As I alluded to in my previous post remembering our dear furbaby Drogon, I’m happy to finally share this project I worked on late last year through Winter earlier this year and write about it five months later. This was initially going to be a director's commentary over the video, but after listening to a first pass, I’m going to spare you and am opting for written commentary.

My Aunt asked me if I’d make a slideshow for the family to celebrate the life of their brother/ my Uncle Walt who passed away in 2024. I felt honored and excited to help as this is something I enjoyed doing. I was then immediately faced with the reality that my Uncle was very cognizant of the world around him and actively avoided being away from the front side of a camera lens.

Not yet knowing what material was available for this slideshow I had to assume I’d have to create more than I could compile. With that came the intriguing task of putting something in front of family that they could connect with which wasn't explicitly footage of Walt. Outside of photography, I’ve enjoyed taking my drone along with me on vacations to capture unique landscapes so that became my main starting point for this project. I do want to add one quick memory that helped drive the storytelling of this video.

I remember a visit to Walt’s in Long Beach with a late night walk to the ocean when I was 7 or 8. It may have been after one of his art shows, but likely just during a family get together. He took a couple of us a few blocks down to the waterfront and I vividly remember how quiet everyone was. This wasn’t a show and tell, it was just a show. You could absorb whatever you wanted. I was not familiar with bigger city life in any way outside of what I'd seen on tv and movies, but was surprised by how peaceful it was after hours. Recalling how Walt tapped the crosswalk button with his elbow, how calm the sodium city lights tinted the dark ocean and again how little was said. It was a look outside of my bubble and it was one of my first memories experiencing the outside world, observing everything for myself and drawing my own conclusions.

Walt spent his adult life in Southern California between Long Beach, Laguna Beach and Palm Springs. He was very much into natural outdoor landscapes and loved hiking with his cats while enjoying the world around him. Thankfully I was relatively familiar with these areas from my time growing up in Southern California so I did what I do best and created a textual storyboard plan on a spreadsheet! Traditionally I’ll latch onto certain songs I connect with (usually on an instrumental level) and keep them stored away for a future video/photo project then couple them up with visuals as I feel they connect.

One of my favorite soundscape driven bands is Nine Inch Nails. In a world where everything can feel rushed to be consumed in 15 second pieces, I find their music really holds your attention no matter how long it takes. There is no timeline it conforms to. Even before the lead Trent Reznor began scoring movies, his catalogue of instrumental tracks was impressive. Most of my first cassettes/CDs I owned were movie soundtracks, but NINs “Ghosts I-IV” album in 2008 was 36 tracks of textured instrumental work and the first of that kind I really gravitated to in my adult life.

Walt never really discussed music and leaned more toward visual art so the soundtrack for the video was something I’d be flying solo on. I’ve often thought of him like a middle aged house cat you bring home for the first time. A bit of patience and feeling out your surroundings is needed, but once the bond and trust is there, the connection is made allowing you to explore each other’s personality. Sonically I subconsciously attributed Nine Inch Nails to my Uncle’s personality and art more than any other song/artist. The music connection is one thing, but the artwork on their albums is a spitting image of Walt’s in a way that I have not seen elsewhere.

Walt’s art centered around found objects showcasing them with various textures and multidimensional colors which is very reminiscent of my connection with Russell Mills who has collaborated with NIN frequently. I attached a few different track ideas to the project that I enjoyed and felt bridged the gap with the story I wanted to tell. It’s the story I hope Walt would feel he wanted to tell. One song in particular “Right Where It Belongs” was a track I connected with the lyrics instantly when it came out 20 years ago. It’s one I thought I would want for myself when time ultimately taps me on the shoulder. The track before it on the album “Beside You In Time” could very well be the reason for that.

While I enjoy watching behind the scenes clips for my favorite movies and listening to artists describe their inspirations, I love the ambiguity of art and making your own connection with it. I’ve seen people do a complete 180 when they find out what their favorite artwork, song, movie, story is actually about. It’s a slippery slope if you’re unable to separate your connection with the art and appreciate that it doesn’t have to coincide with the ethos the artist had in mind when it was created. I enjoy both aspects.

Around the time I cobbled together drone clips from two SoCal trips, I received quite a few photos/ home movies from throughout Walt’s life that I had never seen. Saying I was relieved at that point was an understatement. I now had some Walt specific visuals to share and didn’t have to fully rely on this drone video to help loved ones on this journey. My Mom had also culled through 50 hours of my dad’s home videos to highlight those rare times when Walt was in front of the camera as well. Throughout this period of compilation the family had also expressed interest in providing stories of their time with Walt so now I had more content that I could have imagined. 

One sleepless night during that time I struggled with how to put all of these different photo, video and text mediums and it hit me that it would be easiest to group them individually into chapters. The following night I had remembered reading a quick article about the four phases of grief. Apparently the common five pillars of grief was crafted for those personally coming to terms with their own impending death and the four phases were for those losing a loved one. I had four batches of footage so I was excited to finally connect the dots.

By this time the video was pushing 40 minutes between the drone, photo, home movies and memories provided by the family. I figured we were going to have the most number of family members together in one place in 15 years so why not go big and try to find a movie theater to show what I now treated to as a short film. Fortunately The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA came into the equation and could not have been more accommodating even down to adding Walt’s name to the theater marquee. I had definitely never done anything to this scale, but fortunately the screening went beautifully. In true Hollywood fashion I split the last phase into two parts adding moments from the day of the screening when we hiked and scattered Walt plus his beloved cat's “cremains” across his favorite places.

///

Thank you dad. You were always photographing, always videotaping, always documenting whether we liked it or not. You built a trust with that middle aged house cat named Walt and got him out of his comfort zone enough for us to enjoy memories and laughs with him on video decades later. Your contribution gave this movie a purpose. 

Thank you Wendy and Donna for all of the photos that gave this movie a timeline and a look into who Walt was.

Thank you Mom for combing through hours of home movies to help me save time with timestamps.

Thank you Shayna for giving me the space needed for this project as well as the always magical frame paintings. This is probably the 3rd or 4th round of commissions I’ve asked you to do for me and I know that bill is coming due any day now, but you can rock the shit out of some custom painted frames. I’m glad I get to show you off.

Thank you everyone for your beautiful stories. Connor, yours forced me to tweak my requests to others, I loved it so much.

Thank you Trevor, Martin and Jill at The Frida Cinema for hosting and allowing me the vessel to share my art. And thank you for keeping cinema alive.

Thank you Walt. For being you and by making the innermost impacts on those around you. 

///

“When you set out to do the impossible, it helps to find a source for inspiration…” The Frida Cinema

“Do not go quietly into that good night. RAGE, RAGE against the dying of the light.” Dylan Thomas

​

As one of my favorite people, Mike Shinoda, said last September, “It's good to see you again.” Quite a bit has changed in the last year. My favorite band, Linkin Park, had cryptically announced their return after an eight year hiatus due to the passing of Chester Bennington (also a great human who passed away on 7/20/17 that I was fortunate enough to spend 30-45 seconds with a few different times). I had a career change, continued to shrink my assortment of cars by selling the Mclaren, my wife and I made a last minute decision to go to Norway/Sweden to see Taylor Swift and my uncle had passed away (this is a two part post so more to come on that). It was a roller coaster to say the least.

Through all that, my wife and our fur babies remained rock solid as we navigated through life. Our core unit had remained intact for more than seven years, but we were realistic about life and the inevitable losing battle with time. The understanding of time has been perhaps the main pillar of my processing of loss. It's usually one of main plot lines of my favorite movies and the Hans Zimmer score, "Time" is my favorite score to date.

My wife and I made the decision very early on that we did not want children so the concept/experience of birth was something we never spent much time around. By some freak twist of physics and dumb luck, our oldest boy Nizmo and matriarch, Waffles, procreated midway through 2017 and we were thrust into an abbreviated birthing schedule. We knew whether Waffles had one baby or seven, we were going to do everything possibly to keep the whole litter. Halfway through her pregnancy, we found she was having two babies which would give us a pretty solid starting five. Now in the mid 2010s, food named pets were all the rage on social media. Waffles was definitely a front runner I came up with that begrudgingly stuck, but was clear to both of us that I should take a back seat with the upcoming naming task.

Game of Thrones was cemented in the cultural zeitgeist. Daenerys and her three dragon scale babies were an intriguing choice for names. Drogon and Dracarys were two names that started rising to the top depending on the sex/healthiness of the two we were expecting. September 3rd came, Waffles clung to my wife while she was going through her contractions and I was making sure all the materials were ready. It was about as real as it gets that this was happening. One amniotic sac is out after about 45 minutes of contractions. Waffles has zero clue what the hell just happened. We gave her some mild help with the sac then instincts took over and baby number one is squirming and letting out the smallest cries we've ever heard. Seeing the first breath of life was something I had never experienced and it was something I'll never forget (even though both my wife and I probably held ours for two minutes while the process unfolded). Shortly after Waffles cleaned up baby number one and herself, baby number two is somehow already out, squirming and being attended to before we could even process what just happened with the first. Baby number one is a boy and baby two is a girl. Drogon for the boy and Dracarys for the girl were locked in.

Drogon very early on was a doppelgänger to his mom. Some slight white coloring differences on an ear/shoulder plus one beauty mark on his left cheek, but otherwise, carbon copy. Baby number two, Dracarys, shared her dads long Himalayan hair with a charcoal coat with brown accents. and a tick that involved vigorous chest licking. Both grew into two of the best babies you could ask for. Drogon nearly twice the size of his dainty mother, but a gentle giant. If I had to associate him with a fictional character I'd land on a young Hagrid. Always a champion to make sure we were aware it was time that his dad got his special wet food. In the morning this would usually involve Drogon climbing onto one of our chests with slight tongue smacking sound, but quickly he developed the nickname 'Meowlnir' due to the sheer downforce on your chest cavity (Mjölnir is Thor's hammer that is unliftable by any other than Thor.). Drogon was loved on social media and in text chats for his tongue "bleps" with his innocent golden eyes. I'm a pushover for our babies and that face always earned him a treat. 

Sadly due to unforeseen and sudden medical issues we had to say goodbye (for now) two weeks ago to our baby Drogon, Waffles' and Nizmo's first born, Dracarys' big brother. and nephew to Luna. Thanks for everything Dro Dro, Droggy, Droggy Doughgy, BoBoDroDro, Derpy Dro..

My wife and I are forever their biggest fans making that abundantly clear to anyone who interacts with us., but it's still very raw and we'll have to table more storytelling for a future date. We wanted to extend heartfelt thank you's to everyone who physically stopped by to check on us and stayed connected with us over the last two weeks. Your warmth, empathy and generosity have meant the world to us. We can't thank you enough.

"They are my children... they are the only children I am ever like to have."

It's no secret to family and friends that my wife and I are attached to Monterey at the hip (we got engaged off 17 Mile Drive). As you may have seen in my previous blog post we also have that magnetic connection with Nissan as well. Up until us leaving SoCal a few years ago for a job opportunity, we had the privilege of organizing multiple meets at the old Cars & Coffee Irvine, a fun project with eBay x Nissan and creating friendships with Nissan Social Media. My favorite event had to the be the debut of the Nissan iDx at C&C where we had. 50+ Nissan GT-Rs at the event to show support. My wife and I made a few stops by the mothership, Nissan NA outside Nashville and a couple Zdayz at Tail of the Dragon while on this side of the US. After a rough travel year for most of 2020 we made the trek out to CA this spring. In 2017 we were lucky enough to get a 370z rental car and put 3000 glorious miles on it driving throughout CA/AZ/UT/NV visiting our favorite National Parks. We didn't have much luck finding any to rent this time, but Nissan came through with this amazing 2020 6MT 370Z Nismo.. Those patient enough will find some pics below of the holy grail Nissan we met up with later in the trip...

One of our favorite parts of Big Sur are the Redwood groves on the inlets of PCH. Some of my favorite childhood memories were camping in Yosemite and Sequoia so I enjoy exploring these little pockets in Big Sur.

I forgot how much the redwood groves absorb light so had to conclude day one and head into tow.n. There is a quaint little gas station just before you get into the meat of Big Sur that I had always wanted to capture some pics at. Decided to pull out the lights, but only had a chance to fire off one set of pics before heavy rain.

After enjoying our secluded Big Sur cottage (my wife is the pyro master getting a damp fire going) the leftover vegan pizza hit the spot and I was eager to shoot at a couple low-key locations that I haven't seen used and abused yet by car week visitors. 

I am a sucker for negative space/ tiny car pics so this one checked that box for the trip.

Credit to my wife for being a trooper helping me position the car then ducking down (yes, she knows her way around a manual gearbox like a badass).

I was paranoid the whole trip that we were going to miss this one set of cherry blossoms. Thankfully we caught it in bloom for the JDM vibes.

Casual otter watching while enjoying the best authentic vegan Mexican food we've ever had.

Below is probably my favorite snap from the Monterey portion of the trip. I feel it captures the aggressiveness of the front end as well as those trademark black headlight housings on the Nismo and red accents.

That concludes our peaceful three days in Monterey. It didn't disappoint and I will say I've never washed a rental car 3 times in one trip, much less in my life due to the sporadic weather shifts around the peninsula.

Little non Z photo dump of some landscapes before diving into the Los Angeles portion of the post (patience...)

Z getting in some glamour shots while I wait for my good friend Paul and his new baby.

And... Here... We... Go... Introducing the one any only Midnight Purple II BNR34! After experiencing the RHD BNR34 on the mountain turnpikes of Hakone and Fuji in Japan, I knew getting anywhere near another would open the flood gates of bad thoughts. Unfortunately that coupled with the color shifting paint I have obsessed over for the last seven years was in fact an Inception like idea that has stuck with me daily since this shoot. 

Can't make a stop in LA without visiting the most overused location known to man. This entire spot must have had 100+ cars so likely will be the last time. Took some natural light pics of the Z waiting for the sun to set.

If the Z mentioned in Chapter I was my favorite of the Monterey shots, this 34 shot below might be the favorite I've taken this year. There is a definite art of introducing light to a color shifting paint. Thankfully my Midnight Opal R35 and Meowclaren taught me what you can and cannot get away with.

Those 100+ cars lost interest quickly and turned the spot into 3 Fast 4 Furious: Race Wars 2021 so was wise to get out of there and onto another SoCal auto landmark that is overrun. I've soured a little on this location after they removed the iconic tube lighting in favor of LEDs. 

The color shifts in this 20 year old classic are absolutely breathtaking. I cannot wait to link back up later this year and capture it in some equally breathtaking locations.

One final stop with the 370z Nismo before heading back to the airport. 

Whenever we travel I'm always bummed that we don't have. a more photogenic car to document the trip. Honestly having something of this caliber enhances the trip ten fold. We can't wait to get back out on the road for more adventures!

We have since sold my wife's 2015 6MT 370Z Nismo and are foaming out the mouth in anticipation of the Z Proto going into production. 3.0TT x 6MT x Retro design with a digital dash has our expectations sky high. We cannot wait to secure one which will be our 10th Nissan purchase in the last 15 years.

Big shoutout to Dan, Tamura-san and Kevin for the incredible hospitality.

Just hit my 15th year of Nissan ownership this month. Felt like it was just yesterday when I was obsessing over the Nissan Skyline V35 and fortunately found a way to make it a reality. I attribute this dedication to my brother-in-laws continued gushing about Nissan and his grandfathers Maxima throughout my childhood.. He got his own Maxima a few years before my V35 so we both had a blast sharing our modifications and the rest was history. In the last 15 years I have since infected my wife with that same passion for the hamburger (I am also fanatical about vegan hamburgers as well lol) and as you'll see develop, an odd pattern of owning two of the same model over time. Not only did I want to share my journey throughout my ownership, I'd also like to add in events with Nissan and other companies I've enjoyed along the way.

I will warn you, the evolution below is fun to see the progression and also hysterical to see what passed early on (both mods, photography and videography).

Kicking it off is the aforementioned V35 in 2005. Yes it's a USDM G35, but it was 2005, this was our first Skyline so I fully committed to that. Bare with me as I was 19 and 2 Fast 2 Furious / Tokyo Drift were dominating my headspace. I formed a small car club with a couple friends I dubbed SKYZLMT (Skyline, 350Z, 6MT). This was one of the first pictures I took in '06 with a digital camera my brother in law gave me (I've since stopped shooting in Applebees parking lots).

Vertical doors (cringe), Skyline/ GT-R Badging (semi-cringe, but this was before the R35 was a thing), Vortech Supercharger., red underbody lights (tastefully cringe). I still miss the Vortech/Greddy BOV dump flutter everyday.

G35 met it's demise on a very slippery day (RIP). Right around the time the V36 (USDM G37) had been announced and was nearing production so took a brief hiatus and dove in around 2008 with an early production unit.

2008 was a great year for me personally as I had met the future love of my life and she endured my incessant talking about purchasing the V36. I had matured a bit and the F&F impact had cooled off. There were R35 rumblings and the GT-R Proto on deck so felt like the Skyline rebadging would be retired in place of the classic Mt Fuji (more below on Fuji) Infiniti silhouette. The V36 only saw some short ram intakes and Stillen cat back.

I vividly recall listening to Nine Inch Nails opening song on Year Zero named "Hyperpower!" in 2010. After educating myself more on the meaning of the title and song I felt hyper would be heavily used in the next 5-10 years just like "epic" was at that time. I decided to ditch the SKYZLMT moniker (that plate was taken in SoCal so it was a bummer) and transitioned with a cheesy hype video recalling some puzzled feedback when I dropped that GT-R 2011 in there.

Enter the (first) Nissan GT-R in late 2011. My wife's beloved Toyota Corolla was a trooper lugging us up to a snowy Big Bear Mountain where I picked it up from the previous owner. Instagram was just starting to blow up so my newfound photography hobby consumed much of my free time running around with an iPhone, overkilling every edit with 6 filters and uploading 30 pictures at a time to Instagram (if you dig deep enough on my page @hyprpwr you'll find some gems).

Shortly after purchasing I dove headfirst into the SoCal GT-R group making some lifelong friendships in the making. Paul (@airforcegtr) was a pillar of that community. We went to neighboring high schools and graduated the same year. He was stationed at Edwards AFB who had quite the airplane parking lot. I just bought my first camera and was using my dads lenses trying to learn what the hell I was doing..

Ebay was launching it's eBay Motors campaign by giving away an R35. This was one of the more fun collabs I took part in as an owner. The grassroots approach driving organic excitement was amazing.. 

My still soon to be wife, then fiancé, and I purchased a house and had the need for something slightly larger. Fortunately the '07 FX35 was an addition to the fleet and not a substitute for the V36. Since I was very familiar with the VQ35 platform as it was shared across many in the Nissan line, this was a no brainer. ​

Again peak iPhone filter editing

Late 2012 my wife's dream of rocket powering her Toyota Corolla was coming to an end (Should start calling her SHElon) and the Nissan infection was taking hold. I was gently trying to coax her into a 6MT, but she was hooked on a Magma Red 7AT. and she got her first taste of power.. Didn't take long before we started doing some light modifications. First up were Stillen long tube intakes.

Keeping with the hypr theme she, with the help of Top Gear branded it HYPRZED. We then linked up with the premiere Z exhaust and turbo kit manufacturer Fast Intentions in Simi Valley, CA for their unbelievable Carbon Fiber Exhaust. 

This was around the time I made a concerted effort to push my photography quality and experimentation through practical effects. The behind the scenes and making of tidbits from movie extras are one of my favorite things and directors who still appreciate practical effects are ones I'm most interested in. This was a test shot before a Fast Intentions shoot with their shop R8 and customers Gallardo.

Then was able to acquire some Black Edition GT-R Wheels for it from a friend in the GT-R community with a touch of chameleon plasti dip.

My 2009 R35 was amazing. Full bolt on (by Master GT-R Tech in SoCal, Chris Heimburg) and tuned by the wizard Jon Drenas at 5150 Racing. Then Nissan has to go ahead and announce a Midnight Opal special edition for MY14. I had never purchased a new car before (again with the frugalness), but it being limited to 50 upped my sense of urgency (I'm a sucker for anything limited) so put all my eggs in that basket and made it happen right after SEMA 2013. After hearing through the grapevine that the HYPER Titanium wheels were not available if damaged so they were preserved immediately in storage in place of some SSR Wheels with an LMGT4 vibe. 

My wife loves to Easter egg herself into many photos (below)

Can't forget to mention our first baby as a married couple. This is Nizmo as a baby. Nizmo is special. That is all

Right around the Midnight Opal being announced, Tamura-San was taking over the reins from Mizuno-San and I was invited by the Skyline encyclopedia himself, THE Sean Morris, to dinner while Tamura-San along with other members from his team were stopping in LA on their way to NA HQ... Naturally it was the one day a year it rained in SoCal so didn't get the chance to completely gush about my excitement in the parking lot so we chatted over some amazing Japanese food near Nissan's old HQ in Torrance, CA. Before we departed I had to get a keepsake to document the night. Tamura-San was gracious enough to sign the VIN plate cover in gold, to match the Opal specific VIN plate.

Early in 2015 I was asked to move East for work in Atlanta. We decided it was a good opportunity and jumped on it. We still kick around if it was a good idea or not often, but as time goes on, we feel it was. We made new friends and one of them was crazy enough to let me use his flamethrower (shoutout Do It with Dan). My wife had a destructive themed 30th birthday so it was only natural to borrow it for that. I snuck out in the early morning hours to get some pics.

Yes, that's me holding a flamethrower with a gallon of gas in it with one hand while firing the trigger for the camera with the other while not destroying my car. It made it through unscathed. Gave the above the Atomic Breath Godzilla treatment while going full Dracarys on the below (that's also one of our newer cats names).

One of the more exciting aspects to living in North Georgia is we are four hours away from the mothership HQ. . Doesn't hurt when you get your next cat "Waffles" from nearby and the greatest Vegan Bakery on the planet is also in Nashville... Here's Waffles (momma to Drogon and Dracarys) when we got her.

Our FX35 was approaching 200k miles and after experiencing the magic that is cooled seats in my fellow Nissan loving brother-in-law's QX56, it was time to upgrade the daily. Enter the Iridium Blue FX37 (very similar to the R35 DBA Deep Blue Pearl). 

Craving her own identity she retired the HYPRZED title and converted over to NIZME0W with a fresh GA plate.. We converted over her Fast Intentions Carbon Fiber exhaust, intakes and GT-R wheels to the new Nismo. I removed the chameleon plasti-dip and we opted for the traditional machined lip w/ Black Edition GT-R wheels. With an insane used car market and the Z proto upcoming we have recently sold her precious Nismo and eagerly await the new Z release date! 

Similar to Fast Intentions in SoCal, I happened to live close to another premiere specialist for our latest toy. 2J Racing are the nationwide go-to for the Sentra/Juke platforms offering a wide variety of branded parts. Joe and the best shop cat ever, Basil, made my poor mans Juke-R come to life.. Need to get some shots with my 370z sport brake package upgrade (gold paint, JUKE-R branding, obnoxious as expected).

Karakuri House wide fenders, RSR coilers and 2J side exit exhaust for the added performance (20" R35 wheels surprisingly aren't that obnoxious). 

Had a golf trip with the boys to Hilton Head February '21 so got some shots around Savannah and HHI with my new Nismo carbon wing. One doesn't go to Savannah and not take creepy, Spanish Moss, graveyard pics.

I sat in this infinity edge pool for hours and never saw a single car on this damn boardwalk. Of course as soon as I start running around for sunset pictures, I had a lively discussion with a retiree who made it their life's mission to police that particular section of wood (THINK OF THE CHILDREN). I did not see a single car on that boardwalk for the remainder of the trip...

If you've followed me on IG long enough, you know I love me some baby car pictures.

That concludes my rabid love for the Nissan brand family. More additions planned on the horizon both past and future.. Feel free to check out my other blog posts (Japan, Photography and upcoming Cali Trip entry).

Doing some Memento posting out of order so hopefully this backdates itself in chronological order to please my OCD. Felt I needed to share these Iceland pics, because that place is unreal. It's a new planet every 30 minutes. We kicked off the tour straight into a four day road trip around the island followed by a more chill wrap up to the trip in Reykjavik. This is mostly a photo dump, but I'll add some bits in there. 

Diamond Beach at sunrise, definitely a top 5 day for me.

The best part of Iceland is you can see the worlds craziest waterfalls just walking 100 yards to the parking lot. Svartifoss was the exception and it was only a two mile roundtrip hike.

A wild Land Rover appears

Shoutout Black Badger for the craziest custom jewelry 

Cats cheered us up after our first flat tire of the trip. Thankfully we were pulling into the last town for hours.

Hulk horses were one of the only non-human things embraced on the Iceland. They were unreal.

My biggest regret traveling is that I don't usually have a photogenic car to match the insane landscapes. Iceland is very hard to source anything photogenic so will definitely try to bring a car over in the future.

"You know nothing John Snow"

Wife surprised me for our anniversary and took us to the only volcanic chamber in the world that you repel down into.

This was the volcano pet. Cutest fox ever.

Random find during our anniversary photoshoot session at the secret waterfall.

The fastest (rental) car in the world.... Five Speed Dacia Duster. Wife definitely sick of me channeling my inner James May yelling "IT'S A DACIA SANDERO!" multiple times on the trip.

Most Majestic Horses in the Universe

Weather on the South side of the island is notoriously violent. Fortunately we had amazing luck where I could pull the drone out to capture this plan crash site from the '70s after a US Navy plane ran out of fuel.

Magic. That's the only word for experiencing this the first time (soaking wet because we ran out of the Blue Lagoon).

After growing up collecting Die Cast cars in spurts and playing any car video game I could get my hands on (Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, Need for Speed), my love for the Dodge Viper evolved into a love for iconic Japanese cars. This was in part due to The Fast and the Furious craze that blitzed me (and every other pimple faced high school car aficionado kid) as a teenager along with my sister's boyfriend (now husband) incessant talk about Nissan's. Gran Turismo opened my eyes a little to the Silvia/Skyline lore, but TFatF kicked the door in. Around that time in 2004 the 350z/G35 platforms were clawing Nissan out of the dumps, I was graduating high school and Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park was my idol (kind of still is). For those that aren't familiar with Mike, he is half Japanese and heavily infuses that culture into his art and music. Three Japanese cars later in 2008, I met my future wife. Once I came to terms with the mountain of cats and clothes that greeted me up front in the relationship, I discovered she was a closet super nerd with deep ties to comics and anime (video games, reading and drawing). We always dreamed of going to Japan and thanks to her Grandfather (also a fan of Japan) were able to make the trip possible.

Now that you've got the background, I'm going to hold you in suspense while I tease you with some non-automotive aspects of the trip (that comes later)
​
...and here, we, go. (click on pictures for larger pop-outs)

View from our spacious 250 sq ft room in Shibuya after landing. In a few hours I will experience JDM vending machines and their sweet, sweet jet lag curing Dr Pepper.

Takeshita Street provided Hollywood Blvd type attractions. Now that I think of it, that's probably a more fitting name for Hollywood Blvd

​

 WE CAME FOR THE ARMY OF CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every hour, on the hour a 30' Godzilla head roars above the Shinjuku skyline. at the Toho Building

On our final night in Tokyo we capped it off with a visit to Roppongi Hills observation deck in the very upscale business district. Our visit was somewhat impacted by a very odd infomercial-like exercise exhibition on the helipad. Something we did not expect 54 stories up.. The Tokyo Tower made it tolerable. 

 My homage to "Gladiator" while on a pit stop for what was probably a top 10 day so far in my life. (that post coming soon)

Enter Kyoto. After summoning our bicycles from the pits of robotic bicycle hell (it was seriously an underground labyrinth which this mechanical arm from "The Matrix" then retrieves and spits it out of a refrigerator sized retracting doorway), we took a four mile bike ride to the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. We managed to find gaps in the crowds at the top Kyoto tourist attraction for some clean pictures.

Quick, massively uphill bike ride to Ryozen Kannon Temple

Jam packed quite a bit into the day in Kyoto. The one thing I somewhat regret is we planned so many stops into this vacation, it felt like an episode of "24" with multiple plot lines running around in my head. simultaneously Thankfully GoogleMaps got us through the 4 different connecting trains then we hiked our ramen filled stomachs up this mountain to play with...

OH IT'S A MONKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sagano Bamboo Forest did not disappoint. It wasn't far from the monkey park, but being so close to the densely populated city, my wife and I we're a bit perplexed when the maps had us take a turn down an alley.

Onto the final day in Japan. We head down to Osaka for another full day to check out the Osaka Castle, which similar to the Bamboo Forest, is positioned right in the middle of downtown surrounded by sky scrapers. 

To continue the theme of, hard to believe free animal experiences, there's Nara Park. This was a surprise I had planned for my wife and while the deer were playful, there was a certain "The Walking Dead" zombie feel to them when they sensed you had deer CRACKers. My wife's mind was blown when I told her to bow to the deer and they graciously returned the favor. This neat little area had a row of deer themed shops and I couldn't help but think that we had to get my mom there to complete her Snow White evolution! ​

After moving from Southern California with my wife and two cats late 2015, we finally were grasping life in North Georgia and are slowly getting back in the swing of things with cars and weddings (uprisingimagery.com). Here's a look back at HYPRPWR PHTGRPHY 2016.



Up first are our good friends at Unplugged Performance (Tesla branch of Bulletproof Automotive) in Hawthorne, CA. These guys are pushing the bounderies of Tesla modification with beautiful carbon interior and exterior work as well as custom BBS Wheels and a full bumper refresh.

Quicky test shoot with my new Wescott Icelight on my 500e HYPRWAT

Fun shoot with a Gone in 60 Seconds Eleanor and a 50th anniversary

My wife traded her '13 Magma 370z in for a '15 Nismo 6MT (she's a badass).

Onto one of my favorite shoots with my buddy AirforceGTR (time for a name change bro) and his newly aquired beautiful Mclaren Orange MP4-12C on a trip up to San Francisco

Quick trip up to Tail of the Dragon with the Atlanta GT-R group. and my Midnight Opal (Came to learn recently it's #44/50 in the US 

Then came a shoot for Rohana and a well known Youtuber afficianado (Youtube.com/DoItWithDan) and his Camaro. in Walking Dead country, Central Georgia.

After a shoot with Always Evolving and their GT3 cars in Long Beach last year, we met back up again at Barber Motorsports park in Birmingham Alabama before their race this year.

Another trip out to California for a very special purchase (more to come below). Met up with my buddy Tom and is insane full carbon Alpha 12X and Huracan.

Now, time for the previously mentioned new addition to the family. My HYPRSPC (hyperspace) MP4-12C. Fully carbon spec'd with verde ithaca painted calipers with 20/21" BLK Wheels and full satin Xpel clear bra. The last in person conversation I had with my dad 18 months ago before he passed was about how he attended the first few Long Beach Grand Prix races in the '70s and practiced photographing the F1 cars at various parts of the track (this shot was inspired by the Monaco Grand Prix). He loved James Bond and British cars so he was drawn to Mclaren and James Hunt. While he would likely not be thrilled about my "investment" in one he would definitely be happy I attained a car I had heavily pursued for three years after driving one on my bachelor party in Vegas. I'm looking forward to exploring Atlanta with my MP4-12C and sharing what comes of it with everyone. Hyperspace will soon be getting a refreshed hyperspec in the Spring..

Met up with a Maserati owner shot for Rohana in North Georgia

Had a chance to meet up with Hypercar Development from Charlotte and their Hyper800 Mclaren. I've actually had these guys on my radar due to the hypr/hyper coincidence so I've been following their progress in the years leading up to my 12C purchase. Long story short, the Hyper800 is bonkers. It's unbelievable what they have done with some intake/ exhaust/ tuning and extensive cooling improvments. 

And lastly a couple upcoming shoots for Rohana.

Look forward to some upcoming Mclaren shoots in the first half of '17. Stay tuned!

"Madness, as you know, is a lot like gravity, all it takes is a little push." My wife was perfectly content with her '07 Toyota Corolla, that is until I pushed her to test drive a 370Z. A couple weeks later she was terrorizing the streets in a stock 2013 Magma Red 370Z she dubbed "HYPRZED". That honeymoon lasted about a week before she had a decent mod list already compiled (wheels, intakes and exhaust).

Enter Fast Intentions. I remembered Tony at Fast Intentions from my G37 ownership days and after a few forum searches later it confirmed they were still the leader in G/Z exhaust fabrication. She landed on the TDX Cat Back exhaust with Carbon Mufflers, 12" resonators and threw in some resonated test pipes for some extra oomph. At that point Co-owners Tony and Dan embraced us as family and a budding friendship had formed.

We got Tony's personal Nissan GT-R (lets call this version 1.. A v2 blog post is in the works) out for some industrialized chaos around the Port of Long Beach. The FI GT-R "GRAYHZE" v1 featured a full bolt on setup capped by a prototype Fast Intentions exhaust, exorbitant amounts if carbon fiber and ADV1 wheels. After a two hour burst to eight unique locations we called it at day. 

While I have never owned a Porsche (I did recently move to the P car capital of the U.S. in Atlanta so that might have to change), I have a huge appreciation for their owner base. They are by far the most die-hard group of enthusiasts I have ever come across. Elizabeth and Andrew from the skyward bound ITSWHITENOISE movement (They had me at all caps everything) were no different. After squaring away a shoot at a Shift S3ctor event where they came, they saw and they figuratively popped our E-cherry with the ITSWHITENOISE 918 Spyder, I knew it was time to put some ideas to work. After a sunset romp in the traffic riddled Hollywood Hills, out came the new lighting toys for some visual experimentation. HYPRCRED to my wife (Uprisingimagery.com) for setting up lighting and her flawless stunt driving. By flawless I mean she didn't kill me.