Photography. Motorcycles Travel. These are my three biggest passions in life!
Most of you know that I started riding motorcycles at a young age in Africa, where I grew up. A motorcycle was my main means of transportation in college and in my early years in the work force. But then “life” happened and I took a hiatus from riding. Several years ago, I fell back in love with riding motorcycles and haven’t look back!
I started a YouTube channel with my good friends, great riders, and fellow photographers, Jason, and Steve: https://www.youtube.com/motophotoadventures. We even built a website around the whole Moto Photo Adventures theme at: https://motophotoadventures.com/. We’ve been picked up by a number of sponsors, and appeared on a couple podcasts. It’s been a TON of fun!!!
Last week we took off on another crazy adventure. The idea was to get out of the cold weather and head south to Key West…somewhere warm. We called it the Sunburn Circuit. Little did we know that a massive cold front was heading towards the southeast and we’d be shivering in our tents as we camped along The Keys and through the Everglades! 🙂
Unfortunately Steve couldn’t make it at the last minute. So our friend and fellow YouTuber, David Mays jumped on his bike and met up with us. You should check out his channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/aMAYSingLife. We missed having Steve. But we still had a fantastic time, exploring some amazing sights, and capturing some fantastic memories as we circled around “Gator Country.”
Many thanks to all our friends and family who have supported our little side-hustle. If you haven’t already, Subscribe to the YouTube channel and get ready for episodes of the Sunburn Circuit to hit the internet!!!
Photographing proposals is one of my favorite things to shoot! So when a random couple came up to me in Key West last week, let me know they’d just gotten engaged, and asked if I would take a few photos, I jumped at the chance!!!
Jason, David, and I were in Key West photographing another one of our Moto Photo Adventures episodes, which you’ll be able to watch on our channel at http://youtube.com/MotoPhotoAdventures in a few weeks. As we walked around, enjoying the sights, photographing the chickens and tourists alike, we happened upon the famous Hemingway House.
As we gathered outside this popular tourist stop to get a glimpse of the 6-toed cats, and inquire about tour costs, Andres must have noticed my more professional looking camera. While Natalia was at the booth buying their tour tickets, he told me that he had just asked Natalia to be his wife! How cool is that?!? And the best part is, she said YES! He asked if I would mind taking a couple photos for them to commemorate the occasion. And of course I too said YES!!! 🙂
We only had a couple minutes before they were to enter for their tour. Quickly switching from my “travel photographer” hat to my “couples portraits” hat, I captured a few fun portraits for Natalia and Andres while everyone watched. They were so much fun to work with!!! Andres was tall and strong…his khaki pants and penny loafers an indication of his laid-back demeanor. Natalia was stunning with her flowing hair and beautiful Bimini-blue blouse. It was an an absolute delight to spend a few minutes with these two amazing people before we headed down the road to find our campsite for the night.
Many thanks to Natalia and Andres for allowing me to have the honor of photographing their first portraits as a newly engaged couple.
In this video, I’ll be playing with the brand new GoPro Hero MAX 360 camera! I wanted to ask the question, is this possibly the best motovlogging setup ever? With the ability to mount the camera in one place on the motorcycle, but be able to choose any angle of view within 360-degrees, it just might be! However, is the exported resolution of 1080p worth the sacrifice? And is the added complexity of editing 360 video worth the headache? Check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
I’m stressed. I’ve been going non-stop from dawn till…well…REALLY LATE. But I’m getting very close to having everything buttoned up for the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure to begin tomorrow morning.
One big item to check off the list was FINALLY publishing Ep4 in the series! In this video, Jason and I showcase all my camping and travel gear, as well as how I store it on the bike for these fun trips.
Tomorrow the adventure begins!!! See you in the next video…
The next installment of Moto Photo Mexico is here! This one is all about the electronics, gadgets, and technology that I’ll be bringing with me on my adventure. Only 4 more days to go!!! 🙂
Episode dos of the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure series is out! This one is all about the farkles and fittings that have helped transform Trinity, my Honda CB500X, into the perfect bike for this amazing trip!!! 🙂
Last year several friends and I started planning an epic motorcycle adventure. We were to fly to Morocco, rent Honda XR250 enduro bikes, and explore that amazing country for two weeks. When those plans fell through, I shifted my sights to a NEW journey! We’re calling it the Moto Photo Mexico Adventure!!!
I say “We” because I’m so excited to be partnering with my good friend, amazing photographer, and incredible video editor, Jason from Docent Prodigy. Although Jason isn’t able to ride with me on this trip, he’s going to be working with me to produce daily moto vlogs of my epic journey, which we’ll be sharing on YouTube. He’s a fun guy with an amazing gift! Working together on this is going to be amazing. But I’m even more excited for our NEXT collaboration, when he will be able to join me out on the road!!!
In addition to Jason joining me in the post-production department, I am so grateful to his lovely wife, Erica, for letting “boys be boys”, and to my beautiful bride, Cami, for all her love and support. Cami will be holding down the fort and keeping up with our clients while I’m away. We couldn’t do it without you two!!!
As most of you know, I’m no stranger to living and traveling abroad. Having lived most of my formative years in a remote mission station in The Democratic Republic of Congo, AFRICA, I’m well accustomed to roughing it, and indeed feel quite at home in the third world. In fact, I seem to get an itch every few years to return to that simpler way of life that exists outside the realm of American commercialism, politics, and overindulgence. For example, in 2012 I went backpacking solo across Belize and Guatemala for two weeks, riding the “chicken buses” along with the locals, discovering incredible wildlife, and exploring the amazing Mayan ruins along the way.
Saying I’m super excited about this new Moto Photo Mexico trip would be an understatement. A ton of planning and preparation has gone into it. I have so many incredible friends who either live in Mexico, live along the route I’ll be taking through the southern US states, or have ridden their motorcycles in Mexico. Everyone has been so selfless with their guidance, and so generous with their hospitality. Many of them have even invited me to stay with them along the way. Others have connected me with their relatives and friends in towns I’ll be visiting. It has truly been wonderful to see this outpouring of help, encouragement, and support! (Speaking of which, if you live along the route I have planned in the map, and would like to reach out, I’d be delighted to connect with you!)
The ultimate final destination, and one of the biggest goals of this journey, is to finally see the millions of monarch butterflies that return to Mexico each winter from their long migration up through the United States. It’s been a bucket-list item for me for quite some time! I’ll be arriving at the pinnacle of this mass migration. I’m so excited!!! There are of course so many other incredible sights I’m looking forward to seeing and photographing. From the Cave of Swallows (which is the largest pit-cave in the world), to the spectacular waterfalls along the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains…from the old historic mining towns, to the glorious architecture of the Spanish colonial cities…it’s all going to be amazing!
However, I am most looking forward to meeting the incredible PEOPLE of Mexico! Everyone I’ve told about my journey (at least everyone who has never lived outside the U.S.), has stared at me like I’m NUTS!!! Their comments range from “why on earth would you go down there” to “are you bringing a gun”. Seriously?!? I personally believe there are two sides to every country…the political side, and the people side. What we see in the news here in America is all about the political side of things. How would you like to be judged as an individual by what people in other countries see on their news station every night? School shootings, police brutality, the social media ramblings of our leaders…you get my point? We forget that the “people” of every country, of every tribe, of every place on earth are no different than we are. “People” all around the planet have the same hopes and dreams we do. All they want in life is be healthy, to be happy, to fall in love, to raise a family, to have a good job, to enjoy life, and be a good neighbor.
My hope is that this video series will be fun, will be entertaining, will be educational, but more importantly, will show that people everywhere are full of goodness and kindness. I hope you’ll Subscribe to the channel and follow along. It’s going to be a WILD RIDE!!! And I’d love to share it with you. 🙂
After spending the weekend camping and enjoying the company of other wonderful motorcycle junkies at the Horizons Unlimited Travelers Meeting in Appomattox, VA, my friends and I spent 3 days riding the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway!
The famed scenic highway, which is America’s longest linear park, runs for 469 miles from Anon, Virginia to Cherokee, NC. Linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway is also America’s most visited national park.
My good friends Scott, Kristi, and Steve were kind enough to join me on this bucket-list quest to ride the entire parkway from start to finish. We broke the trip up into 3 day so that we could enjoy the ride, and stop to take in the beautiful views. This is the first installment of our 3-part series!
GEAR FOR THIS VIDEO:
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Last week I swapped out the stock 15-tooth front drive sprocket on my Honda CB500X for a new 16-tooth replacement. The upgrade came at the recommendation of my good friend, fellow CB500X owner, and awesome riding partner, Scott. I couldn’t be happier!
Check out the video I made on the project. Discover the improvements I found it made to my machine. Follow along and learn how to do the upgrade on YOUR bike too. Click below to start the video…
The Horizons Unlimited Virginia 2019 event took place at the Holiday Lake 4-H Center near Appomattox from April 25th – April 28th. It was a record-setting event, with the largest turnout yet!
“Whether you’re a seasoned veteran with wisdom to share or a complete novice hungry for ideas and guidance, it doesn’t matter if you ride a motorcycle, a bicycle, or drive an expedition vehicle… Horizons Unlimited meetings are for everyone who dreams of adventure along the road less travelled.
Some people value Horizons Unlimited events for what they learn from the unique line-up of presenters. Some people value the chance to discover new products and services at the trade stands. Some people value just kicking back with a beer among old friends and new.
Most people enjoy a little bit of everything, and everyone goes home fired-up for adventure with a smile on their face.”
Many thanks to Sue & Grant Johnson, for founding this amazing organization, to Steve Anderson for orchestrating the Virginia Travelers Meeting, to Steve’s merry band of organizers, including Linda Pearce, Jim Truesdell, Robert Stransky, Sharon Truesdell, Charlie Pearce, Lloyd Messner, and Annette Stout, to all the fabulous presenters including keynote speaker Sam Manicom, to Tom Asher for the off-road training, to all the camp staff, to the many fabulous volunteers, and of course to each and every awesome attendee!!!
Here are a few photos from this fantastic weekend for you to enjoy, tag, share, and download. Thank you so much to Sue and Grand for trusting me to be the event photographer again this year!!!
