Personal

Sometime you have to get away from the daily grind, sit back, and recharge. I enjoy getting back to nature as often as I can and marvel at the beauty that surrounds us every day.

A few photos from the RECOIL Magazine assignment were included in RECOIL's web page summary of the Greenside Combat Tracking Course. The full story, written by Editor in Chief Iain Harrison, will be published in the next print edition.

It was a great trip working with some fantastic people from RECOIL, Greenside Training, STA Training Group, B5 Systems, Women's Tactical Association, Ares Gear, and AWC Silencers.

http://www.recoilweb.com/on-track-with-greenside-training-day-3-30995.html

Spent a few days in the 107 degree Arizona desert learning and photographing a Combat Tracking Class for Recoil! Magazine. The instruction was by former USMC Scout Sniper Freddy Osuna of Greenside Training, LLC.

I'm pictured here with my camera and a suppressed M4A1 with the under barrel M203 grenade launcher provided by AWC Silencers and a Tomcar. The Tomcar is one seriously bad-ass all terrain vehicle.


http://www.recoilweb.com/greenside-and-recoil-training-day-1-28113.html

Kit Up! posted a nice article about Q Concepts on 23 April 2013. Check out the full article at

http://kitup.military.com/2013/04/indelible-imagery-concepts.html.

On 21 September 2012, the Space Shuttle Endeavour took its last flight atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport. Thousands of people took the streets to view this historic occasion with jovial spirits and excitement. They shut down freeways, climbed roof tops and jammed roads in this giant community event.

Additional photos are in the Transportation Gallery.

Glimpses at the Space Shuttle Endeavour's last flight and arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport. Endeavour, piggybacked on top of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flew over many of LA's landmarks including the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory, and Disneyland.

Additional photos are in the Transportation Gallery.

In July 2012, the World War II vintage battleship the USS Iowa (BB-61) came to Long Beach, CA to become a floating museum. The Iowa has seen service since the 1940s and was finally retired in the 1990s. At that time she was a modern warship with cruise missiles, but still retained her massive 16-inch cannons which are shown here. Truly a fantastic piece of naval history.

One cool place to visit while in Los Angeles is the Petersen Automotive Museum in the Miracle Mile area, where you can also find other museums like the La Brea Tar Pits and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

On display at the Petersen are two life-size characters from the "Cars" movies, including Mater. It's pretty amazing to see how they look in real life.

Being a geek, I thought this BMW motor with the Star Wars Imperial logo was really cool. It must be a secret pre-speeder bike prototype for Stormtroopers.

While trekking through Sequoia National Park in California, I ran across this little guy. I followed him for a bit... until I figured out it wasn't Yogi and he didn't have my picnic basket.

Sometimes National Parks have the funniest signs... made funnier by vandals. Apparently, crossing the fence without your head is prohibited. This was at the General Sherman Giant Sequoia tree,

A somber, yet beautiful location: the Los Angeles National Cemetery. I was truly humbled and reinforced my respect for all those that have served our Nation.

El Camino Concept Car 2012
(Work in progress)

This is a modern take on the coupe/ pick-up hybrid. I always thought it was an interesting concept that needed to be revived.

To celebrate UCPD's 50th anniversary, I drew this while I worked there. A select few officers have framed copies. Unfortunately, and ironically, the original was stolen.

I like to shoot, and not just cameras. Here I'm taking a carbine course to learn and develop from the pros.

Photo by Ning Wong

When I'm shooting firearms, I also try to get shots with my camera. I'm using a handy dandy weapons catch to strap my camera to my side while going through drills. With this set up, I can un-velcro and quickly get the camera up and going.

One of the pleasures of heading the graphic design and photography departments at Sideshow was 'playing' with toys on the clock. This set up was for a shot in the print catalog to represent the Civil War 12" figure line. The poses were mimicking a famous old photo from the era.

It's a real challenge to pose and stand up unsupported 1:6 action figures. These are Star Wars Endor Rebel Commandos on a custom built set and matte printed background.

Horrible photo, but here I am presenting the new Thousand Oaks Chief of Police, Randy Pentis, a model police car that I made representing the city's patrol Crown Victoria. You can see a better shot of the car in the Photography/ Display gallery.

Ventura County Sheriff, Geoff Dean at the East Valley Sheriff Station. I always feel so dang short next to these gentlemen.

Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca at the School Terrorism and Response exercise that I participated in, both photographing as well as a 'bad guy' against the LASD and FBI SWAT teams.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton at the LAPD Academy in Elysian Park.

I had the opportunity to direct a photo shoot of director, Guillermo del Toro at his house, which is literally filled with mementos and collectibles. It was pretty crazy. Mr. del Toro was such a nice and talented guy!

This is Guillermo del Toro's living room... but the whole house was just like this!

These are the guys from Triple Aught Design (aka TAD Gear) of San Francisco. I absolutely love their stuff and they're really cool peeps, too. Patrick (middle) is the owner and founder. Looks like Iron Man was trying to photo bomb the shot!

Check them out at http://www.tripleaughtdesign.com

Ah... the joy that is the San Diego International Comic-Con, where tens of thousands of fans, geeks, and looky-loos all come together. Sometimes undercover artists and celebrities stop by and here I caught Marvel artist Jim Lee looking around.

Another actor sighting at the San Diego International Comic-Con... Chekov! Walter Koenig was also a super nice guy,

Good ol' Jamie Foxx hanging out at the movie theater. He was hiding in a corner, but he's one of my favorite actors, so I had to say hello.

My puppy Trinity shortly after bringing her home at 9 weeks old. She was pooped after exploring her new home.

Trinity at 9 weeks old. I've always had a great fondness for dogs, and especially Beagles.

Trinity again at 9 weeks. She's quite the model.

This is my concept for a sleek modern ambulance, which are typically not very sexy. The wide shoulders create additional storage for life-saving gear, and the overall more aerodynamic shape reduce fuel costs.

In my free time, I like to sketch whatever comes to mind. Obviously I was thinking of scoops... and lots of them.

Often times it's easy to get into the habit of drawing from the same perspective. Here I took the point of view down, and slightly off the ground.

Having been fascinated with Search and Rescue, many of my activities and inspiration comes from the people and equipment whose purpose is to go in harm's way to save a stranger.

I drew this back in high school just after Desert Storm, the 'first' Iraq war. I was an avid student of military history and hardware and included the major weapon systems employed by the U.S. during the brief conflict.

Another drawing from my high school days. It started off as my attempt to illustrate a submarine, which turned into and exercise in drawing marine animals, with a humorous twist.

As a student of the evolution of military hardware, the advent of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft was amazing. This drawing was done early in its development stage and the V-22 has recently finally entered operational status with the US Marine Corps and Air Force.

Many of my drawings were made on whatever medium I had on hand. In this case, notebook paper. The F-117 was shrouded in mystery for a very long time and the unveiling was a pretty big deal.

A 1:18 scale rendition of a San Francisco Police Department patrol car.

One of my hobbies is model building and police cars is one of the subjects I really enjoy. Many of the cars I've built have some background and in this case, it commemorated my frequent visits to San Francisco. There's a lot of research done on each car to create as accurate model as possible, from the exterior markings to antenna size/locations, to the interior.

This owl decided to hang out outside the office one day. I had never seen an owl 'in the wild' before, so I grabbed my camera and shot away. I piqued his interest and his head swiveled to track me at every moment. I wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to head to Hogwarts or not...

I have yet to see an ugly dragonfly, and this is no exception.

Ah, how I love dolphins. They're such intelligent creatures. I spotted this frolicking pair off the coast near Point Mugu, CA.

Hipstamatic... so fun to use.

This is my homage to Search and Rescue professionals and their K9 partners. After much reading and research, I 'kit bashed' this 1:6 scale (12-inch) figure based on an Air Force Pararescue Jumper (PJ) and K9 on a snowy mountain search for avalanche victims.

This was a fun 1:6 scale figure project based on US Special Operations during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. The figure was kit bashed based on available information at the time and the rifle was customized with fabricated parts and camouflage paint job.

This was an exercise in how realistic a set I could make in 1:6 scale. The round table measured about 4 inches in diameter.

One of the things I enjoy is painting, usually with an aerosol spray can. I spray model cars, 1:6 scale accessories, and even life-size rifles and gear.

This was my tutorial on a simple paint job on a 1:6 scale machine gun. The final step, not shown, is weathering the paint for a well-worn look.