… both were amazing movies btw. Then another trip to the city to see Haunted Mansion and Talk to Me… with a little photo walk in between.
The last month of this challenge would be a HUGE one for me. I started this journey off walking around my neighborhood, taking photos of pigeons and things and would end up with an opportunity that would potentially change my life. Started off the month with a little “Barbenheimer” shoot with the girls at this hotel in SoHo. A few days later, I took a walk by myself over the Manhattan bridge, all the way down to the Museum of Modern Art, to do a little shoot with my friend and her hubby… a 26,000 step trip by the way. Followed that up with a 10,000 step to drop off film to get developed.
A few days after that, I’d make my way to New Jersey to shoot another wrestling show, Intense Wrestling Alliance’s Ultimate Lucha at El Nacho Cantina. Despite it being outdoors and almost 100° and feeling like I was going to die, I had so much fun. I love shooting events like this outdoors. You don’t really have to battle with bad lighting. It reminds me of the Warped Tour days. It’s been my goal to shoot as many wrestling shows as I possibly can to build up by portfolio, so this show was a big one for me.
The following weekend would be where things got CRAZY.
On Friday, August 18th, I would get the ok to shoot ringside at House of Glory’s biggest event of the year… High Intensity. HOG, being the biggest indie promotion in New York. This event was star studded. AEW’s Isiah Cassidy would participate in a “Suicidal 6-Way Ladder Match”. The only and only Masha Slamovich (taking over for AEW’s Eddie Kingston). The Deathmatch Queen, Steph De Lander would be in her own match, as well as accompanying the Deathmatch King himself… Long Island’s own Matt Cardona. Matt would be taking on the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi… The Ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Not only would I be shooting legends, I’d be finally shooting for my good friends, Osito, Eden, Midas Black, Jay Lyon and Charles Mason.
Being so close to the action and being able to capture all the intense action was like a drug for me. I felt at home. The second it was over, I wanted more. Having an opportunity to shoot legends the way I did was something I’ve been dreaming about for a long, long time. Saying this might changed my life might seem dramatic, but it’s the truth. I just have to continue to work at it and follow up on that amazing night.
After feeling almost like I was in the ring, wrestling with legends, I had another long day ahead of me. As much as I wanted to tap out and stay home, I didn’t allow myself to. I got up and got ready for what would be an amazing day out with amazingly talented photographers at the NYC Photowalk… hosted by CineStill Film. Thankfully the weather was phenomenal. We started the day at Domino Park in Brooklyn, crossed the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan. We stopped at ICP (the International Center of Photography) for a bit before we made our way over the Manhattan Bridge back to Brooklyn. We’d all meet up at Jane’s Carrousel in Dumbo and then crossing the Brooklyn bridge into Manhattan again. We wrapped up an almost 24,000 step photo walk at the Oculus by the World Trade Center. A day well worth being sore for days after for. I banged out 3 rolls of CineStill 400D and took a bunch of shots on my friend’s FujiFilm X100v (one hell of a camera).
I’d finally cap off this busy weekend with a morning trip to The Edge to do some shooting with Kayla. We ended our early day at Jacob’s pickles. I also managed to squeeze in a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 and a few shots on CineStill 400D. As an added bonus, I met up with Ryan again in the city for a little photo walk the day before my birthday. I left my SONY at home and shot 2 more rolls of CineStill 400D.
This has been an amazing run. I’ve never been this consistent with anything in my life. I’m super proud of what I’ve accomplished and all that I learned during this 365 Day Challenge. Nothing is going to change for me, not that I’ve finished this challenge. I’ll still be going out on 10-20K step walks. I’ll still be snapping 1000 photos on any given day. I just wont be posting every single day if I don’t absolutely want to.
Before I end this, I have to thank someone very special to me. I cannot thank Kayla enough for putting me in a position to be able to become the best photographer I can possibly be. If it wasn’t for her being so vain and wanting a professional camera for me to take photos of her… Her words, not mine by the way… I may not be where I’m at now as a photographer. She’s supported me so much. She’s given me the tools to become better. She’s taken me to places I would’ve never been if we weren’t together. I owe her the world.