Travel · Japan · January 2016

"Arigato gozaimasu" ("thank you very much"). This was probably the most-used phrase during the entirety of our Japan trip, and also happens to be the phrase that embodies the idea to which I believe any great personality and mindset would be centered around -- the showing of thanks and appreciation towards others. This Japan trip not only allowed me to realize just how big our world is (and how little of it I have seen), but also that the universal language, comprised of kindness and thankfulness, was enough to break the imminent language barrier that we faced during our whole trip, for none of us knew how to speak Japanese. Yes, maybe the fact that I had been reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho during the downtime moments (plane, metro, and bullet train "shinkansen" rides, etc.) of our trip played a role in me being more open to discovering this supposed universal language, but I firmly believe that smiles and positive interactions from anyone and everyone can go a longer way than we'd normally expect. 

Simply put, Japan was an absolute culture shock. Being from the United States, we had to rely on wits, instinct, and the godsend "tourist" and "english-speaking" booths that were fortunately present in most of the spots we set foot upon. Did I mention that none of us could speak Japanese? One thing I was able to take from Japan was how clean the country was. Tokyo, for starters, was ridiculous. It's no joke when people say that it's the cleanest city, among major cities, in the world. When you take pollution and size ratios into consideration with all of the world's major cities, it's no surprise that Tokyo takes the cake. I honestly don't know what they do, or how they do it, to keep the city so clean... But whatever it is, it's definitely working! The people were also extremely friendly, as well. Everyone there was courteous and respectful, despite us not really being able to respectively understand each others' words.

Another thing that I also realized was that in the midst of one's travels, it's not always about the breathtaking places you get to see, the delicious food you get to eat, or interesting encounters you make with the locals there.. But rather, it's also about the people you're with that allow the ends to justify the means. I'd like to give a very special thanks to my friends Rolo, Mindy, Carl, and Altoni, for the countless laughs and great conversations that we shared during the entirety of this Japan trip. I agree, we were probably foolish to have planned this trip to be only a week long. From a general standpoint, however, I'm so unbelievably grateful to have had this opportunity to make this foolish mistake in the first place, considering that many people in this world don't even have the opportunity to take a simple road trip out of the town they grew up in for a couple of days. I will say, though, that in our short amount of time, we covered a lot of ground! We definitely took advantage of our week-long JR (Japan Railway) Passes, being able to cover a good majority of Tokyo (although one could easily spend months upon months exploring that city) and take day-long trips out to Osaka, Kyoto, Nagano, and Hakone.

Japan undeniably humbled me in many ways, but the most prime way that I feel it humbled me was reminding me about how it's okay to make mistakes. Being the person I am, I'm not the biggest fan of making mistakes, but after taking all of those incorrect turns during navigation, getting off at the wrong train stops, and making inaccurate time calculations that would cause us to stray away from our planned itinerary, it was apparent that Japan was trying to teach me something. Mistakes are a part of who we are, as people, and are definitely a big part of vacations or any normal outing in general. They're what remind us that we are human, and they're the kind of things make us feel alive -- and I'm a big fan of anyone or anything that makes me feel alive.

Travel · Pacific Northwest · January 2016

Decided to take a rather spontaneous road trip up north with a couple of my closest friends - Kelsey, Jon, Nick, & Xavier - in the second weekend into the new year! Going on dedicated photo trips can always be fun, but personally, I'm also a big fan of going on trips with friends who don't necessarily deem themselves as creatives, but rather, those who simple would like to do touristy things, eat a ton of good food, and go shopping. Not only does it take the pressure off of myself (in terms of capturing the best content that I can, sometimes taking the fun out of it), but I've also recently realized how very liberating it can be, having the opportunity to hang out with the people that I studied, struggled, and celebrated in college with - despite not being able to see each other everyday now that we've all got our own respective undergraduate degrees.

Even though we didn't have much time to spend in the Pacific Northwest, we still made the best out of it (special thanks to Jon's friend, James, for the hospitality and housing us when we were in Portland!) and managed to hit up a lot of awesome places. We even visited Seattle, WA during one of the days! Considering that these plans were only finalized nearing the last couple of days in 2015, I'd say that 2016 is definitely off to a great start!

Personal · Welcome, 2016!

I just wanted to take some time to write this personal blog post to start off the new year, so I could properly bid farewell to 2015 -- a truly, truly remarkable year. Not only was 2015 the year that I graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BS in Chemistry, but 2015 was also the year that I decided to take Instagram much more seriously, after contemplating it towards the end of 2014. I know what you may be thinking - a simple mobile phone application? What could that have possibly done for you?

Well, in doing so, I've been allowed opportunities to not only partner in collaboration with some awesome companies (Google & BorrowLenses, to name a few) via Instagram, but doing so also sparked an ever-growing passion for landscape photography, as well as a respect for nature and urban landscapes in general. Simply put, 2015 fueled my wanderlust and made me more eager to explore the world outside of just the San Francisco Bay Area (although don't get me wrong, the SF Bay Area is absolutely beautiful and I'm nothing short of blessed to have the privilege to call this amazing place home). Sure, I've made a couple trips up to the Pacific Northwest in the last couple of years and find myself in Southern California roughly 3-4 times a year, but one would already know that this newfound desire to explore and see the world has made an impact on me given that I've got trips to Oregon, Los Angeles, Utah, Chicago, Washington, and two international countries in Japan and the Philippines, already planned for the first half of 2016... Hopefully with much more to come!

2015 also allowed me to link up with numerous creative individuals that I've met through primarily Instagram (although Facebook and Twitter are definitely noteworthy mentions, as well), many of whom I use for daily inspiration with my own work. The best part of it all for me, however, is that these aren't just people that I only get a chance to converse with whenever one of us wants to talk photography or social media/networking. Rather, we engage in regular, humane conversations almost daily and actually have gotten to know each other outside of being known as just photographers, creatives, and/or artists. I can surely call a number of these great people my friends, and to those who are reading this -- I'm positive that you know who you are.

To say that it has been a wonderful journey thus far would be an understatement. The best part of it all, however, is that we're all just getting started! With that said, I would like to bid farewell to 2015, while welcoming 2016 with open arms!

Here's one of my personal favorites from 2015 - unexpected light rays from an unforgettable sunrise in Yosemite National Park, CA. Here's to many more sunrises and sunsets in 2016!

Travel · Yosemite National Park · December 2015

Made a trip out to Yosemite National Park for the third time in the year, this time during the winter season! Had the pleasure of taking Rolo (@dunksrnice) and Don (@donmiguelluis) for their first time to this beautiful park, and it definitely didn't disappoint this time around -- I honestly don't think it ever really does! We were greeted with a seemingly endless amount of snow just upon driving in, and pretty much throughout our entire stay. Unfortunately, Taft and Glacier Points were closed off (and pretty much everything up Glacier Point Road & Upper Yosemite, due to snow), but that gives us enough of a reason to come back. We'll hopefully see you come Spring '16, Yosemite NPS!