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Alright, this is the Nick Amp Podcast. This is episode 6. I'm here with JP Ramirez, drone photographer,

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photographer, astrophotographer, straight out of San Diego, beast of a dude, beast work. He is one

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of my favorite people I look up to on social media, just in general as an artist. He posts some of the

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best work that I've seen. I tried to meet up with him once but it didn't work out, so I know in the

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future we're going to meet up for sure. JP, it's great to have you on here man. Thank you man, it's

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great to be here. Excited for this chat we're about to have. So normally when I converse with podcast

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guests, the first question I usually ask them is what's your background, how'd you get to this point

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right here? Okay, uh shoot, so where do I start? Um, I mean photography hasn't been something that

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has been in my life for too long. Uh, you know I originally come from the East Coast. It was more of

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a, you lift up your iPhone, you take a photo and do the best that you can with it. Never thought

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about lightroom, never thought about editing, all that. None of that was in play back then.

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It wasn't until, I want to say the pandemic hit when I really started to focus more on photography.

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I had a camera for a while there, but never really used it too much. And then the pandemic came in

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and I honed in on it and really just started watching a bunch of YouTube videos, learning here

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and there, you know, what are white balances, what the exposures are, all those good things. And then

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it kind of just took off from there and, you know, still have a lot to learn, a long way to go, but

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you know, I'm happy where I'm at now and just continuing to learn from my peers and see where

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else we go from here. JP, we had a similar coming of age moment to photography because I was doing

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photography, I mean before the pandemic, for probably about three years, for our own video, but

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I didn't truly hone in until the pandemic. I was going to mountains because that was the only thing

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open at the time. So that's when I decided, I was like, well, let's give this a try. Yeah, you know

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that pandemic, as tragic as it was with how many lives are lost, it really was an eye-opener for a

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lot of people. You know, a lot of people found their callings, their hobbies, new things to do,

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and it forced a lot of people out of their comfort zone to go do things that they really aren't used

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to doing. And now here we are two years later, three years later, actually, you know, those people

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that started doing something new are pros at it or just never, never can look back to what their life

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was like before and be like, what, what am I doing? So it's pretty cool. You work a remote job. Yes.

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Would you ever consider doing photography full-time or videography full-time or are you okay

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with doing the Weekend Warrior Life slash PTO, all that? Dude, I go back and forth between that all

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the time. For the longest time, I always told myself I am not going to allow this hobby of mine

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to turn into a professional career because then stress will get added and I will quickly lose

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and I will quickly lose interest into it. Right. But slowly but surely I started taking in, you know,

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more family photos, engagement photos here and there, not overbearing myself or anything like that.

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But like, you know, just, just here and there. And then I was like, okay, I'm making a little

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bit of money here. Let's see what else I can do. So this past October, I took on my first wedding.

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What? Yeah. To say that I'm going to do another wedding anytime soon, it's, it's, it's a big no.

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You know, I'm not, it's, those wedding photographers, let me tell you, they are,

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they have skin thick as steel. Like I kid you not. I remind you, I went to a wedding, I did a wedding

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session for like a mutual friend. It was a friend of mine. Like, you know, they hired me,

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they paid me my full rate. And even, even though I knew everybody around me, it was still stressful.

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So I was in a, I was supposedly in a comfortable area, but still felt so out of my comfort zone.

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That's that to say maybe, maybe sometime down the road, I will take on, but it was,

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it was very much out of what I'm used to doing. And as of most recently, I did a collaboration

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with a van company and they gave me a travel van for 10 days, as long as I returned back

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videos and photos for them so they can use on their platform or whatever they have.

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So I just completed that, which was my most recent trip. So this was kind of eye opening.

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Well, it's like, okay, you know, these companies are willing to work as of right now, I'm getting

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free stuff, but maybe I can push a little further down the line and start making money off of it.

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So is it possible that I would, you know, make it full time? Sure. But anytime soon, like within

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the next year or two, probably not. I'm kind of still enjoying it. You know, this is still the

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honeymoon stage for me and photography. So I'm, you know, I'm enjoying every minute of it.

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I appreciate your candor there and honesty and seeing your consciousness of

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knowing that you don't want to rush head first into this is amazing. I think a lot of people

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should hear that first before they think about trying to dive in full time. I'm a prime example

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of that. I've dived in full time. I'm 23 years old, running my own business. And there's certain

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times where I wish that I would have held onto my job list a little bit longer, but at the same time,

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I feel like I never would have made that big jump until I quit my job at the same time.

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So there's both sides of it. And honestly, like, I don't think it's a bad thing to keep your hobby

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as a hobby. Because like you said, once you had that stress in, you start to lose interest because

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you're like, yo, this is just supposed to be my fun time hanging out with homies, taking cool photos,

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enjoying the beach, enjoying the desert, enjoying the mountains, all that stuff. So I'm really glad

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that you're aware of those circumstances. Yeah. And I think a lot more people should hear that.

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And you know, like you said, like you're 23, jumped into this. And the only way that the only

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reason you jumped into it, or saw the opportunity was because you left your job. That is also

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something that I strongly believe in because unless you put yourself into a very uncomfortable

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situation, you'll never see the doors that can open for you. You know, we, we as a whole, especially

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as photographers, or small business owners, like, when we stay stagnant in a comfortable area,

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we never see the opportunities around us because we're closed in and we're comfortable where we

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are. It's not until you open that door that you get to see what else is out there, and all the

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opportunities that come from it. So while I do, you know, myself, am taking it slow and not jumping

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into anything, I don't want people to think that that's also the route to take, you know, taking a

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leap of faith is, is can be beneficial, but it is a risk. It's, it's not, you know, 100% bulletproof.

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It's not gonna, it's not gonna work every time, but you learn from it. And from those lessons,

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you grow. So I mean, you know, it's, it's awesome. There's a guy, you know, he works at 9 to 5,

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and he also runs a business on the side. He's making about the same amount of money

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in his business and his job, it's 9 to 5. But his reasoning for keeping the 9 to 5

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is that he likes having that comfortability of being able to fund his business, but also

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not work entirely as hard at it at the same time, and be able to enjoy that time with the family

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still. Not that you can't do that if you're running a business by yourself, but having that

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9 to 5 is that stability part. I mean, to me, that sounds ideal, you know, you, you have your side

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business where you're making just as much as your full-time job, but you know, you still have that

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full-time job to some way, in a way to still keep you, like give you a reality check.

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It's like, hey, like, you know what, like, you're having a great time over there doing your side gig,

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but you know, here's the real world. So I mean, and I get it, and that would be ideal,

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and hopefully one day, you know, I can get to that, or who knows, I might be on the front cover of Nat Geo.

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I'd love to see that day, JP.

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That'd be, that'd be awesome.

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So you mentioned that's what everyone's fighting for.

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Yeah, everyone's fighting for that, man.

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So you mentioned to me that you served in the military. Did that in any way influence you

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as a photographer today?

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Oh, not at all, man. I, you know, looking back on that time,

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it's, it's like, it's just a time that I don't even quite recall or remember.

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Like I remember moments, I remember things that I've seen, things that I've done,

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but like it's, I think the most influence that, or the thing that I got out of being in the military

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the most is just seeping my life together.

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Like, I mean, it teaches you, it teaches you a lot of life lessons, but I wouldn't say

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photography was anywhere on my mind or near when I was in the military.

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I don't, honestly, I don't even remember what kind of photography I was in,

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but honestly, I don't even remember what kind of phone I had when I was in the military.

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I, I, that would be the only way I would have taken photos and

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I mean, I think everyone was on iPhone 7 and I still had the iPhone 3G.

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Like I don't, I really don't remember. Like it's, yeah, it didn't play a role.

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It didn't. Photography didn't come into my life until much later.

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So you saying that though, it taught you life lessons, probably taught you how to endure.

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And going into this creative field, you do have to learn to endure a bit because it's unstable.

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And go ahead.

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It definitely teaches you.

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So in the military, it definitely pushes your boundaries and it definitely

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shows you what you can endure as a human being.

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Going through the military basically shows you that you can tackle anything in life that gets thrown

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at you because you get put into some crazy scenarios and situations.

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And there's been moments in my life now where I'm like, okay, this is stressful.

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Wow. What am I going to do?

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But then I think back and I'm like, wait, like my body can endure more.

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My mind can endure more.

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Like I'm only as strong as my weakest link at this point.

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So I got it.

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I can keep moving forward.

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So it's one of those things and it's just, you learn, you know, what your body can endure.

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And you just have to remember that if you hit a hard place, you can take more.

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And even for those that don't serve, you can take more.

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Because we can all take more than what we actually think we can.

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It's just that fear of not knowing.

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And I'm sure you go through it with hiking, you know, you're going up those slopes and

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you're like, huh, it's getting higher.

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Oh, I don't want to do this.

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But you get to that mountain top and you realize, oh crap, I did it.

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There you go.

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That's proof that your body can endure more than what you initially thought.

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JP, thank you for your service.

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Appreciate you, man.

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Thank you.

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I want to talk to you about San Diego.

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You live in one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.

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Hands down.

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Uh, yeah.

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As someone who photographs a lot of the same spots myself, I go to the mountains a lot,

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to the same national parks, same national forests.

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You know, I was just curious if you ever get tired of going to the same beaches and

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videoing and photographing the same beaches, how, and how do you stay inspired?

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How do you stay inspired, man?

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Because you are consistent with those.

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Oh man.

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You know, a lot of the footage that you've seen that I've posted of the beaches, like

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I'll start off with this.

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I think I've been to the beaches here in San Diego, maybe a total of 20 times.

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That's it.

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I don't go off to.

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What?

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Even though I've been to the beaches, I've been to the beaches.

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I don't go off to, even though my, even though when I post shows more, I would say about

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20 times is the amount of times that I've gone.

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I just get a lot of content when I do go.

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I'm not as much as I enjoy this city and the beach towns and all that.

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This is, I'm more of a mountain guy.

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Like my dream is to have a cabin in Wyoming with my closest neighbor being 10 miles away.

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Let's go.

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That's the dream. That's what I want.

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But so, but for now I'm here.

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I'm content, right?

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Nothing better than waking up and smelling the salt of the sea.

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Right.

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But when I do go out there, I do often get tired of seeing the same peers,

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the same beaches, the same animals, but I try to switch it up each time.

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You know, like whenever I go to La Jolla, I try to find a new pond tree that I haven't

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flown around or taking a photo of.

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You know, marine life is quite wild out here.

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So you can fly your drone over the water and maybe catch some dolphins, maybe catch some

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seals or the leopard sharks.

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Why?

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You know, like you can capture a bunch of stuff.

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Right.

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So I just hold onto that.

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And then weather-wise, living on the coast, I mean, you can wake up early in the morning

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and get the clouds coming in from the ocean and hitting La Jolla and you're above the

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clouds, which is neat.

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You can get beautiful sunny day, some sunsets.

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We got the trains.

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I mean, there's just so many things that you can get on the coast.

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Now, with that being said, when I do get tired of it, I do tend to disappear into the desert

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or into the mountains like you do.

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And I try to go as often as I can.

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And I think I've probably spent more time up in the Eastern Sierras than I have at my

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local beaches.

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It's just the mountains are a different thing to me.

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I mean, growing up on the East Coast, we don't have these glaciers.

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Like we don't.

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You know, it's all city out there.

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So coming out here to California, seeing the vast difference of landscapes, it really just

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makes me want to keep going out there.

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Now, on top of that, I have fellow photographers and fellow droners that go out there and shoot

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content and I see their work and I'm like, oh, well, that's a heck of a reel or that's

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a dope phone out.

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So let me try to go out there and see what I can find.

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And I use a lot of my motivation and my...

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Well, a lot of my motivation comes from the people I follow.

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You know, there's days where I'm like, I don't want to go out and shoot.

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Then I'm scrolling through IG and I see people post different things.

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I'm like, all right, time to plan my next trip.

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Here we go.

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And I'm back at it.

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So you're right about going to the same places.

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I agree because going to the same places can be creatively challenging, uninspiring, but

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at the same time, that could be where you make that growth from being an average photographer

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to an above average photographer because you video, you've photographed that different

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palm tree from a different perspective.

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Correct.

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And that's also true, I mean, you have to challenge yourself in different ways and going

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to the same spot, I don't know, 10 times in a row and try to come out with a new photo

211
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each time is such a great way to really push yourself to the limit.

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Like one thing that I did when I got this lens here, so I got the 35 mil 1.4, I think

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35 mil 1.4 G Master.

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When I got this lens for the first three months, I only packed that in my camera and I did

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not take any other lens with me and I shot with that only.

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And let me tell you, the amount of times that I had missed shots, like I was pissed.

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I was like, oh, like if I had my 70 to 200 with me right now, that would be such a clean

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shot or oh, if I had the 2 to 600, oh my God, I can get that bird.

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Like literally, but I focused on the 35 mil to the point where I was tired of it, but

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then all of a sudden it just opened this whole avenue for me and said, okay, I can shoot

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pretty much anything at 35.

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To a point where I was shooting Astro with the 35, which to a lot of people is a little

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crazy because 35 is not that wide.

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But a lot of the photos that you see involving Astro are shot on that 35 mil.

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Because you said, what was the aperture on that again, the f-stop?

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So the f-stop is 1.4.

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Oh, it gets pretty good then.

228
00:18:58,720 --> 00:18:59,520
Yeah.

229
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Oh, it's a beauty for Astro as long as you're backfired.

230
00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:10,640
But I do have also this one for Astro, which is the 20-1.8.

231
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And this is as crispy and clear as you can get.

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So I've been fully in love with this one a little more.

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But yeah, I mean, it's challenging yourself like that is, it can get, you know, you might

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get pissed off at yourself and be like, oh, I'm not going to get anything or I can't get

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anything, but you just got to push through it and find a photo that you like.

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Don't leave until you get a shot that you like from the same spot.

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00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,080
Perfectly said.

238
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:46,080
We recently talked about this over DM.

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00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,560
You went to Death Valley just recently and we're talking about how we had been there

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a couple of times and we didn't think that it was probably worth going back to.

241
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But then you came back with these bangers, may I say, bangers, I repeat.

242
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,080
Appreciate it.

243
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,600
And you even said it, there was some spots that I saw on a different perspective.

244
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:13,680
And I mean, yeah.

245
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,640
So I went to Death Valley for the first time a couple of years ago and I was like, you

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00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:19,120
know what?

247
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:20,480
Death Valley is awesome.

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00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,320
It's a beautiful park, but I think it's a what-and-done kind of park.

249
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And that was just my point of view of it.

250
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,520
Because I kind of give Joshua Tree the same thing.

251
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It's a what-and-done park for me.

252
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Right?

253
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,800
But then I found myself going again and I went the second time and I'm like,

254
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:43,760
what am I doing here?

255
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,160
How did I end up back at Death Valley?

256
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But okay.

257
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,760
So I, you know, artist palette, awesome.

258
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:51,360
The what's it called?

259
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:52,480
The salt flats, great.

260
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,840
You know, the sand dunes, awesome.

261
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,520
Zabriskie, but the first time I went to Zabriskie, I was like, yo, this is dope.

262
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Got the sunrise shots, I'm done.

263
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,920
Found myself going there a third time, but the third time really wasn't photo.

264
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,000
I was just, you know, checking it out.

265
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,520
It's like that, that's when I was like, I'm never coming back here again.

266
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Like three times is enough.

267
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Like stop this.

268
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:23,600
And then this trip happened and I went again and I went, I went with a couple other

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00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,080
photographers who shared the same thoughts as I did.

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They're like, yeah, you know, Death Valley, I'm going to go back.

271
00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,880
Really is cool for maybe a quick drive by, but not nothing else.

272
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Like one and done.

273
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:36,320
That's it.

274
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:44,080
But Zabriskie Point that morning was absolutely insane.

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I mean, like I've been there so many, I've been there for like, that would

276
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:52,640
have been the fourth time there, but having someone, we had one of my friends

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with us and we gave her a walkie talkie and sent her down to just walk.

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We just told her to walk.

279
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Like just walk and we'll follow you.

280
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We'll call you on the walkie talkie and guide you and tell you exactly

281
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what we want you to do.

282
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So we had her walking up and down these hills, up inside, up another

283
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side of the mountains, everything.

284
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,320
And that's where those clips came from.

285
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,400
But getting all those angles, it's, it's insane.

286
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,400
Like you really cannot get a bad shot at Zabriskie Point.

287
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:20,880
You can't.

288
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:23,840
There's, there's nothing bad about it.

289
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,120
There's nothing ugly about it.

290
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:29,200
Like you can just shoot from the top, shoot from the bottom, shoot from the side.

291
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:30,560
Hang off the side of the cliff.

292
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,280
If you want to, you'll still get a good shot, you know?

293
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,040
So yeah, I mean, it's, it's definitely one of those spots for me that I keep

294
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,120
telling myself I'm not going to go back, but somehow I ended up there again.

295
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,440
You know, going to Death Valley, I've been twice.

296
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:55,360
And the second time I did the same thing as you exploring the canyons more right

297
00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:02,320
there by the Zabriskie Point and using that sense of scale, I mean, that just

298
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,080
made it so much more interesting.

299
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,920
I have seen a photo from a San Diego photographer.

300
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,520
Her name is something, I think it's something Amber.

301
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,080
And she, she photographed Zabriskie Point.

302
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,240
Someone climbs Zabriskie Point and like the actual point, it's called, I

303
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:20,960
forgot what it's called.

304
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:22,000
That's the name for it.

305
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,200
And she, the person went all the way to the top of it and she got her

306
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,040
telephoto out, zoomed all the way in.

307
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,920
Guy looked like an ant.

308
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,040
I am being for real, like straight ant, straight up ant.

309
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,360
It's, it's insane.

310
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:37,200
It's, it's insane.

311
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:44,480
Like the first time I went there, there, there was no one walking on those hills.

312
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,680
So we were just at the top at the viewpoint and we were just looking like,

313
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:48,560
wow, that's cool.

314
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,160
A bunch of little hills and a nice big mountain at the end that looks like a shark fin.

315
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:52,480
Right.

316
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:53,600
That's pretty neat.

317
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,640
It wasn't until the second time when I went and I actually got to see people

318
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,840
walking in the canyons, I was like, all right, those are not little hills.

319
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:05,840
Like those things are massive.

320
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,320
And even my friend that was walking around, she came back and she was exhausted.

321
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,200
She's like, you guys made me walk so much.

322
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,880
I am like, my feet hurt.

323
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,080
And she's a hiker, she's an avid hiker.

324
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:18,800
Like that's her thing.

325
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,040
And she's like, y'all really put me to work.

326
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:23,520
I think she's going to bill me though.

327
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,760
I think she, I think she, she thinks I'm a very employer, so I'm probably going

328
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,160
to get a big FET invoice for her.

329
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:38,720
So you do do some traveling and you do some photography for you.

330
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:41,440
Is it about.

331
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:46,160
The traveling or about the photography or for you, does it feel like.

332
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:48,480
Kind of go together.

333
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,680
Cause I know you mentioned that being in the mountains is just a little bit

334
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,360
different than being at the beach.

335
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:53,840
Yeah.

336
00:24:54,880 --> 00:25:01,600
I, I think I will say that when it's the first time to a new location, it's

337
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,680
more about the travel, right?

338
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,800
But then if I'm going there, like a bunch of times, then I'm going to go

339
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:13,120
if I'm going there, like a bunch of times, then it turns more to like a

340
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:14,000
photography trip.

341
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,880
And I'm more focused on getting different angles, getting different

342
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,160
frames, you know, all those kinds of things.

343
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:27,360
So like at this point, if we're talking going to Alabama Hills or Mammoth,

344
00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,840
I'm more focused on getting different shots.

345
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,600
But if I, if I'm going somewhere new, like I've never been to the PNW.

346
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:41,680
So if I go up to the PNW, that's going to be a more travel heavy trip.

347
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,360
Like I want to explore.

348
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:44,480
I want to check things out.

349
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:44,640
Sure.

350
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,960
I'm going to have my camera with me, but you know, I'm going to check as much

351
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:50,240
out as I can.

352
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,920
And if, if I see something that I like, then yes, I'll pull the camera with a

353
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,600
drone out and to get what I can.

354
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,560
You would love the PNW bro.

355
00:25:58,560 --> 00:25:59,280
It is.

356
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:05,440
Oh, in every time I see the photos, I'm like, yeah, it looks, it

357
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:06,240
looks amazing.

358
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,000
So you've been to our national, you've been to our forest here in the Sierra

359
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,040
Nevada, our forests are just a little bit dry.

360
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:14,160
If I would say, yeah.

361
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:21,760
So going over there, exploring the PNW forests, bro, it's a whole new world of

362
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,840
just seeing like actual lush green forest.

363
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:26,320
Moss.

364
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:28,160
It looks amazing.

365
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,360
Looks like something straight out of like where Yoda lives.

366
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:33,360
I mean, it's, it's insane.

367
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:33,860
Yes.

368
00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:37,380
So drone life, man, should people get one?

369
00:26:37,380 --> 00:26:38,900
Should, should someone get one?

370
00:26:38,900 --> 00:26:39,380
Absolutely.

371
00:26:40,580 --> 00:26:41,220
No question.

372
00:26:41,940 --> 00:26:48,820
I think we are in the time where these drones are so advanced, like before, if

373
00:26:48,820 --> 00:26:52,740
we were talking, maybe, I don't know, eight years ago, when there was only

374
00:26:52,740 --> 00:26:58,020
like the first drone or the mini, the what's it called, the DJI mini one.

375
00:26:58,980 --> 00:27:00,820
You know, I was like, oh, okay.

376
00:27:00,820 --> 00:27:02,020
Maybe, probably not.

377
00:27:02,020 --> 00:27:06,900
But now with this, like the mini pro three, there's, there's, if you're

378
00:27:06,900 --> 00:27:11,620
looking to get into drone photography, the mini pro three is your best bet.

379
00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:13,140
Hands down.

380
00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:18,260
And there, there's no, I mean, besides the pricing, there's just no, shouldn't

381
00:27:18,260 --> 00:27:20,340
be an excuse of why you're holding back.

382
00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:25,780
I say full send because you may think something is beautiful.

383
00:27:25,780 --> 00:27:27,860
You may see something and walk by it.

384
00:27:28,020 --> 00:27:30,340
And at eye level, it doesn't look like much.

385
00:27:30,340 --> 00:27:33,620
But then you send that drone up and you get that bird's eye view.

386
00:27:33,620 --> 00:27:34,660
You're like, okay.

387
00:27:35,140 --> 00:27:36,900
It really changes your perspective.

388
00:27:37,700 --> 00:27:42,260
Especially people who live in the city or even those at the beach, getting

389
00:27:42,260 --> 00:27:46,740
those top downs of the beaches really just changes so much for you.

390
00:27:47,620 --> 00:27:48,100
Yeah.

391
00:27:48,100 --> 00:27:55,140
Because when you go to the beach, at least for me, I can get a little bit bored.

392
00:27:55,140 --> 00:27:59,380
So then when I got my drone, I put it up above the beach.

393
00:27:59,380 --> 00:28:02,500
I was like, whoa, I kind of do like the beach.

394
00:28:03,140 --> 00:28:04,340
The beach is pretty cool.

395
00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:05,700
I mean, there's so much you can get.

396
00:28:05,780 --> 00:28:06,020
Yeah.

397
00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:07,460
Getting that perspective with the drone is.

398
00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:08,500
You can get the waves.

399
00:28:09,460 --> 00:28:11,140
You can get the surfers.

400
00:28:11,140 --> 00:28:13,540
I mean, you can get people just walking down the beach.

401
00:28:13,540 --> 00:28:18,180
Like there's nothing cooler than droning someone while they're on their

402
00:28:18,420 --> 00:28:20,020
afternoon or evening run.

403
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:22,820
Like it's just so much fun.

404
00:28:22,820 --> 00:28:25,380
I mean, it sounds creepy, but just follow them.

405
00:28:25,380 --> 00:28:25,940
Yeah.

406
00:28:25,940 --> 00:28:31,460
But no, I mean, definitely I would say those that are interested in getting a drone or

407
00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:32,340
it get it.

408
00:28:32,340 --> 00:28:35,460
It's not complicated to fly one of those things.

409
00:28:35,460 --> 00:28:41,460
The, the safety features that they have really do help you fly.

410
00:28:41,460 --> 00:28:45,300
It's not like you're going to send it up and it's going to just go ballistic and crash.

411
00:28:45,940 --> 00:28:47,940
No, like it hovers.

412
00:28:47,940 --> 00:28:49,940
It has all these safety features.

413
00:28:49,940 --> 00:28:51,940
It's not like you're going to get hit by a drone.

414
00:28:51,940 --> 00:28:53,940
It has all these safety features turned on.

415
00:28:53,940 --> 00:28:58,340
It won't allow you to fly close to trees, walls, anything.

416
00:28:58,340 --> 00:29:02,340
So just full sent, please.

417
00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:12,100
So I've had, I've heard some people have opinions on drones in terms of there being a lack of

418
00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:19,140
creativity versus holding like a mirrorless camera, whatever camera you have in hand.

419
00:29:19,140 --> 00:29:27,300
And they say that it's cheating, gorgeous, easy to be a good drone photographer.

420
00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:30,420
But I'm, I don't agree with that.

421
00:29:30,420 --> 00:29:36,420
I think that putting the drone up and taking photos, whether it's photos or videos, you

422
00:29:36,420 --> 00:29:38,660
treat it the same way as you're taking photos on the ground.

423
00:29:38,660 --> 00:29:39,780
It's just from a different angle.

424
00:29:39,780 --> 00:29:40,260
I don't know.

425
00:29:41,540 --> 00:29:45,460
I, I don't, I don't see it as a, a cheat.

426
00:29:45,460 --> 00:29:55,940
You know, you can say someone who that, who is shooting with a Sony A7R4 is cheating compared

427
00:29:55,940 --> 00:30:03,380
to someone who is shooting with the Sony A6000, you know, it, it, it doesn't make sense to

428
00:30:03,380 --> 00:30:09,860
me that anyone would say that, you know, you're sending a device up into the air, you're honing

429
00:30:09,860 --> 00:30:14,740
in on the settings, you're setting up an angle shot that you need, you're filming, you're

430
00:30:14,740 --> 00:30:18,900
framing it just the way you want it and you're taking a photo and then a video.

431
00:30:19,380 --> 00:30:27,380
I mean, I think a video takes flying an unmanned aircraft in the sky with other attributes,

432
00:30:27,380 --> 00:30:34,420
whether it's birds, it's wind and all that compared to someone taking a video on a tripod

433
00:30:34,900 --> 00:30:35,860
on the ground.

434
00:30:36,740 --> 00:30:40,340
You know, I think it's a little more advanced when you're flying that drone around.

435
00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:44,500
Now that's not to knock anybody that does that, but it's just like, you know,

436
00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:51,540
like come on, don't, I just shouldn't knock anybody's work or anything like that.

437
00:30:51,540 --> 00:30:56,500
It's, it's, you know, get with the times is what I say.

438
00:30:56,500 --> 00:31:02,340
Like, you know, I was, I was hard headed when Instagram switched up from photos to reels,

439
00:31:02,340 --> 00:31:04,580
you know, I was like, I ain't doing reels.

440
00:31:04,580 --> 00:31:06,020
I'm not going to go down that path.

441
00:31:07,460 --> 00:31:09,620
But then I realized, you know what?

442
00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:10,260
It's growth.

443
00:31:10,260 --> 00:31:15,860
It's, I view it as growth because if it wasn't for reels, I wouldn't have cared to learn

444
00:31:15,860 --> 00:31:18,420
about Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

445
00:31:18,900 --> 00:31:24,020
I wouldn't have cared to flip my camera setting from photo to record.

446
00:31:24,980 --> 00:31:29,140
I wouldn't, I wouldn't even touch the drone and record.

447
00:31:29,140 --> 00:31:30,900
I would have just taken photos the whole time.

448
00:31:30,900 --> 00:31:40,180
And we live in an era when, where people care more about seeing a live photo than a still,

449
00:31:40,660 --> 00:31:43,220
you know, people want to see the behind the scenes.

450
00:31:43,220 --> 00:31:50,180
People want to see, oh, the reveal shot, like you panning up and showing the lake.

451
00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:52,980
And then all of a sudden it shows the whole mountain range.

452
00:31:53,140 --> 00:31:54,020
People love that.

453
00:31:55,220 --> 00:31:59,540
So yeah, no, anyone that knocks the drone world over,

454
00:31:59,540 --> 00:32:05,540
knocks the drone world or the drone community, you know, go ahead and jump back into that dumpster.

455
00:32:07,540 --> 00:32:16,020
So speaking of Instagram, are you okay with it not prioritizing photos anymore?

456
00:32:16,980 --> 00:32:21,780
Yeah, you know, it's, it's been a battle now.

457
00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:26,340
And then I think at first I wasn't because I was so focused on photography,

458
00:32:26,340 --> 00:32:32,100
but I've grown to love videography, whether it's on my camera or my drone,

459
00:32:33,300 --> 00:32:37,540
learning new things, learning transition, learning how to put text on videos,

460
00:32:38,180 --> 00:32:42,340
learning how to do speed ramps, all those things really come into play.

461
00:32:42,340 --> 00:32:46,020
And it, it, it really pushed me further.

462
00:32:46,820 --> 00:32:50,980
And I would even say that because I've done so much video work now,

463
00:32:51,460 --> 00:32:54,660
it's opened up how I shoot photos as well.

464
00:32:54,660 --> 00:33:00,500
Because now all of a sudden, you know, I'm looking at different angles for video,

465
00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:04,900
but while I'm looking for angles for videos, at the same time,

466
00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:07,780
I'm finding new perspectives for possible stills.

467
00:33:08,340 --> 00:33:11,140
And I wouldn't have walked to this side of this waterfall

468
00:33:11,860 --> 00:33:14,020
if it wasn't because I wanted to take a video.

469
00:33:14,020 --> 00:33:17,700
But now looking at this angle, this actually looks cool for a photo.

470
00:33:18,420 --> 00:33:22,260
So before I start the video, I'll take the photo and then I'll do the video.

471
00:33:22,260 --> 00:33:25,060
So, I mean, it's, it really opens doors up.

472
00:33:26,660 --> 00:33:27,780
I 100% agree, man.

473
00:33:28,660 --> 00:33:34,180
Yeah. I just think where I know that there are still people out there that are upset that

474
00:33:35,380 --> 00:33:42,660
Instagram is not prioritizing photos anymore, but you know, it's, it's one of those things.

475
00:33:44,340 --> 00:33:50,020
These, these social media apps are not here for us to create a gallery.

476
00:33:50,020 --> 00:33:52,100
If we want a gallery, we create our own website.

477
00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:54,340
This website is for the people.

478
00:33:54,340 --> 00:33:55,140
It's for us.

479
00:33:55,140 --> 00:33:55,940
It's the consumer.

480
00:33:55,940 --> 00:33:56,900
They're a business.

481
00:33:56,900 --> 00:34:00,580
Yeah. The consumer is telling Instagram that they want videos.

482
00:34:01,540 --> 00:34:05,460
You know, if they want to blame anyone, blame TikTok, because TikTok did this to all of us.

483
00:34:06,820 --> 00:34:12,820
That's amazing that you say that because I know a lot of photographers were mad about the switch,

484
00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:18,340
but the fact that you just said that it's our fault is the consumer's fault.

485
00:34:18,340 --> 00:34:22,020
It is. 100%. Bam.

486
00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:27,460
Wow. So maybe it is an Instagram fault. Instagram is just a business.

487
00:34:27,460 --> 00:34:36,420
It is. And, and you know, it, people tend to, like, people tend to forget that Instagram is

488
00:34:36,420 --> 00:34:42,660
a crazy algorithm. Might as well be an AI that can read what we do.

489
00:34:42,660 --> 00:34:47,620
So as you're scrolling through Instagram, let's say you're someone who hates the concept of

490
00:34:47,620 --> 00:34:51,300
Reels and you're never going to make one. So you're scrolling through Instagram,

491
00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:54,900
then you get photo, photo, photo, and then you see a Reel and you're like,

492
00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:58,820
oh, this is a cool Reel. And you stop and watch it for more than five seconds.

493
00:34:58,820 --> 00:35:03,140
And then you scroll. Guess what? Instagram now thinks that you want to see more Reels.

494
00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:08,100
So they'll start throwing more Reels. Then all of a sudden, now you're watching Reels, Reels, Reels,

495
00:35:08,660 --> 00:35:14,580
and now you're a consumer of Reels. So I don't, you know, for those that say I hate Reels,

496
00:35:14,580 --> 00:35:19,140
unless you're Instagram, unless I could grab your phone and scroll through your Instagram

497
00:35:19,140 --> 00:35:23,700
and get 10 straight photos, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it.

498
00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:26,180
Oh, boom. You're a real, you're a real-

499
00:35:26,180 --> 00:35:29,780
Drop the mic already. You're a real enthusiast.

500
00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:34,420
Drop the mic. This is literally the best stuff I've heard in a long time. I haven't heard anyone

501
00:35:34,420 --> 00:35:39,460
say it better than that. Being serious. It's, it's honestly the truth. And I mean, I,

502
00:35:40,100 --> 00:35:43,220
I do feel for photographers who don't want to do Reels. I do.

503
00:35:43,220 --> 00:35:46,180
Cause they, they've worked so hard and honed in on their skills.

504
00:35:46,180 --> 00:35:47,140
Right, right. You're right.

505
00:35:47,140 --> 00:35:53,780
Um, and it sucks, but you know what? If it's a business, and if you want to become a business

506
00:35:53,780 --> 00:35:59,220
as a photographer, you have to adapt to your surroundings. And if you plan to use Instagram

507
00:35:59,220 --> 00:36:04,420
as a way for people to see your work, then you have to adapt to what Instagram is going to be doing.

508
00:36:04,420 --> 00:36:10,820
Like, you know, if you have a restaurant and you move into a place that is changing with,

509
00:36:10,820 --> 00:36:15,860
with the different kinds of people that are coming in and, and movement, you have to adapt.

510
00:36:16,980 --> 00:36:20,420
You have to adapt. If you, if you came into a restaurant, you're like, you know what?

511
00:36:20,420 --> 00:36:25,940
I'm only going to sell cheeseburgers with no fries. Then fine. But then when a new restaurant

512
00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:30,500
shows up that has cheeseburgers and fries, and you start losing customers, what are you going to

513
00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:35,060
end up doing? You're going to end up switching up and you're going to end up making those fries

514
00:36:35,060 --> 00:36:39,620
and change it a little bit till you get customers back. And that's all, that's all part of the,

515
00:36:39,620 --> 00:36:44,660
that's all part of the business plan. So if you, if you're on Instagram, you want people to see your

516
00:36:44,660 --> 00:36:53,300
work, use reels. And even if you just use a photo for a reel. I've talked to so many people where

517
00:36:53,300 --> 00:36:57,700
they're like, I just don't know how to create a reel. I don't know where to start. You guys make

518
00:36:57,700 --> 00:37:03,300
these, these reels that just seem so advanced, blah, blah, blah. And my dude set up your camera

519
00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:10,260
on a tripod, point it in a direction, grab your cell phone and do a before and after, or what my

520
00:37:10,260 --> 00:37:16,180
phone sees versus what my camera sees. That's it. People love that. They're like, oh, it's so cool.

521
00:37:16,180 --> 00:37:24,020
Or a raw versus the edit. Raw versus the edit. I mean, it's as simple as that. It's yes, do some of

522
00:37:24,020 --> 00:37:31,700
us make more intense videos? Sure. But in reality, that's not, that's, that's not what everyone's

523
00:37:31,700 --> 00:37:39,380
going to see. Like, you know, the amount of times that I've seen a cat blinking go viral, like, it's

524
00:37:39,380 --> 00:37:45,300
like, what? This cat is just blinking and it has 3 million views. Are you kidding me? So, you know,

525
00:37:45,300 --> 00:37:54,900
it's, it is what it is. Being a business owner, learning how to adapt your eye is crucial because

526
00:37:54,900 --> 00:38:04,020
if my outreach isn't hitting, then that means they're not opening it. So it's not interesting

527
00:38:04,020 --> 00:38:08,180
enough. It's not engaging enough. If they're opening it and they're still not responding,

528
00:38:08,180 --> 00:38:16,820
that means I'm not provoking a reaction or action. Right. So, exactly. As a business, okay, so how do

529
00:38:16,820 --> 00:38:26,340
I improve that? You evolve. But, you know, I also like, I make this similarity with this connection

530
00:38:26,340 --> 00:38:32,980
with every day with work. You know, you have that person that has been working at your job

531
00:38:32,980 --> 00:38:39,060
for 50 years. And for 50 years, they've been doing things one way. But then all of a sudden,

532
00:38:39,060 --> 00:38:45,780
there's a better, faster, easier way to do it. And that company wants to implement that. But that

533
00:38:45,780 --> 00:38:52,340
person that's been there for 50 years is going to be like, I don't want to. Well, if it's easy,

534
00:38:52,340 --> 00:38:58,660
better and faster, why not? So to me, those that don't want to do reels are the 50 year old

535
00:38:58,660 --> 00:39:04,260
employee that refuses to change as the company is getting bigger and demanding change.

536
00:39:05,220 --> 00:39:11,140
Gary Vee says that all the time, man. He says, oh, all the people saying social media sucks.

537
00:39:11,140 --> 00:39:17,300
We're evolving. We're evolving. That's all it is. You're either going or you're not. That's it.

538
00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:28,020
Correct. Man, I think that you collaborating with a lot of other people is inspiring to me,

539
00:39:28,820 --> 00:39:35,860
because I don't do much of that. And at least I feel like that a lot of people over here

540
00:39:36,820 --> 00:39:40,740
don't really get together. Maybe it's just me and I reaching out to people, but I don't know. I just

541
00:39:40,740 --> 00:39:47,060
don't feel like a lot of photographers are meeting up over in my mountain area a lot more. And I think

542
00:39:48,580 --> 00:39:55,460
something that you could give advice to people listening to this is how do you make friends in,

543
00:39:56,340 --> 00:40:00,820
I guess, the creative space, whether creative space or some other space, how do you build that

544
00:40:01,540 --> 00:40:05,700
relationship with those people and start going out with them more often? Because I mean, dude,

545
00:40:05,700 --> 00:40:17,140
you are always shooting with somebody. It's... So I've noticed with Instagram,

546
00:40:18,740 --> 00:40:27,780
it becomes like an ego war, you know? And people get afraid of rejection. People get afraid of

547
00:40:27,780 --> 00:40:37,540
being turned down or not knowing how to approach someone with more followers than them. When in

548
00:40:37,540 --> 00:40:44,260
reality, a lot of them are just like, I want people to shoot with. I don't care who you are.

549
00:40:44,260 --> 00:40:49,620
I don't care if you have 50 followers. I don't care if you have 100,000 followers. I just want

550
00:40:49,620 --> 00:40:55,540
people to shoot with. So if you're looking to shoot with someone or if you see a photographer

551
00:40:55,540 --> 00:41:03,620
in your area and you see them go out often, shoot your shot. Shoot your shot. Go into that DMs and

552
00:41:03,620 --> 00:41:10,580
be like, look, man, I like your work. I like what you're doing. I live in the same area.

553
00:41:12,260 --> 00:41:18,420
If you're down, I would love to shoot with you sometime. That's it. But a lot of people don't

554
00:41:18,420 --> 00:41:24,100
care to send that message. And they'd be surprised on how many people are actually open

555
00:41:24,100 --> 00:41:33,460
to do something like that. Last year in August, I did a story where I was like, hey,

556
00:41:34,500 --> 00:41:43,780
I want to do a Milky Way meetup. And I put it up on my stories just to see. And I expected

557
00:41:45,300 --> 00:41:51,220
seven, eight people to maybe reach out. And I created a group chat for it. And I had maybe

558
00:41:51,220 --> 00:41:58,420
15 people in the group chat. I was like, hey, I'm down to go. I set it all up and went out there.

559
00:41:59,060 --> 00:42:07,380
And on the day of, I got a final roll call. And there was like 18 people that were going to come

560
00:42:07,380 --> 00:42:18,420
out to meet in Anza Borrego. Nick, I showed up and there was 32. No way. Yeah, it was 32 people that

561
00:42:18,420 --> 00:42:25,300
showed up to do this. And it just shows how many people are looking for these kind of things.

562
00:42:26,420 --> 00:42:33,300
And my meetup, there was no charge. There's nothing. It's really just a bunch of photographers

563
00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:40,020
getting together and doing what they all like to do collectively. And you say that not a lot of

564
00:42:40,020 --> 00:42:46,020
people go out there. Your situation is a little different because you are way up there. But also

565
00:42:46,020 --> 00:42:56,500
at the same time, the amount of people that I've talked to that have never been to national parks,

566
00:42:56,500 --> 00:43:05,700
that have never visited these cool spots that you and I always go to, blows my mind. So what I would

567
00:43:05,700 --> 00:43:12,180
say is if you're looking for people in your area to go hiking with or shoot, put it up on your story

568
00:43:12,180 --> 00:43:19,540
and be like, Hey, I'm going to this, I want to do this location in a month or two months.

569
00:43:21,140 --> 00:43:28,420
If you want to do this with me, let me know. Bam. And from there, you'll get people reaching out

570
00:43:28,420 --> 00:43:32,820
and say, Hey, I'm interested. Whether they're coming from San Francisco or San Diego,

571
00:43:32,820 --> 00:43:43,620
people will make the trip. The power of collaboration is powerful. People have reached

572
00:43:43,620 --> 00:43:50,820
out to me to come shoot with me and come go with me. They're not as experienced and I'm okay with

573
00:43:50,820 --> 00:43:55,860
that because it's someone to go shoot with. Honestly, it was kind of cool because I was

574
00:43:55,860 --> 00:44:02,820
actually able to teach them about photography, video, my whole thought process. And so maybe

575
00:44:03,540 --> 00:44:07,300
you're in someone's shoes that you're smaller and you reach out to this big creator.

576
00:44:07,940 --> 00:44:12,900
Dude, that's an opportunity for a mentorship student like hangout as well.

577
00:44:14,260 --> 00:44:21,700
For sure. And something that I, like I said, shoot your shot, but also in the terms of

578
00:44:21,700 --> 00:44:29,700
people wanting to learn, don't be afraid to DM one of these photographers and ask them for advice.

579
00:44:31,300 --> 00:44:35,940
There are some bad apples out there. I won't lie. I've run into a few where, you know,

580
00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:41,860
I had questions about certain things and they read my message and they just leave me unread

581
00:44:41,860 --> 00:44:47,140
or some of them are jerks and like the message. They literally heart it and never respond.

582
00:44:47,140 --> 00:44:52,740
I'm like, are you serious? You're going to acknowledge that I asked you a question?

583
00:44:54,660 --> 00:45:00,900
But most of us, most of us really are nice people. Like, you know, the community that

584
00:45:00,900 --> 00:45:06,980
I'm in with all my friends, they just want to see everyone excel. They want everybody

585
00:45:06,980 --> 00:45:13,220
to do well. They want every single post that we post to blow up and go viral. I mean, that's

586
00:45:13,220 --> 00:45:19,940
literally all we do. And I've met so many creators that way. And a lot of people that I started off

587
00:45:19,940 --> 00:45:26,260
with, they're now in the hundreds and thousands of followers because of that. So it's really cool to

588
00:45:27,380 --> 00:45:33,860
surround yourself and find that community and find those people. And I think everyone can find

589
00:45:33,860 --> 00:45:39,860
those people for themselves. But with that being said, if there's any followers out there that are

590
00:45:39,860 --> 00:45:45,940
in Southern California and they ever want to shoot, go ahead and slide it to my DMs. I have

591
00:45:47,140 --> 00:45:53,300
a lot of people that are always looking for other people to shoot. And maybe I might not be able to

592
00:45:53,300 --> 00:45:58,660
make it, but I know other people that can. So there's this group in Utah. I don't know

593
00:45:59,380 --> 00:46:01,460
if you heard of them. They're called the Bushwackers.

594
00:46:03,140 --> 00:46:09,620
I know. I know it sounds funny, but they're a bunch of photographers. Okay. It's all like

595
00:46:09,620 --> 00:46:15,460
city based out of, but I mean, anyone from Utah, anyone's invited, but most of them live in Salt

596
00:46:15,460 --> 00:46:22,660
Lake or in the Utah region. And they all go photograph the Red Rock National Parks or they

597
00:46:22,660 --> 00:46:29,380
go to Salt Lake. And their whole premise of this Instagram page, they have a website, they have a

598
00:46:29,380 --> 00:46:36,740
podcast now is to bring creatives together. They host meetups. They do photo trips. Like they go

599
00:46:36,740 --> 00:46:41,940
out down to Southern Utah and take photos with a bunch of people. And now they're starting this

600
00:46:43,460 --> 00:46:48,420
university on their website, like giving us like photography information, like through YouTube.

601
00:46:49,860 --> 00:46:53,780
And I think it's a good thing what they're doing because like they said, their main focus is to

602
00:46:54,900 --> 00:47:00,660
build community and someone's always available to shoot, which I think is cool because they said,

603
00:47:00,660 --> 00:47:05,540
even if we can go, our people within our community are shooting together at some point or another.

604
00:47:05,540 --> 00:47:09,940
There's always somebody to hang out with and shoot with. And I think like, so what you're doing on

605
00:47:09,940 --> 00:47:13,380
there, building that community is a huge thing and it's doing a lot of good for a lot of people.

606
00:47:14,260 --> 00:47:19,060
So for people collaborating that want to learn from people, that's beneficial to them. For

607
00:47:20,020 --> 00:47:26,420
guys who are know a little more, it's beneficial to us because we're able to give back to these

608
00:47:26,420 --> 00:47:33,700
people after all the knowledge that we've been passed on from all the greats before us. Not

609
00:47:33,700 --> 00:47:37,380
seeing where like, cause I'm crazy big people, but I mean like the people who were before us

610
00:47:37,380 --> 00:47:44,180
gave us knowledge, we're giving back. Oh, for sure. I mean, and I remember when I first started,

611
00:47:45,300 --> 00:47:52,260
I was sliding into everyone's ZMS and asking questions, you know, and trying to find

612
00:47:53,700 --> 00:47:58,500
people that are willing to help or willing to shoot. And it was a struggle because like I said,

613
00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:05,460
there are bad apples out there. Not bad apples, just people that are not necessarily, you know,

614
00:48:05,460 --> 00:48:16,660
as giving. But yeah, no, I mean, building a community and having people message means like,

615
00:48:16,660 --> 00:48:22,900
Hey man, I love your work, but I have a question. How did you create that halo with your drone? Or

616
00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:30,100
Hey, how did you do that long exposure shot? Or Hey, how did you get the perfect conditions for

617
00:48:30,100 --> 00:48:35,140
this shot? Or what were your settings for this shot? You know, it's those are the kind of DMs

618
00:48:35,140 --> 00:48:41,220
that I like to see because it's like, okay, it's nice that people are viewing my work as something

619
00:48:41,220 --> 00:48:47,300
that they would like to attempt. And I'm more than happy to give them my settings stamp and say,

620
00:48:47,300 --> 00:48:54,180
Hey, this is exactly the settings that I had. Try it out. It's not bulletproof, but hey, you know,

621
00:48:54,820 --> 00:49:05,220
mess around with it, adjust things as needed. So you do a lot of Astro photography, light paintings.

622
00:49:06,340 --> 00:49:10,980
Quite frankly, it's awesome. And I don't do any of that ever. I've done Astro, maybe a total of

623
00:49:10,980 --> 00:49:17,620
like three times. How did you get, I know, how did you get into that type of photography?

624
00:49:20,180 --> 00:49:32,980
Oh, okay. So when the pandemic hit, like I said, I honed down and wanted to learn how to shoot

625
00:49:34,580 --> 00:49:39,860
with like learn the settings, learn everything. I decided that the first style of photography I

626
00:49:39,860 --> 00:49:45,540
wanted to learn was Astro. So I pretty much did everything backwards. I learned the hardest style

627
00:49:45,540 --> 00:49:58,020
of photography first, and then worked my way back. I would say the hardest. It really teaches you all

628
00:49:58,020 --> 00:50:03,380
the techniques and settings that you need. So when you start doing other work, you're like, oh, I know

629
00:50:03,380 --> 00:50:11,300
how the aperture works. I know how, you know, long exposure works. I know how to manage my ISO better,

630
00:50:11,300 --> 00:50:18,420
my white balance, all those things. So I decided to do that. And it was the first

631
00:50:19,940 --> 00:50:29,380
summer, actually, no, yeah, yeah, it was the first summer before COVID hit that I was like, oh, I'm

632
00:50:29,380 --> 00:50:34,260
going to try out my camera and I'm going to try Astro photography. And I went out there

633
00:50:35,700 --> 00:50:42,500
and it was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Like the photos that I got were abysmal.

634
00:50:42,500 --> 00:50:48,900
Nothing, nothing was in focus. I even, I'm pretty sure I even posted the photo. I was like,

635
00:50:48,900 --> 00:50:56,900
this is the Milky Way. Looking back, I'm like, no, that's, that's just a star. Like, no, sir,

636
00:50:56,900 --> 00:51:04,660
this is a Wendy's. Okay. Like, seriously, it was so bad. And then the following summer, which was

637
00:51:04,660 --> 00:51:12,500
COVID, that's when I got the correct lens. Cause you do need like, you know, a wide-a, I was using

638
00:51:12,500 --> 00:51:19,140
a kit lens. Let's start there. I was using a kit lens for my first time at Astro, which if you know

639
00:51:19,140 --> 00:51:25,220
how to work the settings, you can get away with it. But if you're just starting, Lord help you.

640
00:51:25,220 --> 00:51:32,820
Um, but I finally had the right lens the second year and I started taking just one shot and done.

641
00:51:32,820 --> 00:51:39,540
You know, you set up your tripod, you take a 20 to 25 second shot, depending on your,

642
00:51:39,540 --> 00:51:45,700
your focal length, do the math there, and then edit that photo. And I was content with that.

643
00:51:45,700 --> 00:51:54,100
You can get some crazy photos for that. And then it wasn't until last summer that with the help of

644
00:51:54,100 --> 00:52:01,540
with the help of one of my friends, his name is Josh, uh, she helped guide me through how to do

645
00:52:01,540 --> 00:52:08,820
stacking. So I'd started then taking anywhere between 50 and 80 photos of the Milky way,

646
00:52:08,820 --> 00:52:13,700
and then stacking them through the computer. And what that essentially just ended up doing was,

647
00:52:14,340 --> 00:52:21,380
uh, denoising the photo. And then I am able to play more around with the contrast, the color,

648
00:52:21,380 --> 00:52:26,180
bring out the, you know, the dark spots of the Milky way more, make it stand out more.

649
00:52:26,180 --> 00:52:36,180
And it just a cleaner look for, for a Milky way. Um, and I still am at beginner level for astrophotography.

650
00:52:37,700 --> 00:52:46,500
Um, like my friend Josh, he uses a star tracker and I, I watched him several times set that damn

651
00:52:46,500 --> 00:52:52,260
thing up and I still have no idea how it works. Like I have no, he puts that thing on the tripod.

652
00:52:52,260 --> 00:52:57,300
He's like, well, now you have to like scientifically set it up and you have to aim it at this specific

653
00:52:57,300 --> 00:53:02,420
star. And then you have to click start and then it starts to move. I'm like enough. No, let me stick

654
00:53:02,420 --> 00:53:08,340
to my tripod. I'm okay. Like I don't know what a mess it's all about. Eventually I would like to

655
00:53:08,340 --> 00:53:15,460
really dive into it, but for now I'm, I, this year I really want to do more stacks and, and just get

656
00:53:15,460 --> 00:53:22,420
more Milky way done. Cause I will say that my last year Astro, uh, I didn't do as much as I would have

657
00:53:22,420 --> 00:53:28,420
liked. I kind of, you know, slept on it a little bit, but this coming up here, it's game on. And

658
00:53:29,060 --> 00:53:33,940
I guess sounds like since you say you've only done it three times or so, it looks like I'll be making

659
00:53:33,940 --> 00:53:43,300
my way up to Yosemite and Sequoia to get some Milky way shots out there. Let's go. Dude, that is

660
00:53:43,300 --> 00:53:50,180
awesome. Did you say, did you say stacking 50, 50 to 80 photos? 50 to 80. Yeah.

661
00:53:51,940 --> 00:53:58,260
Wow. That's a beast of a file. I just, it's, it's there and it's all raw files. So you could imagine.

662
00:53:58,260 --> 00:54:05,700
No, I know. That's a beast of a file, bro. Yeah. It's, it's, I think you can get away with less,

663
00:54:05,700 --> 00:54:12,900
but I overcompensate and I just want to make sure in case something goes wrong. Um, but yeah,

664
00:54:12,900 --> 00:54:17,700
I mean, I learned a lot in on top of those, you have to get your dark frames in because those

665
00:54:17,700 --> 00:54:25,620
dark frames really, really help with bringing out that punch in a Milky way. Uh, but yeah, I mean,

666
00:54:26,660 --> 00:54:31,700
coming up it's, it's the Milky way season is coming up. So I'll be diving right back into it.

667
00:54:32,660 --> 00:54:38,340
You know, you said that you shot on a kit lens for your first Milky way. I did to you in death

668
00:54:38,340 --> 00:54:44,660
valley and dude, I did it in the winter. So it's not Milky way season in the winter. And fortunately

669
00:54:44,660 --> 00:54:50,420
there was no moon out. So I was still able to see the Milky way pretty good. And I think the F stop,

670
00:54:51,060 --> 00:54:59,220
the F stop on my kit lens was like 3.5, I think. And which kit lens did you have? Do you remember?

671
00:55:00,020 --> 00:55:07,460
Uh, the 18 to 135 Sony kit lens from my A63. And it's not like a,

672
00:55:07,460 --> 00:55:16,500
see, I have the, uh, this is the 16 to 50 for this a 6,000. What was the F stop on that one?

673
00:55:17,860 --> 00:55:25,780
3.5. Yeah. So, but yeah, so 3.5. Yeah. And I don't know, man. I mean, I was able to get some Milky

674
00:55:25,780 --> 00:55:32,420
way shots. They were a little bit noisy. Oh, you for sure. You for sure can get it at 3.5

675
00:55:32,420 --> 00:55:37,860
with a longer exposure and a higher ISO. But with Sony, we have that advantage of

676
00:55:38,740 --> 00:55:45,220
Sony being such a beast at, at, uh, nighttime, right? But low light situations, but

677
00:55:46,500 --> 00:55:51,300
you, if you were to take that 3.5 kit lens and stack a hundred photos of it,

678
00:55:52,100 --> 00:55:57,060
Ooh, that would be crisp. That'd be clean. That's good to know, man. I'm going to,

679
00:55:57,060 --> 00:56:03,700
I'm definitely going to try that out this year. Given a shot, um, like I've tried, so I have

680
00:56:04,260 --> 00:56:12,420
the Tamron, uh, 16 to 28. This is what started me with most of my Astro. And I was like, this is

681
00:56:12,420 --> 00:56:23,860
great. And then I use the 21.8 beast. If you're looking for a Astro or a wide angle lens,

682
00:56:23,860 --> 00:56:31,220
this is your guy. And then of course the 35 is busy with my go-to right now. Um,

683
00:56:32,900 --> 00:56:42,820
now imagine shooting Astro with this guy. That would be killing. So my question to you,

684
00:56:44,340 --> 00:56:51,780
yes, what is your favorite photo or your fondest memory of a photo? I know like sometimes it

685
00:56:51,780 --> 00:56:58,020
may be too hard to like have a favorite photo. So what's, what's a, what's a photo that like just

686
00:56:58,740 --> 00:57:08,740
best memory? My favorite photo, my favorite photo period has to be probably Mount Tam in San

687
00:57:08,740 --> 00:57:18,420
Francisco, above the clouds, watching those, uh, watching those clouds roll in. Um, we, we showed

688
00:57:18,420 --> 00:57:24,820
up and it was such a funny story. So we showed up, we went up to Mount Tam, the clouds were thick,

689
00:57:25,380 --> 00:57:31,300
like they were rolling. There's photographers out there and we know we're just hanging out,

690
00:57:31,300 --> 00:57:38,820
chilling. We were getting pretty decent long exposure shots of the clouds. And all of a sudden

691
00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:48,340
and all of a sudden the sunset just pops off. The color came in, the skies turned orange and pink.

692
00:57:48,340 --> 00:57:56,740
It was, it was, it was crazy. And one of the guys next to me, he, uh, he actually runs one of the,

693
00:57:56,740 --> 00:58:02,980
uh, San Francisco accounts. Um, they have like an app up there that they use, like photographers use

694
00:58:02,980 --> 00:58:07,620
to check on weather and stuff. So he runs that and forget the name of it's like ice cream or

695
00:58:07,620 --> 00:58:15,300
something. I don't know. Um, but he, he was telling us, he's like, literally we came at the right time

696
00:58:15,300 --> 00:58:21,860
because they haven't had a sunset plus the clouds and like over a year and a half. And I was like,

697
00:58:21,860 --> 00:58:29,540
wow, like we got so lucky. So that, that photo is literally one of my favorite shots that I have.

698
00:58:29,540 --> 00:58:37,220
It's a cool memory. Uh, but I think memory wise, like a fond memory that I have, a photo that I

699
00:58:37,220 --> 00:58:45,940
remember just taking and it just lives in my head rent free. Uh, probably my first successful Astro

700
00:58:45,940 --> 00:58:55,700
shot. It was out at Anza Borrego. Yeah. It was out at Anza Borrego. Uh, it was of the statue of the

701
00:58:55,700 --> 00:59:01,460
serpent. I got the head of the serpent with the Milky way right next to it. And that was my first

702
00:59:01,460 --> 00:59:08,260
successful shot. And I was like, wow, like this has been a year and a half in a making and I finally

703
00:59:08,260 --> 00:59:14,820
did it. So that, that would be my fondest memory shot. That's so nice, bro. I've been to Mount Tam

704
00:59:15,860 --> 00:59:22,340
and just the bay, man, the bay is just the fog goes crazy over there. Dude, it's insane up there.

705
00:59:23,540 --> 00:59:27,540
And I've never been to Anza Borrego. I've literally made multiple plans to go down there,

706
00:59:27,540 --> 00:59:33,220
but for some reason it never works out. And it looks like a super cool place to photograph

707
00:59:34,580 --> 00:59:43,540
by the desert area. Yeah, it's neat. There's, there's a lot of cool canes that you can go into.

708
00:59:43,540 --> 00:59:52,020
Fond's point is great, but you would need, uh, you know, all wheel or four wheel drive car with high

709
00:59:52,020 --> 00:59:59,380
clearance for a lot of the places out there. Quite literally Anza Borrego is, especially cause

710
00:59:59,380 --> 01:00:09,540
Ocatillo Wells is right next to it. It is literally a off wheel, off road car playground. Like they

711
01:00:09,540 --> 01:00:15,780
literally have playground set for jeeps and stuff to, to roll over hills and ride on the side of the

712
01:00:15,780 --> 01:00:21,220
mountains. Like they have all that stuff out there. That sounds pretty cool. I, I drive a lot of

713
01:00:21,220 --> 01:00:28,100
civic, so when I need four wheel drive, um, I ask my girlfriend, Lorelai, we take her car. She's got a

714
01:00:28,100 --> 01:00:33,620
Jeep Liberty. So I have four wheel drive and all that. But when I'm riding solo, sometimes I take

715
01:00:33,620 --> 01:00:40,580
my little Honda into some places. It should never go, man. I mean, it's, it's, it's so funny. Like

716
01:00:40,580 --> 01:00:44,340
you see, we see my little Honda out there on the dirt road. People look at me like crazy with their

717
01:00:44,340 --> 01:00:51,380
jeeps and trucks and I'm like, Hey man, I want to get out here too. And eventually, why the hell are

718
01:00:51,380 --> 01:00:59,380
you out here? You're going to pop a tire and I'm not bringing you out. But no, I've took it to my

719
01:00:59,380 --> 01:01:04,180
place. My car has some risky spots, but it's, it's been through a lot and it's made it. But eventually

720
01:01:04,180 --> 01:01:12,100
I do want to get something with four wheel drive and high clearance at some point, maybe a van or

721
01:01:12,100 --> 01:01:19,700
maybe even a Tacoma or Highlander. Four-winners are pretty good. Yeah, Tacoma. Yeah. Ooh, four-runners

722
01:01:19,700 --> 01:01:27,140
on my, that's my go-to. Like that's what I want. Right now I have a, a RAV4, which that baby has

723
01:01:27,140 --> 01:01:30,420
guided me through some, some fun stuff, but uh, four-runners definitely on my list. I guess the job

724
01:01:30,420 --> 01:01:36,900
done though. I've heard good things about it. Oh, it's great. I mean, it, it has guided me through

725
01:01:36,900 --> 01:01:44,260
some crazy situations, like thick snow and sand. And I mean, it's compact too, huh? It's like not

726
01:01:44,260 --> 01:01:50,020
too big of a car. It's like not crazy big either. That's the other thing. It's not that it's, it's

727
01:01:50,020 --> 01:01:55,540
not crazy big, but I do, I would like a little more room in case I want to, you know, sleep in

728
01:01:55,540 --> 01:02:01,220
the back of the car or something like that. So do you, do you go camping on these trips or are you

729
01:02:01,220 --> 01:02:10,340
staying in hotels? I'm all over the place. Uh, it depends on who I'm going with. You know, I have my

730
01:02:10,340 --> 01:02:15,140
friends that are like down to just pitch a tent anywhere and camp. Then I have my friends who are

731
01:02:15,140 --> 01:02:21,540
a little more bougie and they're like, no, excuse me, I need room service. So it all, it, it all,

732
01:02:21,540 --> 01:02:28,900
it all depends on who I go out with. Um, but you know, Airbnbs, if they're not too expensive,

733
01:02:28,900 --> 01:02:36,500
I have no problem booking them. Um, like, you know, I went to Hanksville, Utah, and it was like,

734
01:02:36,820 --> 01:02:41,780
I think like 70 or $80 a night there. And I was like, oh, this, this is doable. That's not bad at

735
01:02:41,780 --> 01:02:49,220
all. That I can do, but I don't want to go to like Salt Lake and spend $200 on an Airbnb. Like no,

736
01:02:49,220 --> 01:02:55,460
I'd rather find open land that I can camp in or sleep out of my car. You're right. So

737
01:02:55,460 --> 01:03:02,820
I normally budget travel just cause that's what's the budget. And I try to find free camping. I know

738
01:03:02,820 --> 01:03:09,620
like a lot of other people are going that route now. I know when I was in Utah though, so I was

739
01:03:09,620 --> 01:03:15,540
in, I don't know if you've been to the Canab area or like it's right above Horseshoe Bend. So

740
01:03:15,540 --> 01:03:20,580
Horseshoe Bend is in Arizona. Then Canab is in Utah at the Southern border. It's by the Coral

741
01:03:20,580 --> 01:03:29,300
Pink Sand Dunes. So over there, yes. So over there, I don't know, I kind of found a campsite and I

742
01:03:29,300 --> 01:03:33,140
didn't feel comfortable with the free campsites that were there. So I was like, all right, I'm

743
01:03:33,140 --> 01:03:38,660
going to book a hotel. Like I never do this, but let's see what they got. And the hotel I found,

744
01:03:38,660 --> 01:03:43,540
it was like, it was decent. It was like, you said it was only 70 bucks. And I was like, well, shoot,

745
01:03:43,540 --> 01:03:47,060
I'm going to stay in the hotel then if I can't find a campsite. And that's what I did.

746
01:03:47,060 --> 01:03:54,180
Yeah. And you just have to know where to look. No, I mean campsites, exactly. You have that app,

747
01:03:54,180 --> 01:03:59,380
is it the iOverlander app? Yeah. I have like four different ones. I have iOverlander,

748
01:04:00,260 --> 01:04:06,340
I have Camp Medium, FreeCamping.net, and there's like one more, but I don't remember it. But

749
01:04:07,380 --> 01:04:14,100
and then I know you can use the BLM maps, but those apps are like, I don't know,

750
01:04:14,100 --> 01:04:19,620
the BLM maps, but those apps are probably the best. Yep. iOverlander, Camp Medium,

751
01:04:19,620 --> 01:04:27,780
FreeCamping.net. Because they already make it all for you. Right. But yeah, that's what I usually

752
01:04:27,780 --> 01:04:32,820
use, especially when I was with the camper van. I was just using that iOverlander app and finding

753
01:04:32,820 --> 01:04:42,260
spots to camp. So one of my last questions for you, what is your advice for someone who wants to

754
01:04:42,260 --> 01:04:47,060
take more photos or picking up their first camera, or maybe they haven't got a camera yet,

755
01:04:47,060 --> 01:04:49,540
they're thinking about it. What's your advice to them?

756
01:04:54,500 --> 01:05:02,900
Step one, get a camera. But once you have that camera, go out and shoot. Every chance you get,

757
01:05:02,900 --> 01:05:10,100
shoot. Don't go out and shoot and then put the camera down for two weeks and then go out again,

758
01:05:10,100 --> 01:05:16,500
because you're not going to be able to fulfill yourself with what you want out of it.

759
01:05:18,020 --> 01:05:24,820
Shoot every day if possible, and it doesn't matter what you shoot. Just go out there,

760
01:05:24,820 --> 01:05:30,580
get it done, come back, review your photos, and I guarantee you will find two or three photos out

761
01:05:30,580 --> 01:05:37,220
of that batch that you like, edit, and do whatever you want with them. But just make sure you're

762
01:05:37,220 --> 01:05:45,540
shooting all the time. It's really the only way to grow, because as you shoot, you start to learn

763
01:05:45,540 --> 01:05:49,940
your mistakes, and when you start to learn your mistakes, you adjust them, you get better as a

764
01:05:49,940 --> 01:06:00,500
photographer, and that's also just the first half. Have fun editing photos. Something that I tell a

765
01:06:00,500 --> 01:06:05,860
lot of people that reach out to me about how I edit my photos, or how to edit photos when you

766
01:06:05,860 --> 01:06:14,820
first start off, is go ahead and buy yourself presets. Find your favorite photographer that

767
01:06:14,820 --> 01:06:22,420
has millions of followers, or that has a website where you can purchase presets, and buy those

768
01:06:22,420 --> 01:06:32,660
presets, add it into your Lightroom, attach them to your photo, and edit backwards, so you learn

769
01:06:32,660 --> 01:06:41,780
how they did it. Once you attach that preset, you can see exactly what settings they put on,

770
01:06:41,780 --> 01:06:48,580
and work backwards, and figure out, okay, this is what they set their contrast to, this is what they

771
01:06:48,580 --> 01:06:56,420
set their shadows, their blacks, their whites, and just learn all those things. And then,

772
01:06:56,420 --> 01:07:03,220
from there, you can continue using the presets, but then, instead of, not all presets are like,

773
01:07:03,220 --> 01:07:09,540
you slap it on and they're done, because that will really mess up your photo, but work with them.

774
01:07:09,540 --> 01:07:16,100
Slap on the preset, change the contrast, change the colors, change the lighting, mess around with

775
01:07:17,380 --> 01:07:24,580
what's it called, the shadows and stuff, until you're happy with it. Don't be afraid, and don't

776
01:07:24,580 --> 01:07:31,540
listen to the people that go, oh, don't use presets, you should just edit from scratch. You can,

777
01:07:32,020 --> 01:07:39,300
but if you're starting off, it's a lot harder to do that. For me now, since I know how I edit,

778
01:07:39,300 --> 01:07:45,540
and I know what my styles are, I'll throw my photo in there, and I'll instantly know where I want my

779
01:07:45,540 --> 01:07:50,980
shadows, where I want my whites, where I want my blacks, instantly. But that's because that,

780
01:07:50,980 --> 01:07:59,060
the way that I learned was through presets. And that's usually the route that I tell people to go,

781
01:07:59,060 --> 01:08:02,340
just to learn. So I've created-

782
01:08:02,340 --> 01:08:04,020
Just get out there and shoot, and-

783
01:08:04,020 --> 01:08:04,580
You're right.

784
01:08:04,580 --> 01:08:05,060
I'm sorry.

785
01:08:05,060 --> 01:08:10,020
Yeah, I was going to say, I've created my own presets, I've got my own editing style,

786
01:08:10,020 --> 01:08:15,460
just so I don't have to take the time to keep editing it the same way, I just slap it on,

787
01:08:15,460 --> 01:08:22,580
and then I go from there, because it's so consuming going back and doing it over and over again.

788
01:08:23,460 --> 01:08:24,660
So I made the preset-

789
01:08:24,660 --> 01:08:34,100
Especially since we're going back and forth to a lot of the same places. So like, for example,

790
01:08:34,100 --> 01:08:40,740
if you're going to Sequoia, you could make 10 presets that say, Sequoia 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

791
01:08:40,740 --> 01:08:45,140
So then you know that when you go to Sequoia, and you take photos of the stuff, you're like,

792
01:08:45,140 --> 01:08:49,780
oh, I'm just going to slap on a Sequoia preset on here, because I already know that these are

793
01:08:49,780 --> 01:08:56,420
the ones that I like. So I mean, it's just all about the flow of how you do things.

794
01:08:57,140 --> 01:09:00,500
You're thinking long-term right there, bro. I just have one preset, I saw it on all of them.

795
01:09:01,460 --> 01:09:06,420
I'm actually going to do what you just said right now and do that many presets for each location,

796
01:09:06,420 --> 01:09:08,820
dude. That's genius.

797
01:09:08,820 --> 01:09:14,740
You should. And I do that for mine because I go to different areas. So like, I'll have a Sunset

798
01:09:14,740 --> 01:09:21,380
preset, I'll have a Midday preset, I have, you know, Sunrise preset, I have Beach presets, I have

799
01:09:22,180 --> 01:09:29,060
Alabama Hills presets. Like, I have a preset for pretty much everything. When I go to a place once,

800
01:09:29,620 --> 01:09:35,940
I get a photo that I think is pretty generic, I edit it, and then I save those presets. That way,

801
01:09:35,940 --> 01:09:41,460
when I do go back to that location, I can just use that preset and see how it looks and work and add

802
01:09:41,460 --> 01:09:44,980
or take off what I need. It just makes the workflow much easier.

803
01:09:46,260 --> 01:09:52,580
Okay, so for those of you listening and you don't have your own presets of your editing style,

804
01:09:53,620 --> 01:09:58,100
go ahead and go do that of all the locations you've been to and the places you frequent.

805
01:09:59,380 --> 01:10:04,020
Do it because I'm going to do it. JP Ramsey right here, this guy is

806
01:10:04,020 --> 01:10:12,020
spending some knowledge. Take note. JP, I appreciate you coming on here and talking with me. This

807
01:10:12,020 --> 01:10:20,020
podcast is about, for me, is for connecting with other creatives, outdoor enthusiasts, people who

808
01:10:20,020 --> 01:10:26,100
just like being outdoors. Doesn't matter what it is, photographer, videographer, mountaineer, hiker,

809
01:10:26,980 --> 01:10:32,500
van lifer, or someone who just likes to take walks by the beach and kind of like on these little

810
01:10:32,500 --> 01:10:39,540
trails. It doesn't matter. I want them to share their experiences on this platform,

811
01:10:41,300 --> 01:10:46,180
whether they're in the creative field working or they're just mountaineers so they can

812
01:10:47,540 --> 01:10:51,780
share their knowledge with the people listening, so more people can learn different perspectives

813
01:10:51,780 --> 01:10:55,380
about the way they do things. Like today, we talked about you doing your presets this way.

814
01:10:55,380 --> 01:10:59,300
You talked about astrophotography. I even learned things from this.

815
01:10:59,300 --> 01:11:03,940
So the whole point about this is just connecting with others, giving them a platform to share their

816
01:11:03,940 --> 01:11:11,460
own experience, talk about what they're doing. And it was a blast talking to you. Where can the people

817
01:11:12,420 --> 01:11:13,460
find you on social media?

818
01:11:13,460 --> 01:11:29,940
Mostly on IG. My Instagram handle is jpramzifotos. That's where I post most of my work.

819
01:11:31,620 --> 01:11:37,380
Feel free to reach out. Let me know, hey, I saw you on the podcast, on the Nick Kamm podcast, and

820
01:11:37,380 --> 01:11:43,620
I have a couple questions. I'd be more than happy to help guide you. Like I said earlier,

821
01:11:43,620 --> 01:11:50,660
one piece of advice is don't be shy. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Ask the questions.

822
01:11:50,660 --> 01:11:58,180
Reach out to that photographer that you look up to. Tell them that their work influences you.

823
01:11:58,980 --> 01:12:05,940
Trust me, it goes a long way. And it opens up that door for you to get to know yourself.

824
01:12:05,940 --> 01:12:11,060
And it opens up that door for you to talk to them and learn a thing or two. And it could also just

825
01:12:11,060 --> 01:12:17,220
make a good friend out of it, even if it's not photography related. Just do it. Reach out and

826
01:12:17,220 --> 01:12:22,180
make new friends. Some of my friends aren't even photographers. I met through this social media

827
01:12:22,180 --> 01:12:29,060
app, but they're just hikers. And they just post about their hikes. And I sometimes invite them to

828
01:12:29,060 --> 01:12:33,060
go with me on the hikes on the longer ones, because I know they'll actually go bear the

829
01:12:33,060 --> 01:12:40,740
brunt with those ones. Because not all photographers are into what I do, getting out there at 2 a.m.,

830
01:12:40,740 --> 01:12:45,620
hiking 10 miles in the dark, whatever it is. So sometimes I invite the hikers to go with me,

831
01:12:45,620 --> 01:12:50,580
because they're kind of crazy too. Hikers are kind of crazy. And hikers are crazy.

832
01:12:50,580 --> 01:12:59,220
Hikers are insane. Dude, you guys are a different breed. I don't understand you at all. Like,

833
01:12:59,220 --> 01:13:07,060
I was like, I have a hiker friend. And she dragged me out to do what was supposed to be an 11 mile

834
01:13:07,060 --> 01:13:17,060
hike, and it turned into a 19 mile hike. And I quite literally almost died. I ran out of water.

835
01:13:17,060 --> 01:13:24,660
It was over 100 degrees. I literally, we had to stop. And I was like, dude, like I need a break.

836
01:13:24,660 --> 01:13:30,020
And she's like, all right, fine. I was like, give me five minutes to just like take a breather here.

837
01:13:30,020 --> 01:13:34,660
And then we'll continue. And it was relatively flat. Like it wasn't any hills. It was just

838
01:13:34,660 --> 01:13:40,980
heat exhaustion. Yeah. So I laid down, and I was like, give me a five minute break. And I kid you

839
01:13:40,980 --> 01:13:46,900
not, I closed my eyes. And I felt like it was 30 seconds. And she's waking me up. And she's like,

840
01:13:46,900 --> 01:13:52,420
we got to go. And I'm like, dude, it's only been like 30 seconds. She's like, no, you've been out

841
01:13:52,420 --> 01:14:00,820
for 15 minutes. I was like, oh no. Like I literally felt like it was a half a minute. But I knocked

842
01:14:00,820 --> 01:14:06,740
out for 15. And that's when I knew I had to keep going. So I got up, I kept walking, finally made

843
01:14:06,740 --> 01:14:13,220
it to the last stretch on these rural tracks. And I walked so straight. Like I didn't notice anything.

844
01:14:13,220 --> 01:14:18,820
I had tunnel vision at that point. Like I was just like headed right to the car. We got to the car

845
01:14:18,820 --> 01:14:23,220
because I had told her to walk ahead of me. And I got to the car, I chugged down this whole thing

846
01:14:23,220 --> 01:14:28,500
of water. And she's like, Hey, did that family say anything to you? And I'm like, what family?

847
01:14:28,500 --> 01:14:34,980
She's like, you literally walked a split in between two families. And I was like, I had,

848
01:14:34,980 --> 01:14:40,340
I saw no one else out on those tracks. What do you mean? So apparently there's like a family

849
01:14:40,340 --> 01:14:45,700
walking, all of them in a straight line. And I walked between them. Like I made them walk

850
01:14:45,700 --> 01:14:50,980
separate. And I walked right in between them. And I was like, I saw nobody. I do not recall any of

851
01:14:50,980 --> 01:14:57,140
that whatsoever. So she damn near killed me. And that's a story that will live forever in my head.

852
01:14:57,140 --> 01:15:03,300
And that's why I will never trust all trails because they said it was 11 miles and it turned

853
01:15:03,300 --> 01:15:09,220
out to be 19 miles. So I am suing all trails, all trails. If you're watching this, I'm coming for you.

854
01:15:09,220 --> 01:15:18,580
Bro, if you're not hiking that many miles on a regular basis, that is brutal.

855
01:15:18,580 --> 01:15:24,100
It's brutal. It was brutal. You can't just pick up and just do that kind of mileage.

856
01:15:24,100 --> 01:15:26,100
And I prepared for 11 miles.

857
01:15:26,100 --> 01:15:28,100
Yeah. Yeah.

858
01:15:28,100 --> 01:15:36,100
Like I prepared for 11 miles and it surprised me and said 20. And I was like, are you kidding me right now?

859
01:15:36,100 --> 01:15:42,500
It's also the mental aspect too, like preparing for that. So like tomorrow,

860
01:15:42,500 --> 01:15:44,500
You guys are different breeds.

861
01:15:44,500 --> 01:15:46,500
I'm starting my hike tomorrow at 2 AM.

862
01:15:46,500 --> 01:15:48,500
Yeah, I saw that.

863
01:15:48,500 --> 01:15:54,500
2 AM. I think 2 or 3. I have to calculate how long it'll take me to get to the sunrise spot.

864
01:15:54,500 --> 01:16:02,500
But it's a new semi, there's no shoeing in the dark in the woods. I have to clean my house.

865
01:16:02,500 --> 01:16:04,500
See, that's what I'm talking about.

866
01:16:04,500 --> 01:16:10,500
I have to clean my house around midnight or 1 o'clock in the morning. I don't know.

867
01:16:10,500 --> 01:16:12,500
We'll figure it out. I'm going to figure it out after this call.

868
01:16:12,500 --> 01:16:18,500
But it's going to be fun. I like the sunrise and I like to get those crazy adventure photos.

869
01:16:18,500 --> 01:16:24,500
But sometimes I don't always realize how crazy the things I do.

870
01:16:24,500 --> 01:16:26,500
Because to me, it's normal.

871
01:16:26,500 --> 01:16:30,500
But I do in the 100 sunrise things.

872
01:16:30,500 --> 01:16:34,500
I mean, yeah. That was so cool though.

873
01:16:34,500 --> 01:16:38,500
The fact that you completed the 100 sunrise thing, that was awesome.

874
01:16:38,500 --> 01:16:44,500
That is so cool that you even held yourself accountable by posting about it all the time.

875
01:16:44,500 --> 01:16:50,500
And now letting yourself fall through with it, especially since your followers were all watching it.

876
01:16:50,500 --> 01:16:54,500
That was quite the accomplishment, so that's awesome that you did that.

877
01:16:54,500 --> 01:17:02,500
But also what's more astonishing is the fact that you're in a snowshoe in the middle of the night slash morning.

878
01:17:02,500 --> 01:17:06,500
You're probably going to have to fight off about three or four bears.

879
01:17:06,500 --> 01:17:12,500
And it's climb up god knows where to a sunrise spot.

880
01:17:12,500 --> 01:17:16,500
You're going to leave a trail of dead bears because you're going to fight them all and defeat them.

881
01:17:16,500 --> 01:17:18,500
It's absolutely insane.

882
01:17:18,500 --> 01:17:20,500
I love it.

883
01:17:20,500 --> 01:17:26,500
That's why I like winter hiking because bears aren't awake as much in the middle of the night.

884
01:17:26,500 --> 01:17:30,500
Oh, okay. Oh, you got that cheat code. Okay.

885
01:17:30,500 --> 01:17:36,500
Yeah, summertime. I'm probably going to be hiding behind somebody else, which is usually my girlfriend.

886
01:17:36,500 --> 01:17:42,500
You know what? I'm sure girlfriends usually have the tougher ones, man. Let me tell you.

887
01:17:42,500 --> 01:17:44,500
She's tough, man.

888
01:17:44,500 --> 01:17:47,500
But JP, I appreciate you having you on here.

889
01:17:47,500 --> 01:17:49,500
Of course, man.

890
01:17:49,500 --> 01:17:51,500
It was a blast. Thanks for having me.

891
01:17:51,500 --> 01:17:59,500
For those of you who are listening, if you're not following the podcast, it's at the Nick Amp podcast on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube.

892
01:17:59,500 --> 01:18:07,500
If you want to follow me, it's at the Nick Amp on my Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

893
01:18:07,500 --> 01:18:09,500
You'll find me everywhere.

894
01:18:09,500 --> 01:18:19,500
I'll see you on the next episode. Thanks for listening.