7AM. The sun had risen a few hours ago but the line to enter Tiananmen Square was already packed with students visiting on their summer vacation. This was a normal day in Beijing. People were lined up in droves to get their identifications checked and to go through security. But this was our first time.
Tiananmen Square is a place of tremendous historical significance. Making a trip to Beijing is an homage that every Chinese person must make once in their lifetime. This was no different for us. But being born in the US, we had some preconceived notions of some of the things that had happened here at Tiananmen Square. But putting politics aside, we wanted to visit the Square for the beauty of Tiananmen and the forbidden city that’s behind it.
Castles, knights in shining armor, and moats. Those are the things we generally think about when thinking about medieval England. But making any comparison with any empires of the West seem to pale in the grandeur of the Forbidden City. Tiananmen isn’t even the entrance to the Forbidden City. The foundation stretched all the way to where Chairman Mao’s mausoleum. The walls, thick and fortified by the hands of the loyal subjects once stretched for miles was removed, but the imagination of anyone visiting can picture just the scale of the Emperors’ home.
We walked the Square and the Forbidden City behind it, and we found ourselves humbled. Admiring the craftsmanship of the stairways and guardrails, envisioning the royal hands that must have touched this before me. 500 years of Chinese history, locked away in the foundation of the land and the architecture. For three days I came back day after day to see more, hoping to see something I had missed. What stories do these walls hold, and what can we do to unlock more?
We flew here to visit Beijing, but we found ourselves closer to home.
-Aeronaut
I wanted to challenge myself to just shoot with the iPhone X. Using the lightroom app made it incredibly easy to adjust manual settings. I was pleased with how intuitive the app was to use.
I never took the iPhone X camera seriously. I knew that the 4K video could be exceptional, but I never gave the still functions the time of day.
Well, it took me by surprise and I was happy to know that even when I dont have my main camera with me, I could still go out and take pictures.
Sometimes the gear involved can stunt your creativity. Sometimes, you just need to get on a bicycle, bring your phone, and just go.
-Aeronaut
ps: The last picture was taken on my flight home to LA
We rented a scooter to get around Amsterdam. That was the best idea ever. We rode around town, zipping through the bridges and small streets, and had a chance to explore the city as it was meant to be seen.
Even though it was cold, we saw as much as we possibly could. We also tried to look for the bridge Casey Neistat proposed on. Long story short, we found it.
Amsterdam is huge on foot, small on scooter.
Highly recommend.
-Aeronaut
Sometimes work can get in the way and you get caught up in the rat races of life. Not taking a moment to think about what you're doing and where you're headed can lead to depression, at least it does for me. I always make it a point to take some time to recenter myself and to take inventory of what I want and not want in life. We were spontaneous and went on a trip to Seattle.
We stayed at the Inn at the Market right at Pike Place Market which was incredibly convenient. There was also a rooftop terrace where you could snack while watching the sunset. I took this picture right at sunrise, even though the sun was behind us, we wanted to see the colors change.
In the morning we went for a stroll around the harbor and got to take in the environment.
I've always been a sucker for oysters. If you told me a restaurant had oysters, I'd be there. Washington has some of the best oysters around with the largest variety. I highly recommend trying Elliot's Oyster House.
The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to check out Snolqualmie Falls.
It was the crack of dawn though, so I wasn't that into taking pictures. It was cold. It was hard to shoot. Meh
Then we went on a hike to Rattlesnake Ledge.
We don't hike very often. It kicked our asses.
So we took some time to stop and take some pictures. Mostly, it was my excuse to rest.
Once we got to the top, the view was so worth it.
The fresh air in the trees, I felt like I was reborn. Ready to kickstart my work on Monday.
Don't forget to take care of yourself. A flight, hotel, and car to Seattle may be expensive, but it's important to take some time off and think about what's truly important.
I felt like I had a much more clear of a mindset after the little weekend getaway.
-Aeronaut
My friend Ben and I took a trip up to the San Gabriel Mountains.
The ocean is 40 minutes away from my house. And so are these mountains. For convenience, I decided to drive my SUV. I'm glad we did. The roads were slick towards the ski lifts and coming downhill my brakes locked and slid out of my lane into oncoming traffic. Luckily, we didn't hit any oncoming cars and the side of the road had gravel.
In southern California, we rarely get to see snow. Especially since the drought has made rain hard to come by. When we noticed that the mountains were moody, we wanted to get up there as soon as possible.
I think it was well worth the time.
2018 I've posted significantly less or slower than before, but my personal goal this year is to spend less time thinking and more time doing. If we hadn't taken the opportunity of a moody day to get to the mountains, we might not get the chance again for a while. Sliding your SUV into oncoming traffic is also an experience to remember.
Take Flight.
-P
For my parents’ 30th anniversary, their only wish was for us to be with them in the Maldives.
It took 24 full hours of travel to get there.
We enjoyed a lot of sun and water activities.
Including snorkeling with turtles.
Checking out the view underwater.
And just getting some time to relax.
All in all, it was a great time.
Too bad the Maldives may sink in a few years.
Please don’t.
-P
There’s so much beauty left unseen.
We try to get out as often as possible.
For my girlfriend’s 25th birthday, we went to Cancun.
We stayed at the Ritz Carlton
I brought my DJI Mavic Pro Platinum out for the first time
I crashed it on the first day.
But the trip was amazing, and Cancun was glorious.
Everything was in Pesos.
-P
For my 27th birthday, I went and did something I really wanted to do for a long time.
A helicopter’s perspective of Los Angeles at sundown.
Flying with the doors off, the thrill reaffirmed my love for flying.
I’d always wanted to learn to fly, either get a private pilots license for helicopter or fixed wing planes.
But this experience made me want to learn now more than ever.
Perhaps the downside would be missing the sights and sounds from a photographer’s perspective.
But just think of the freedom.
For my birthday, I did what I wanted to do.
Maybe, next year I’ll find that time to get my pilot’s license.
And see everything from the bird’s eye.
(special thanks to @anthelion.helicopters for the fantastic experience, definitely will fly with you guys again)
-P
I took a trip to Sweden and Amsterdam in September. It was just for a few days but I got some great photos. It took a while for this post to come up, life has been in the way.
I celebrated a birthday on the 29th and I feel like it should be a time to do some self reflection.
When I take a look back at these pictures, I just remember taking a deep breath, and really feeling at one with the environment. The trees, the air, the water, Sweden is beautiful in the fall.
I brought my DJI Mavic with me, and I was so glad I did. I just wish I spent enough time playing with the settings. I didn’t have the time to realize that I could shoot raw photos or 4k video- which was a bummer.
Also, I didn’t know how to work the autofocus, autoexposure. But all in all Sweden was good.
Then I took a trip to Amsterdam for a couple of days. The hotel we stayed at was a hundred years old.
I’ve had this bike for a year now. I got it last year as a birthday gift to myself. When I fired her up and got the wind blowing past me, the pavement beneath my feet, I knew that I’d be a happy man so long as I have my bike.
Problem was, I couldn’t find the time to ride. Winters were cold and wet, summers hot and sweaty. I’d commute to work every once in a while and enjoyed the brief 8 miles between my work and home.
So I decided to go for an adventure. To explore and find some hidden treasures in southern California.
I found Frank G. Bonelli Park. Quiet and peaceful, I took a spin around the lake, rode next to the tiny airport.
And found myself falling in love with her all over again.
Take the time to explore. There’s always freedom in the air.
-P
I’ve been in Los Angeles all my life. Going Downtown LA always felt like mythical thing, busy traffic and maze like streets. After we got an office downtown, it’s introduced me to the city life.
With a view like this, it’s not so bad.
Oh, that’s right. This is the Skyspace on top of the US Bank Tower. Glass-bottom slide isn’t scary, just fast.
-P
I’d gone skiing there once. Someone once told me to look for the mountains and you’d know that the orientation there was North. It’s so close to home. Mt. Baldy.
Oftentimes we forget that some of the most grand views and beauty are right in our backyard. If only half an hour away and another twenty minutes up the mountain, my good friend Ben and I decided to go up to see the views as well as take his new car up for a ride.
The roads did not disappoint.
The car tamed the beast that is Angeles National Forest.
The mountain views were some of the best in Southern California.
Take some time and visit.
It’s well worth the time.
-P
Therapy. There’s something about this that’s therapeutic. The smell of gunpowder freshly exhausted or my raspy yell of “Pull.” The stress and concern about the world around you melts away. Your singular focus? To destroy orange clay discs flying away from you, zipping in different angles and trajectories.
The Beretta A400 Extrema is my shotgun of choice for this event (although I’ve been looking for an over/under shotgun as well). The integrated pistons reduce recoil (and pain) signficantly, making this shotgun the obvious choice for trap shooting. The A400 easily tears down into two separate pieces, making the shotgun extremely easy to clean, and efficiently portable. The light but crisp trigger makes for effortlessly consistent pulls. If the Remington 870 is a Ford Truck, a statement of durability and its workhorse nature, then the Beretta A400 is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio (look it up, it’s the mid-priced new SUV). Form and function are hand in hand, and Beretta does it with Italian flair.
In grade school, everyone had to choose a state from a hat to do a project on. I chose Maine first. No disrespect to the state of Maine, but there was an opportunity to redo and I took it. New Mexico, in big bold words on a tiny strip of paper. My teacher looked at me and gave me a cringe. She probably thought, “Maine is infinitely better to do a project than New Mexico–at least Maine has lobsters.” That didn’t faze me. At least I’d been to New Mexico before. The fine white sands and caves of Carlsbad, New Mexico is a state full of natural wonder and beauty.
This time there wasn’t much time to spare. I was stopping by Albuquerque for a quick meeting. Though time was short, I had to squeeze in some sightseeing and the Sandia Mountain was the obvious choice.
The twenty odd minute tram ride up the mountain provided a gorgeous view of the ancient rock formations.
If I could go back in time and talk to my grade school teacher, I’d ask her “Who said New Mexico was nothing but desert?”
-Aeronaut
