Getaway Cabin- 8 min read

It was Sunday, October 23, 2022.

I took a solo trip and spent a few days at Getaway Cabin in Running Springs, 17 miles away from Big Bear, and approximately 2 hours east of Los Angeles. I had planned this shortly after signing up for the Full marathon in Long Beach, which was back in February. There are a few reasons as to why I chose these specific dates: 1- to recover physically and mentally from the marathon, 2- It was a very early birthday present for myself. And 3- To re-charge my “batteries” and finish the year strong.

Before driving up the mountain, I went grocery shopping at Sprouts to buy everything I needed, including pre-cooked meals, fruits and snacks. I also bought some red wine to pair with the meals. The drive from my house was only 45 minutes away and it was on Sunday, so there was no traffic the whole time.

Once I arrived, I parked my car, took a chilled shot of Bulleit Rye and opened a nice cold bottle of Kona Lager, smiling as I excitingly roamed around the area that I called Home for a few days. Right outside the cabin was a fire pit, which I used as soon as I settled in.

Inside my cabin named Ginger (Each cabin is named after a staff’s family member or close friend) , I had everything I needed in a confined space. There was a full kitchen with a small table, a toilet and shower with hot water and toiletries. The queen bed and sheets were very comfortable but the very best part of it all was the big window with the nice view of nature.

Purposely, there was no WiFi and the reception was spotty, but all of that is on purpose. There is even a Cellphone Lockbox, which I highly recommend to get the full “Escape from everyday life” experience. Admittingly, I did use my cell phone to snap a few photos and videos of the place. I also did watch a photography documentary at night to catch up on some art inspiration…. buuuut my phone was on Airplane mode the entire trip, which was fun to do!

I read a few of the books that were inside the cabin, and played a few card games. It was even recommended to sketch and color with crayons, which sounds cheesy but really fun and brought many childhood memories back. I had a music playlist made for the trip but I hardly used it because they had a radio and I enjoyed listening to the FM stations, which I preferred because it forced me to listen to classic songs that I had forgotten about.

When I needed to stretch my legs, I went for a walk around the area to enjoy the crisp, fresh air. It was very pleasant just sitting there and letting nature do its thing: In a span of just 10-15 minutes, you would see squirrels roaming around, 1 tree alone would have about 5 different types of birds talking to each other on different levels of the branches. The cool part were the bigger birds soaring in the high air, most likely looking for their next meal. One thing I enjoyed the most was sitting in the secluded areas and just listening to the sound of the wind, running through the trees and mountain tops; Now I know that white noise is real sound. This area was where I meditated often. It was very calming and peaceful and just what I needed.

Aside from drinking water a few comfort adjustments on the fluffy and soft bed sheets and many deep exhales of relief, I laid on my bed for about 3.5 hours in complete silence, and watched the sun go down and it was amazing. To my left were more squirrels fighting for acorns and territory, a few mosquitos and bugs bumping in to my clear glass window, confused as to why they couldn’t get inside my cabin, birds soaring in each direction of the blue skies. I loved how the trees were waving in various directions, forcing the fall- colored leaves to fall and spin until hitting the dirt floor. Honestly, it was so beautiful and peaceful that I didn’t want to take a nap because I didn’t want to miss the view that was in front of me.

Once the sunset was over, I poured myself a glass of wine and took a nice hot shower, feeling giggly and recapping the day I just had. Once I finished my dinner (Sautéed shrimp, mash potatoes, and brussels sprouts) I started reading and realized that I had yet to use my camera and take photos!

Long exposure/ night shooting with my Nikon camera is arguably my favorite type of photography. So, instead of building another fire, I got my tripod and remote out and took a few shots right outside my cabin. Being outside my cabin at night was completely dark. So, I had to be mindful of where I stepped and be aware of any animals that may creep up from the dark. It was also 30 degrees outside, so I had to make sure I was bundled up properly.

The thing with night shooting is that it is very time consuming- 1 long exposure shot can take up to 45 seconds to process and display on the camera. So, with that comes patience and making sure the technical settings are up to par before taking the shot. But since it’s night time and I’m not chasing sunlight, it calms my nerves and is the closest feeling of time standing still.

I finished photographing about an hour later and went back to reading my book, titled, “ Getting Away- 75 Practices For Finding Balance in Our Always- On World.” This book was written by Jon Staff, the Founder and CEO of the Getaway Cabin concept. I wasn’t able to finish reading it, so I purchased it online to have it shipped to my house. I definitely recommend the book!

I had so much gratitude for this trip, as it was coming to an end. Before sleeping, I silently said a long prayer, set my alarm for 6:00am, so I can wake up early and watch the sunrise while having breakfast. Every night back at Home, I use an app called, Sleep Cycle, which monitors everything you do in your sleep, including the amount of snoring that occurs and the quality of rest you have. I highly suggest using this and is a great $10 investment! This past month, my sleep quality has been about 70%. On my last night, my sleep quality was 90%, which was the best sleep that I have had all year! I woke up refreshed and rejuvenated the next morning.

Once I woke up, I stretched, had another 30 minute meditation, and sipped on some coffee as I watched the warm sunrise hit my window after a long night of cold air. Checkout for the cabin was 11am- I utilized almost every minute of that, and left at 10:55am.

Honestly, this was by far the best solo trip that I have taken and also up there as the best days of my life. It was everything that I had hoped for in the months leading up to my mini vacation. For anyone looking to “Getaway,” this place is a 10/10 recommendation and to me, is even an international tourist attraction. My next goal would be to visit during the winter time, so I can watch the snow fall on the mountain top while bundled up nice and cozy in my future cabin.

Click here to receive $25 off your own stay at Getaway!

Thank you so, so much for reading and supporting me!

With love,

-J

My Favorite Shot of 2020

This was my favorite shot taken in 2020…It was mid-October in Downtown San Antonio on a hot and humid night. My cousin Edward (aka NappooBeats) was with me, scootering around the city and photographing whatever looked good.

We were on our way to go photograph the Alamodome (former arena for the San Antonio Spurs) when we came across a colorfully-lit freeway underpass that I had to stop and photograph. Using the brake lights on our scooters as light trails, I had Edward do figure-8’s to capture that slow shutter speed. I also waited for the cars to drive by to add more depth to the photo. The colors of the freeway lights randomly changed color-themes, so if I didn’t get my camera settings ready in time, I had to wait a few minutes for it to re-appear.

Many times, when I’m out shooting a new location, I don’t know exactly know what I’m looking for until I get there. Sometimes, all I see is a particular angle or a color….and then I take that small idea and try to project that through the lens. Sometimes I feel stuck with what I’m looking for and then just move onto the next place….During this situation on this particular day, I was drawn to the the vibrant colors- and once I committed and settled in, my creative juices began flowing…

I started tilting my camera to get certain angles. I adjusted the height of the tripod. I told Edward to ride the scooter over and over again until I got a decent amount of red light from both the scooter and the on-coming car traffic. I waited for strangers to walk by to discretely include them as blurry subjects. By remembering all of the details till this day, I can now mentally take myself back to that night of scouting Downtown and getting lost, with no care of direction to go to next. All of these memories makes this photo even more sentimental. To me, THIS is what photography is all about and that’s why I love it so much.

I had a great time during this 10-day vacation. Aside from passing through for 2 days back in 2012, it was my first time in Texas and definitely won’t be the last. I was able to spend time with the kids, go to a gun shooting range, watch the Lakers win their 17th NBA championship with the family, and even got to hang out for a few days in Austin with my other cousins, Janna and Genesis!

Thank you to Sophia and Ryan for dinner. And thank you to Rummel for driving me around Austin.

Last but no least- Thank you to Shanay, Edward, Janna, and Genesis for the hospitality and letting me stay in their homes and eat all of your delicious food!

And yes- Texas BBQ is as good as they say it is!

I’ll be back! (Arnold voice)
One love

-J

StoryTime: With Pari Aryafar

Hope all of you are well- 2021 Here we come!

Today I wanted to write about another photographer who I had the privilege of meeting in person just a few weeks ago. I wanted to do this for a few reasons: It can be easy (and unintentional) for the photographer to forget to document their own life journey. I also want to encourage photographers to be able to look back at their life 50 years from now and say, “Man, I remember Justin writing and photographing me during this part of my life.”

Honestly, I also just love listening to how people started their pursuit of photography and what motivates them to be great at what they do!

After I finished high school in the early 2000’s, I spent most of my college years and early twenties living in the Inland Empire. So, when I found out that Pari Aryafar was from Riverside (15 minutes away from my old stomping grounds) and was going to be visiting her hometown for a few months, I made it a little mission for me to meet her in person!

Pari (+1 cat named Butters the Great) is on her way to Amsterdam, to further pursue her career as a fighter photojournalist. She is arguably one of the elite professional photographers in Muay Thai and already making her mark in various Martial Arts. Earlier this year, she was living in New York City for the last 6 years, where she received her Masters in Writing from The New School, located in Greenwich Village. NYC is where she discovered Renzo Gracie Academy, training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. With The New School and Renzo Gracie Academy on her shoulders, she was able to understand Martial Arts from many different point of views. This allowed her to dominate her field equally as a writer and a photographer.

Me: “What do you tend to enjoy more in photojournalism: The writing or the photography? Or does it vary on what you’re documenting?”

Pari: “I guess it’s hard to really answer that. I like to think that I can put the two together in a way that makes you understand the whole story. As far as shooting, I like to think I have an idea of what I’m looking for, but writing is harder because I have to write it all out to understand what it is I’m trying to say.”

I have only known Pari since March/ April of this year. She and I were both mentees for Jeff Dojillo’s photography mentorship program. Also, a special thank you to Jeff, Pari, Wendy, and Jeremy for making me feel like a TRUE artist! Through this mentorship, we as a group studied and discussed photography on all levels. From watching documentaries to reading articles to critiquing specific photos, this course made us mentees all naturally step our game up to become even better artists. With being such a close unit, we were able to appreciate each mentee’s own unique style of work as a photographer. So when it was time to meet Pari for the first time for this story, I already felt like we’ve been friends for years!

Two weeks prior to meeting her in Riverside, I asked if I could join and observe her during one of her photoshoots. Ironically, she needed a lighting assistant for an upcoming client and asked if I could help her. I excitingly agreed to assist her but unfortunately, the appointment got cancelled. As I was brainstorming ideas of what we can photograph if we were to meet, one thing I did know was that I was excited for her as she was about to embark on an exciting life chapter and living on the other side of the world.

I don’t know how to explain this any other way, but when you move far away from your hometown, there’s just something about being back to visit that’s relaxing and re-energizing. In many ways, it feels like you had never left home, both the good and the bad. So, I thought, “Hey, I should interview her while she’s in her hometown.” And that’s why I wanted to make sure we met in Riverside. We met at Flabob Airport, just a few minutes away from her home and former high school. I stopped her in her tracks that day for 45 minutes, as she was on her way to East LA to photograph David Huerta from Los Angeles Muay Thai Gym.

My first impressions of Pari was that she had a contagious funny and smiling personality- For those of you who have met her, you know what I mean. It was easy making conversation with her as I was snapping away with my camera, walking around the airport.

“When was the last time that you’ve been to this airport?” I asked her. “I haven’t been back here since my teenage years. But when I was a kid, I still remember my dad flying his small private plane to this airport many times.”

This was my first time at Flabob Airport- Which was established in 1925 and combining the names of Flavio Madariaga and Bob Bogan. Quick shoutout to the nice lady that I spoke to at the airport cafe that day- I’ll definitely be back for some breakfast! Anyways, I wasn’t sure what areas were accessible or private property. Pari and I just walked further down until we reached an opening past the wired fence to get a closer look at the airplane parking lot.

Although the plan was to just photograph Pari, I still asked her to bring her camera to be used as a prop. However, she still flipped the script on me and told me to stand in front of one of the planes to snap a few of photos of me with her own camera. I thought it was funny and unexpected but just went along with it- So thank you for that!

Next to the planes was a secluded bench and chair, where I told her to take a seat and relax while I adjusted my camera settings. “This is how I sit,” as she smiles and jokingly slouches with one foot on the bench. I took a seat as well for a few minutes, talking about photography and life in general. In our conversation, I was able to dive in to her life story and know a little more about her....

Me: “Before Amsterdam did you already know that it was time to leave NYC, or do you think you’d still be there today? Did you have any intentions of moving back to Cali or any other states, if not internationally?”

Pari: “I didn’t think it was time to leave until Covid hit and I realized I had accomplished everything I wanted to do, or was on track to accomplishing everything I wanted. I was going to have the opportunity to photograph the Olympics, travel to France, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi, and was at a point with work where I was constantly booked and traveling. This was a huge change from years prior, where everything was coming out of my own pocket and I was sleeping on people’s floors at hotels to be able to attend shows.

I wanted to move to Amsterdam to continue the work I had started as a fight photojournalist, and had no “Plan B”. It’s Plan A all the way and continually making adjustments until I accomplish that.

I came home to California to have the opportunity to say goodbye to my family and friends, and to try to get as much work as possible before I left the states. I made sure to do the same with NYC & the East Coast. I’m lucky to have had so much support & have made so many great friends around the world.”

Shortly after, I bring out a tall can of Bud Light beer and tell her what it’s for...

The night before, she had posted a picture on Instagram of an LA Dodgers Jersey, saying “Never forget where you came from.” And with Bud Light being Dodger Blue, as well as being an American beer, I thought it would be a nice little touch to her hometown roots. She agreed to opening it, as long as I agreed to dispose of the almost full can, since she had to drive and photograph afterwards. On our way back to our cars, I asked to take a few photos of her and a quick selfie.

Pari Cherry,

Thank you so much for your time and best of luck to you and your future endeavors!

Career Photos With Inspector Judah

Originally this story was to mainly be about David “Judah 1” and his work as an inspector…but I couldn’t tell you all of that without introducing his background from my perspective…So, here it goes…

I met Judah about 11 years ago during my days working at Yard House Restaurant, back when full yard glasses of beer were available to drink. I remember the shifts of being an expo/ food runner with him. On the days that I worked with him, we would constantly cross each other’s paths in the restaurant. He would always be rehearsing out loud one of his spoken word poems or rap verses. At that time, I had never been to a spoken word event, so I was intrigued to see him perform outside of work when he invited me to one of his first Lionlike Mindstate events, held in Chino.

As his Lionlike Mindstate brand began to evolve, his name and poems became well-known all around Southern Cali, especially in Pomona, CA. This is where he opened up his own store, Machine Pomona Art Gallery, which was a multi-purpose building for local artists and the surrounding communities to gather and express Art on all platforms. From clothing merchandise to musical performances to poetry slams and art galleries, it was the place to become and/or remain a thriving artist.

Judah’s life journey of accomplishments does not end there: This year he became the first poet laureate for Pomona, the first ever in this city; a city that also has many roots of history tied to his life. Becoming a poet laureate also gravitated him to revisit both new and old poems for future publications.

To top that off, he is now engaged to his love, Courtney, and will tie the knot September 2021. They have only known each other for a short period, but mutually knew that they belonged together.

Wow....Are you still with me? Let me sip on coffee real quick as I catch my breath for a second...

I have known this guy as restaurant worker, a poet, a family man, brand and store owner, and now an inspector. The reason I wanted to photograph a day of him working is to present to you his life in full circle. He has unknowingly motivated me to work hard in my own life and has also pushed me to be the best version of myself as an artist in photography.

I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone by photo journaling someone’s day in their work life, so I thought David would be a perfect fit because he is already comfortable being in front of the lens and we already had a good connection with what I wanted to accomplish that day as his photographer. This was the first time that I’ve chosen to photo journal someone’s life, so it was quite casual but still enjoyable in doing.

Fast forward to present time, David is a senior deputy soils inspector during the weekday and drives all throughout Southern Cali to make sure certain foundations and regulations are approved before any type of cement is added. Whether it’s in LA, the Inland Empire, or close to San Diego, he drives where he is needed, and doesn’t know where he’s headed to until the day before from his dispatcher.

So, on the that day of the shoot: Judah 1 arrived at my house at 4:50am. He and I were also meeting during “peak” season for my job at Target. Luckily, I was able to move some days around so I can rest and prepare the day before and still meet him the following morning. Due to the pandemic, it’s already been about a year since we last met- During that time, I photographed 2 of his Lionlike Mindstate Poetry events, which was really fun for me to shoot, since Spoken Word is something I’ve always enjoyed attending.

The first thing we do is buy a cup of coffee at the gas station as we head on the 57 freeway south, towards San Diego. As soon as we get back inside the car, he dumps the new coffee in to his canister. I told him, “Why don’t you just bring that inside? Coffee refills with your own canister is cheaper.” He replied, “I would...but they don’t do that anymore...because of the coronavirus.” “That makes sense,” I reply silently to myself. Another pit stop we had to do was head over to his office, where he fills up his gas tank for the day and also packs his nuclear gage for radioactive testing. We’re all set! And off we go....

Having known each other for so long, you can’t help but talk about the good ol’ days of working together (Big shoutout to the old Yard House crew in Rancho Cucamonga)...throw that in the mix with how are lives are today and you can’t help but feel blessed and thankful that we’ve both persevered throughout this unforeseen year of events. I even told him that I enjoy listening to his morning “Peace to the God” poem and tell him that I say it out loud to myself on a regular basis. I didn’t present it back to him as good as he does, but he still gave me props for doing it!

As he played a few tracks of his own music that he’s worked on with his homie, Ces One, we also talk about what to expect when we got to the construction site and the story behind the project. The assignment was to build a large water tank (10 million gallons to be exact) at Aliso Canyon Water Plant, and will be used to serve the local residents.

First thing we do is get our vest, helmet, and boots on. I’m camera strapped and ready to go. Since he got approval by the supervisor on duty that I can shoot all of the areas freely, I began following Inspector Judah like a “fly on the wall.” Minding my steps from the random wood pieces and uneven dirt pavements, Judah directed me where I can safely stand as I’m snapping away with my camera.

As he continued to ask the supervisor questions, they both look down at the carefully groomed dirt floor below to see if the contractor is finished working on his machine. Once the contractor is done, Judah climbs down the ladder and hammers in his nuclear gage device into the dirt below for testing. Turns out that the contractors completed much sooner than expected and gets approved by Inspector Judah shortly after....So, what was supposed to be a full day of us being there turned out to be only 2 hours. I myself took all of the photos I needed, so I was happy with leaving early too!

“That’s just how it is sometimes,” Judah tells me, as he’s finishing writing down his daily report in the car. But it’s win-win for him: He still gets paid, is leaving work early, and has extra time to spend with his fiancé and daughter back at home. On the car ride back, he gets one last phone call from another inspector at another job site. Notice in the photo how balanced his phone is on his driving arm? Well done, Sir.

Afterwards, we caught up a little more with our lives, including success, present and future ideas, all while circulating back to being thankful to be working hard and thriving during an eventful 2020. Before leaving, I snapped a quick photo with him.

Peace to you, your family, and friends.

-JT

***Bonus feature if you’ve made it this far: Here’s Judah 1’s daily morning poem***

Ayo, peace to the God, good morning

I hope all things are well with you

That all things are in alignment

That all crooked paths are being made straight

That our goals and intentions are clear and executable and that we’re being faithful to them

Let’s get it

Let’s be our most true and radiant self in the name of the 1- Peace.

Car Rides with Pops

One of the things I did during my trip to Sacramento was drive 25 minutes northeast to Rocklin, where my dad was living during his final years. It has been 4 years since he passed, which is the same length of time since my last visit up there. Once I arrived, I didn’t do much, except drive around the streets that I used to go on with Dad. On his visits to get chemotherapy at UC Davis Medical Center in Rocklin, we always took the same streets to get there. I remember these drives like it was yesterday because that was the only chance we had for private conversations.

Before I get more in to that story, let me tell you about our car rides prior to him getting sick: There is something pleasant about being comfortable with not talking to each other and just listening to music in the car…Dad and I shared a lot of that comfortable silence. We enjoyed each other’s music, and sometimes we just wanted to hear the songs that were playing. When he became sick and the cancer started taking a toll on his body, we started talking more and more during these car rides…I guess you can say we both knew that communication was more important than ever, so that forcefully made us talk to each other more often, but in a good way. Sometimes the conversations were light and casual, while some were important for me to just sit there and listen to him speak. He was my biggest mentor and at times intimidating to talk to because sometimes he would break me down so well that I didn’t wanna hear the real truth…But he always meant well and was very knowledgeable and street smart- I felt like I can ask him anything and he’d give me the information that I was searching for.

Ok-So back to our car rides for his chemotherapy: Two miles away from that building was a “Rocklin” sign right off of Sunset Blvd. I always wanted to stop and take a photo of that area but never got around to it when I had the chance…So, I decided to do it this time. Since I was in the area, I also went to the place where he had his chemo. It’s a building that sits remotely from anything else. After taking a few photos, I sat in the parking lot and did a silent prayer for everyone inside that building.

Lastly, I went to UC Davis Hospital in Sacramento, the hospital where Dad took his final breath. On my way there, I was hesitant on going because I was unsure how I’d feel. But then I realized that it was important for me to do this so that I can tell you my story properly…

Once I arrived at the hospital parking lot, I just sat in my car and looked at the windows of where he once was. From afar, I could recap the areas that were very emotional for me to see again. I think that I’m still all cried out from what happened during those dark times, so I didn’t shed a single tear while I was there. I did another silent prayer before driving away. Unexpected yet thankful, this added closure for myself and felt a little weight fall off of my shoulders. I am more at peace after this visit, and that is why I am able to finally write about it to share with you.

That’s it for today. Be well. Stay positive. Spread love. Peace.

-J

A Blessing in Disguise

During my trip to the Bay Area, I drove by my 2 jobs as a restaurant manager: Spenger’s Fish Grotto in Berkeley (which eventually shut down later that year) and Chart house in San Francisco. I quit Spenger’s to eventually join Chart House, which is a fine-dining seafood restaurant. The goal was to train in SF and transfer to Portland afterwards. This was an 8 week program: The first 4 weeks of training were in the kitchen: prepping food, inventory, cooking during rush hours in each station. You name it, I had to do it. During my 5th week and my first week in FOH ( Front of House) training, I got called in to the office and was fired.

After a long talk with Farrah, the General Manager, she gave me much needed criticism: Areas that I needed improvement on, how my job interview went behind closed doors and why they took a chance in hiring me. Most of the conversation, however, was words of encouragement. Things like that I’m still young and that I still have my whole life ahead of me. She even suggested me going back home to SoCal and pursue photography. One memory that stuck with me as she was holding back tears is that she’s never tried so hard for an MIT that she hardly even knew to want to see succeed.

The day I got fired was the last day I saw Chart House- which inspired me to take these night shots before heading back home. This restaurant in SF has been temporarily closed due to the pandemic.

It has now been 2 years since this happened….Although I would have gained work experience and living somewhere new and fun, there’s a high chance that I would be unemployed because of COVID-19 and/or would be stressing about where my next paycheck would be coming from. I would eventually have to move to Chino Hills- which is exactly where I am, present day. During my 2 years down here, I have been able to gain stability- financially, mentally, and physically. I have been able catch up with friends and family, as well as gain mental clarity with what my next moves in my career will be. In all, I basically saved myself 2 years by going home faster and taking care of myself internally and externally-which is something I needed to do inevitably.

The rest of 2020 and all of next year will be huge for me. I have had my eyes on the prize since being back home and look forward to adding more pieces to my life puzzle. Stay tuned.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate you.

-JT

Sactown to Bay Area

The Pier off of Embarcadero- San Francisco.

From Oakland to Sactown…The Bay Area and back down!

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. Hope all of you are doing well during these interesting times. Just checking in to say hi to you. Right now, I’m in San Francisco Financial District at my brother Jerry’s apartment. The weather is perfect and with a sunny breeze in the mid-70’s…I am NOT looking forward to the much hotter weather back in SoCal at 100 degrees and up all week.

I have been away from home since August 4th. It was a much needed trip and got a lot accomplished. I started my vacation by flying to Sacramento and visited the homie Namor and his family for most of my stay. I was able to visit Doonan at his barbershop, as well as visit old places that my Dad and I used to go to in Rocklin, which is 25 mins northeast of Sacramento.

To get around, I had to use Lyft, rent a scooter on the street, and take the train to SF during my trip. Since we are still in the middle of a pandemic, I made sure to stay clean as much as possible by disinfecting areas that have been used by the public, especially at my Airbnb room, scooters, train rides. I had sanitizing wipes for the plane ride and Southwest Airlines did a good job of keeping things cleaned and sanitized before I wiped my areas down for peace of mind. Masking up is and social distancing is mandatory when leaving the house wherever we went, so that made me feel more at ease knowing that strangers had to do their part as well.

In SF, I was able to hang out with my cousin Randy and my other brother Brian as well. I don’t think we’ve all been together in SF at one time, so it was nice to have a change of scenery as well as more comfortable weather. For Jerry’s birthday this past weekend, we went to Pabu, a sushi restaurant through Michael Mina. That was another memorable fine-dining experience and can’t wait to do it again. On my last days here, much of it consisted of city shooting with my Nikon, cruising with our scooters and sunbathing in between all of that.

Well, that’s it for now- I’ll check back in and will be posting photos that I have been taking throughout my trip.

One love,

Thank you, Kobe.

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I posted- Out of the 3 times that I have taken my camera out to go shooting in the past few months, 2 of these times were related to visiting Los Angeles after hearing about the helicopter tragedy. During this time, I gave myself time to mourn, heal, and reflect on ways that I can do better in my own life….

For the record, I just wanted to say that I will always love photography- It will always be a passion of mine and will forever hold a soft spot in my heart…Purposely taking time off to re-evaluate my goals and ambitions and how I would like to pursue photography was good for me. It made me miss shooting, discover what about photography is important to me, and to not feel pressured in to diving in to a direction that wasn’t pure and not from the heart. With photography, one thing that stands out for me when looking for that “perfect” capture is the story- telling behind my photos. Ya, sometimes it’s not a fancy shot and sometimes it’s just basic-looking and taken from my iPhone 7s….the truth is, I don’t care about any of that. At the end of the day, my goal is to tell you MY story and MY thought process behind each photo. I thought about this as the weeks passed and was thinking to myself, “Man, I should hurry up and post this- I started writing about this 2 months ago.”

As I’m writing about my final thoughts about Kobe and the time that has led up to this moment, I’m happy with the journey. I have been watching Kobe videos over and over, some of them I’ve seen many times and some for the first time. I’m telling you all of this because it all goes back to the things I had just mentioned- it was pure and came from the heart and more importantly, it was created at my own pace.

I am obsessed with the word ART. Everyone can be an artist in their own right. As for me, mine is through photography. My other love for art is in Muay Thai, but I’ll save that talk for another day…

Whatever is important to you, do it with love and ambition. Create your own Mamba Mentality.

#justintabijephotography

STORY 18- SELFIE IN SAN FRANCISCO.

This is easily my most favorite selfie that I’ve taken all year. This was my first visit back to San Francisco since moving back home 4 months prior. I went up there for a week in February, strictly to hang out with Jerry and Taco and photograph different parts of SF throughout the week.

The good thing about having 2 brothers is being to share each other’s stuff. So, when I went up there, I borrowed Jerry’s North Face jacket, a JBL Clip speaker, and more importantly, his scooter. It was the middle of my vacation week and that day I decided to go night shooting.

One of my favorite things as a photographer is reaching a new destination and not knowing that the photo I’m about to take is going to look badass. I went to Pier 14 for a few reasons- One reason is I’ve never walked to the very end of this Pier because it’s always cold and windy…but because of that, I knew that it was going to be isolated and nobody would be around to interrupt my shots, especially at night.

I used a timed slow-shutter speed for this capture and took a few re-takes until I adjusted some slight imperfections. I had no plan on throwing my fist in the air….but it turned out to look cool on camera. You see that tall building to the left with the white top? That’s the Salesforce Tower- which is the tallest building on the West Coast. Jerry’s Restaurant (Trailblazer Tavern) is also part of the Salesforce community and works right across the street, so this photo was kind of my way of including him in this story.

That was a fun solo night of shoot all around The Embarcadero. I was happy to be back to the area that I called home for the last 6 years. Fortunately, I’m able to visit every 3-4 months to “recharge” and visit old friends and places. Every year goes by a little faster, and 2019 definitely held true to that for me. Looking forward to 2020.

Peace and love, everyone.

-J

STORY 17- TACO TABIJE

Hellllloooooo everyone!

It’s been way too long since I’ve posted any of my photography work. Although I’ve been away from posting, I’ve been reading books, photographed a wedding in the Bay Area, as well as shooting family portraits for the holiday season. I’ve also found new photographers to follow and become my new mentors…and I’ve had time to step back and revisit old pictures that have been waiting to be edited!

This small collage of photos is of Jerry and his son, Taco. Back in February, I stayed at my brother’s apartment for a week in San Francisco. Jerry had to work on some of the days that I was there. I noticed that before he got ready for work, my brother would brew and drink his coffee and take Taco 2 floors down to use the bathroom. The funny thing about Taco is he has his own pattern and mannerisms to waking up, so I decided to follow them and document it. We all love and miss you, Taco! Here they are, in sequence order:

Double checking with Jerry that he still has to get out of bed.

Waiting for the elevator to go downstairs.

One of his favorite places to handle his business.

Photos before Jerry leaving for work- #1

Photos before Jerry leaving for work- #2

Story 16- Pickled Monk, downtown fullerton, ca.

It’s 3 a.m. and I just felt like it was important for myself to write about my day today before going to bed….today was the day that I said goodbye to another job- Pickled Monk. A little 411 for you about this place….It’s a self-pour taproom for beer and wine and charges you by the ounce, and then you pay the bill at the end, just like a regular bar tab. They also have a full bar with craft cocktails- I’m one of the bartenders.

There have not been many times where I felt like this: Me being happy for seeing all of my regulars (regular customers) come in just to visit me for one last time. Bartending has become one of the funnest things I have been able to do in life. And not to toot my own horn, but I’m good at what I do, and it goes far beyond just knowing how to mix drinks- One half of the job is making drinks, and the other half is knowing how to naturally start conversations and interact well with people. I have bartended at 5 different bars in the past 6 years (Some of these jobs were during the same time period), and I can confidently say that this is the most regulars that I have had in one place in any of my jobs. It’s nice to be acknowledged from time to time, so cheers and a big THANK YOU to the ones who came out (or made an effort to try) to visit me!

Photography is my PASSION- And each year, I have been blessed to become just a liiiiittle bit better whenever I’m out shooting. For those of you thinking that finding your passion comes to you naturally- It doesn’t. You have to go out there and find it!

I know what I need to do, and there is no stopping me now. Peace and love, ya’ll.

STORY 15- CALIFORNIA'S CAPITOL

Symmetry: It’s my favorite thing to look for when I’m trying to capture that “perfect” shot. This was taken on April 4th, 2015 at 10:30p.m. I was on my way home home from visiting my dad from Rocklin and decided to go night shooting in Downtown Sacramento…

California State Capitol- Downtown Sacramento, CA.

If you’ve never been, this is an awesome city to visit. I would cruise around from time to time on my days off just to hang out and “escape” in a new city for a few hours. I would pass by California State Capitol often, so it was only a matter of time until I parked my car to take this shot. It was during a weeknight, so it took a while for any car to pass to get the red streaks of light from the car brake lights…

Some of the features I was looking for in this shot were the patterns of street lights, the crosswalk paint, and the trees evenly displayed on both sides. I also used a fisheye lens to capture the entire width of that space, while still having the Capitol Building as the center of attention.

Hope you like it- See you next Tuesday!

-JT

STORY 14- SAN DIEGO, CA.

Hi everyone, I’m back!

It’s been a long time since I randomly got in my car and decided to go on a mini roadtrip. I had 3 directions in mind to drive to: Santa Barbara area, Palm Springs area, or San Diego. I haven’t been to San Diego in years, and thought it would be a good idea to visit my Auntie Sue and family, as well as visit a few areas to take some pictures. I got to my Auntie’s house in Chula Vista around 10:30p.m. First thing I did when I got there was get my Mexican food fix- so we went to the original Tacos El Gordo with my cousin Marino and Sam and got some tacos and Carne asada fries.

The next day, Marino and I brought our cameras and went to Imperial Beach for our first stop and Coronado Island shortly after. I was looking for some graffiti to take pictures of, so Marino suggested we go to Chicano Park, which was nearby and had plenty of art murals.

Marino at Imperial Beach- San Diego County, CA.

This park is right underneath the Coronado Bridge, with a skatepark too-all in one area. There were only a few skaters during that time but I stayed in that area hoping to capture something good. I don’t get to take pictures with other people often, so I made sure to snap a few pictures of Marino too.

The Lonely Skater- Chicano Park- San Diego, CA.

Marino taking a picture of the local skaters- Chicano Park- San Diego, CA.

Marino had a polaroid camera and asked a few skaters if he can take a group picture of them. I myself hesitated a little bit, but I snapped a quick picture behind him. After taking the picture, he said that was his last polaroid. I told him to give it to the group instead of keeping it. Once he gave it to one of the skaters, their faces lit up with a smile. I wanted to post this one because it was a raw form of each of the skater’s personality. I also like the fact that Marino randomly asked to take a picture of them because sometimes it’s not easy to ask complete strangers for a picture and you also don’t know if they will agree to take one or not. For those of you that don’t know my cousin, he’s very soft spoken, but one thing we have in common is photography. So big ups to him for having that confidence to shoot that picture when he saw a good opportunity to do so.

Last picture taken of the day- Chicano Park-San Diego, CA. (“HASTA LA BAHIA” translates to “ALL THE WAY TO THE BAY”)

STORY 13- ROW, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES.

On August 25th, I went to Row in DTLA for the first time with my cousin Edward and 4 other people to take some pictures. Edward’s long time friend, Chris, is the founder of Glamorous Living Kids (GLK) clothing company. He brought a friend to model a few pieces of GLK t- shirts-and in addition, he thought it would be a fun to invite anyone else who simply wanted to take pictures and hang out….and that’s the whole reason why we met up!

Chris photographing for GLK clothing- DTLA.

This was my first time at this event, so I didn’t really have an idea of what to expect. There’s also a long history of this district that’s pretty interesting- If you want to read about it, click on this link: https://rowdtla.com/history

We hung out at the Smorgasburg (https://rowdtla.com/collective/smorgasburg) which is a foodie event that is held every Sunday- There were endless amounts of places to eat and hang out. It was really hot that day, so I recommend dressing light and comfortable- and wear a sun hat if you have one!

Edward being Chris’s lighting assistant- DTLA.

It was nice collaborating with strangers that shared the same interest- photography! We all came from different walks of life and each of us had a unique story to share with each other before going our separate ways at the end of the day. Since Chris was doing his own thing with his clothing photoshoot, I wanted to share the “behind the scenes” pictures from my point of view- So here they are!

Thank you to Chris, Edward, Garrett, Gabby, and Amelia- It was a pleasure hanging out with all of you! Until next time.

Gabby watching the photoshoot from afar- DTLA.

STORY 12- A TRIBUTE TO HIP-HOP.

Photography documentary of famous R&B and hip-hop pictures.-Los Angeles, CA.

The last time to visit the Contact High Exhibit was this past weekend, so it encouraged me to pay homage for this unique experience and write about it again. I could spend a 3rd day there if I could, just so I can take my time and read in detail about all of the pictures. A few weeks ago, I went with my cousin Jordan (JP) and his daughter, Rocky. Jordan genuinely expressed his love for hip-hop music on Instagram and how much of a role and influence the music and culture has had on his life…He was living in NYC for almost 10 years and is now back in LA and raising a family with everyone that is close to him. Jordan is one of my closest cousins and influenced me to “piggyback” with what he wrote on hip-hop and living in New York City….

One of my favorite memories with Jordan was in September, 2012. At the time, I was a traveling recruiter for Roadtrip Nation and was part of the East Coast RV team, and NYC was part of our itinerary. With a few days to spare in the city, I stayed with Jordan and Geleen at their apartment in Brooklyn Heights. That Saturday, there was a free hip-hop event sponsored by Bud Light that featured artists like Swizz Beatz, Araabmuzik, and Jermaine Dupri. Not only was the show free, they were also giving out free Bud Light beers, so there were times when I was holding 3-4 beers for myself at one time: Don’t judge me. Not only were the performances dope, the people’s vibes were cool and it was located at Beekman Beer Garden, which overlooked Brooklyn Bridge.

Roadtrip Nation RV- Manhattanville, New York City.

Everywhere you turn, there is some influence of hip-hop in the city. Going down to the subways, you could hear live music playing and sometimes see a few MC’s freestyling. I would then turn the corner and see a few kids breakdancing to old school funk music. When you go out at night, DJ’s would be spinning tracks from artists I have never heard of before. I’ve only visited NYC 3 times in my life, but I can agree that hip-hop is definitely present all around….Anyways, just wanted to share this moment with you.

Going back to the exhibit in LA…Jordan showed me a link to purchase the Contact High book online, the same exact book that they were selling at the exhibit but at half the price…of course I had to jump on that. The book includes a description of the most famous and influential pictures ever taken by a photographer that represented R&B, hip-hop, and rap culture- which was basically everything that I wanted to read about at the exhibit. I also haven’t purchased a book in a long time, so I was really happy when I decided to invest in buying one for myself. Thanks, Jordan!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog- I’ll see you next week!

Inside the Contact High Exhibit- Los Angeles, CA.

STORY 11- FEELING ARTSY IN SANTA ANA, CA.

I met Janelle about 9 years ago at Lucille’s BBQ in Tustin. She used to work with Jerry back in the day, and through random text messages through the years and using social media to our advantage, we have been able to keep in touch this whole time. The reason why I chose to write about her is her positive outlook on life. She’s from Orange county and is a hip hop junkie-with a stylish swag that made me intrigued to want to photograph her. I chose Santa Ana as our location because of the Artists Village in the downtown area with all of the graffiti and murals- all of which represent and express hip hop art and culture in a positive way. Before I picked her up, I scouted the downtown area beforehand, so when she arrived, all we had to do was execute. On our ride to Downtown, we both shared a few our life stories- with one of them being about losing someone close and dear to us…

Janelle lost her mom to cancer a few years ago- a pain that is difficult to talk about for most people, but not her. She had this certain energy that made it easy for us (especially me) to talk about how cancer has affected our lives and how it is important to live life to the fullest and to not take it for granted. Once I parked, we sat in the car and continued the conversation a little longer. After that, I set up all of my camera equipment while she put on her jewelry and clean sneakers to match her outfit.

We started the “warmup” shots at Portola Coffee Lab. I found a secluded couch for her to sit on as I adjusted my camera settings. I have never photographed Janelle, but by having deep conversations from the beginning and cracking jokes throughout the shoot, she was able to open up to me with expression as the shoot continued…

In front of Globe Clothing Store at Artists Village- Santa Ana, CA.

She was also very patient with me and if time and sunlight were more on our side, we could have definitely continued shooting. As a photographer, you can’t take every single shot successfully…but with some fast adjustments, creativity, and patience, the results of some shots turn out even better than expected. I got my best shots of her at the Artists Village, which was also the last 30 mins of our photo session. We ended at Globe Clothing Store, which was a nice touch of making art and hip hop as the backbone to this story.

I also tried out a few different styles of editing as well- Hope you like them! Thanks for hanging out with me, J!

Inside Globe Clothing Store- Santa Ana, CA.

STORY 10- JERRY SR.

This week I wanted to write about my dad in this picture. This was taken in May, 2015 in Rocklin, CA- just few miles away from his house. Before that date, he was an inpatient at UC Davis for about a month. He wasn’t allowed to go home because he kept getting sick from having such a low immune system, and it was doctor’s orders for him to stay in an isolated room so that he can be nursed back to health.

The first thing he wanted to do before heading home was to go to a barbershop and get a clean cut and shave. Once we arrived, we were the only people in the shop, so the barber took his time with everything. He included a hot towel treatment, with a clean razor shave on both his head and face. During the shave, Pops shared his stories with the barber- both good and bad, and some funny. When the cut was finished, Pops was about to put his mask back on….

Pops with barber in background- Rocklin, CA.

I asked if I can take a picture with my iPhone of him and he said “no.” I told him that this was a big day for him and that taking a picture would be good to add to his own life story. Once I said that to him, he left the mask off and smiled for the picture. Thank you, Pops.

Story 9- Venice Beach,CA.

On Saturday, the 3rd, my Uncle Edgar and I went to Venice Beach to take some pictures. I’ve never been to the graffiti walls on the boardwalk so I wanted to check it out. The walls were pretty cool, but the skatepark drew my attention more, especially since it was the weekend and there was a lot of foot traffic in that direction. This was my first time at the skate park too, so it took some time for me to figure out where to post up. I had my Nikkor 77-200mm Pro Optic lens on me. Had I known that I was going to shoot action shots, I would’ve brought my D7000 camera body to get those quick shutter speed shots…but either way I was happy with the shots I took as my first photo session, and know now what to bring for next time.

There were 2 skaters that caught my attention. They were consistently skating in the same spot so that gave me time to figure which angle I wanted to shoot at. I found 2 good spots…After I snapped a few pictures, I approached the skater in the green shirt to show him a few pictures that I took of him. I had a small conversation with him and his translator. He was visiting from South Africa and told me that he had been skating for 4-5 hours that day. Respect to him for putting in that work! Here are the pictures that I took of both of them- Enjoy!

Story 8- Glamping Weekend

Friday, July 19th, 2019.

I carpooled with Randy and the twins, with my “roommates” in another car not far behind. We left early afternoon so there was a bit of traffic on and off the whole ride. I took a picture of my “Uber” driver once we got to the scenic drive of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).

Pacific Coast Highway- Santa Barbara, CA.

We got to the glampsite around 5:30p.m…As soon as we located our house, we said hello to everyone and started unpacking a few things in the house and wandered around the area to see what was around us. Behind our house was a bocce ball court, a cornhole set, firepit, and a few benches to lay out in the sun. There was WiFi connectivity wherever you walked, inside each house had a full kitchen and bathroom- all of which were spotless clean, too. My first perspective as I was settling in was how life would be living together in one complex- Each of our mini houses had the same setup, with a front porch in all of them so you can talk to one another when both outside. Shortly after, we started eating BBQ and drinking…

Uncle Edgar, Chris, Randy, Uncle Rolly BBQing.

Rocky learning how to prepare BBQ with Uncle Edgar.

Because we were all on the same street, we would all roam around each other’s house. We didn’t use our cellphones to contact each other, so we would go by word- of- mouth if we were looking for someone in particular, including the kids. This reminded me of how growing up as a kid in La Verne was- My family lived on the same street as my cousins and we all looked after one another. At our glampsite, the kids would run around our designated areas knowing that it was safe to play, no matter which house they were at. Another cool amenity in our area was an additional fire pit tucked in the corner next to one of our houses, so a group of us cousins used that at the end of the night while everyone else was asleep.

Saturday, July 20th, 2019.

In the morning, I walked to my front porch to do my morning stretches and rubbing my tired eyes awake. I would look to my left and see one of my aunties and uncles eating breakfast and them saying, “ JUSTIN, YOU EAT NOW!” I can smell bacon and eggs from where I was standing. I look over to my right and I see a small group of my cousins walking together, one of them asking if I wanted any coffee brought to me (perfect timing, Michelle). I also see my little niece, Penny, riding her little tricycle on our open and quiet road by herself as she waves hi to me- I look further down and I see Jon Jon and Auntie are just an eyesight away from her.

After eating a “warmup” breakfast next door, I hear that the cousins are all at the basketball court down the street. So I bring my niece, Rocky, with me and see that the family took over the entire half court, shooting hoops. I turn to my left and see Brian with Wade kicking a soccer ball. Rocky becomes interested and joins him. Minutes later, I see Joe arriving, pulling Taco in his little red dog wagon. Once Taco arrives, the kids go crazy and suddenly all of the kid’s attention gets drawn to Taco. Once I see that they were occupied and monitored, I start shooting hoops myself. We didn’t play a real basketball game, but it was nice to get my basketball legs back for that moment. Plus, I was a little hungover from the night before, so I wouldn’t have been able to hang with them anyways.

Once my cousin announces that the “ultimate Filipino breakfast” was ready, we all stop what we were doing and headed back to our area to eat. The layout was assorted fruit, bacon, eggs, bistek, white rice (of course), sausage, and in the other house Geleen made Crème brûlée French toast- BOMB!

The Tabije family also dedicated and presented a 45 minute video to my brothers and I. It was beautiful and meant a lot to us knowing that they spent over 80 hours collectively for this video. Our parents are dearly missed and sometimes I forget to sit back and reflect on how much of an impact they had with many people. After breakfast and the video, we talked amongst each other of how the video was created and what they did to make it all come together.

JP and family presenting video dedicated to my brothers and I.

Once we were done with that, my brother Joe brought a box of letters from his apartment to share with us. Inside the box was a bunch of old letters and cards from my parents and all 3 of us brothers, dating back as early as the early 1990’s. My parents, especially my dad, would make us write letters to each other on holidays and birthdays because he believed it was always good to practice to express and communicate with each other and that letters like these are priceless…It’s crazy to think that he saved all of these and made it so accessible for us to find and read. I personally wasn’t quite ready to dig in to this box…but I read a few letters and it put a smile on my face knowing that he had all of these discretely put away this whole time. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

An hour after this, half of the adults and basically all of the kids went to the swimming pool. I didn’t swim much and was mainly there just to hang out with everyone else. I had my speaker and music playing (as usual). My cousins would periodically lay some food and snacks on the table throughout our hours at the pool- thank you fam!

Brothers putting sunblock lotion on Wade.

After finishing that, I headed to our house and took a quick nap and shower……Next was the Pacquiao vs. Thurman fight!! But before all of that began- Randy wanted me to set up a group picture. It was our last chance to have a photo with everyone so we set it up during our BBQ/ dinner in one of the patios for all of us to meet at.

I’m sure that every one has already seen one of our posts on social media of our group picture… but let me just say that getting 45 people together (including Taco) to take 1 group picture is not easy... There are many factors that are considered when getting everyone together- Location, lighting, finding multiple levels of standing/sitting in one area so you can see everyone’s face when taking the picture, and most importantly-timing! We lied a little bit about the time to meet so everyone can make it “on time” for the picture.

After viewing a few pictures to work with and edit afterwards, we finished and sang Happy Birthday to Randy with his girls next to him and to help him blow out his birthday candles.

Randy with twins blowing out birthday candles.

Since Manny Pacquiao was fighting and not everyone could fit in one house, we had the fight showing in 3 different locations. It was a close call by the judges but Pacquiao won by split- decision, and his win set the positive tone for the rest of the night. Last thing on the list for the night was more eating, especially since there was so much food for dinner and I didn’t eat much because because I was so nervous about the fight.

We ended the night with more drinking at the same fire pit from the night before. There were a lot more of us cousins hanging this night and stayed a little longer. We were cracking jokes all night….mostly about nonsense to be honest. We hung out for a few more hours before heading to bed.

Sunday, July 21, 2019.

Surprisingly, I still slept decent, even with Taco taking up most of my sleeping space on the bed. Checkout time was 11a.m., so we didn’t get to do much aside from waking up, eating breakfast, packing our bags, and taking a few more pictures before heading home. Just like every vacation, time went by fast, but we had such a fun time that we were already talking about the next vacation that we can get everyone together to do it all over again. Thank you to Randy for setting this all up and to everyone that was able to make it out and celebrate!

Until we meet again!

Peace and Love,

PS- Thank you cousins for letting me use a few pictures to complete my story!

Story 7-Southern Cali Beach.

For those of you who know me well, the beach is my favorite place to go and do nothing. I could sit on the sand and watch the waves crash all day. I love the sound of the water, the smell of the sea salt, the seagulls flying in the air, and the wind hitting my face. During my twenties, I would go as often as I could. It was a cheap way to spend the day and get drunk….I would bring my beach cruiser and ride along the boardwalks and after the sun sets, we would have bonfires and continue hanging out with friends and family. Going to the beach would help me unwind when I was stressed and keep me company when I was sad or lonely….It also helped remind me to be thankful that the it was less than an hour away…there are many people in this world that would love to spend as much time as I once did at the beach…..When I was living in the Bay Area, the beach would be the number 1 place that I missed about living in SoCal. Now that I’m back down here, it makes me happy knowing that I have so many beach options, depending what type of beach vibe I’m feeling that day.

If you’re still reading this- I always talk about the pictures that I post on my site. I took this picture 3 years ago in Santa Monica. I slept at my friend Nassim’s house and woke up around 5am, dropped her off at work, and drove her car and parked to Santa Monica pier to watch the sunrise. About an hour after sunrise, I walked down to the sand from the pier and saw a family of tourists walk up beside me. All of them rolled up there pants and put their feet in the water. They were laughing as they let the end of the warm- water waves go up to their ankles, as a few of them were sitting down, digging their toes in to the sand. I took a few silhouette pictures of them and this was my favorite one.

That’s all for today- Peace and Love, ya’ll.