Welcome to a new segment called Retro Out! Man. This is where I will post photos of an event or outing that never quite made it to chill-outman.com for whatever reason. This will mostly be concerts but will also feature other types of photography as well!
Wow, It's been a long time with Chill Out Man. October 1st, 2011 was the day it all started which means it's been a little over 3 years since Chill Out Man Came into fruition. I've really changed a lot both as a photographer and a person. Going through these photos has brought back a lot of memories and this website has and always will be such a great snippet of my life and the lives of those around me. I want to thank everyone who has helped me out. Every person who has been apart of the chill-outman community and all my friends who made such perfect subjects to photograph. Just to name a few: Jack, Waale, Hunter, Josh, Skyler, Jake, Nic, Selina, Nick, Tonchy, Jason, Elise, Jasmine, TonyxTsunami, Tovy, The Basshams, All the punk kids, The Burger Scene, Every band I've had the pleasure to shoot for, Music In Press and many others. (Sorry if I forgot anyone.) Without you guys chill-outman would be nothing.
I do have some very important news about the future of chill-outman.com, but before that I want to commemorate our times. So, to celebrate the new year, I thought I would include some of my favorite photos from throughout the past few years along with some comments and stories about them.
Enjoy.
This here is the first photo ever taken with the intent to post to chill-out man. Taken in September 2011, on whatever crappy phone I had at the time, of a young Hindu Pirates playing in the back of the store Collective. I mean it when I say, I've come a long way as a photographer.
(Yes this first post got a whopping 7 views. WOO)
The very next day (October 1st 2011) was the first day I had ever photographed people skating. We aimlessly wandered on our skateboards until running by Thomas's friends house, Grant, who owned a quarter pipe. I climbed to the roof against Grant's will to get this angle from above.
At this point I was very excited about my new blog. This was the 3rd consecutive day I had posted. I was stupidly proud of the top photo at the time. Now I can see that it's really not that great of a photo at all. But back then this was my first outbursts of rebellion. We were flipping each other off, rambunctiously skating though drainage ditches and ruining the streets with a catapult and a pile of lemons. Which brings me to the bottom photo. In this photo Skyler is pictured wielding a katana and slicing a lemon out of the sky while Grant (out of frame) is using a catapult to launch lemons at him. This was a fun day.
This might have been the very first day I ever took photos of a live performance. Again Hindu Pirates shown above playing at the Be Cool Man movie premier. (YES I know be cool man is very very similar to chill out man. If you want to blame anyone, blame Thomas Waale he came up with the name.) October 7th, 2011.
This night was the first night I ever did anything even remotely close to urban exploring. In the top photo, we had broken into a construction site and Nick Bennett is pictured after locking himself into the bulldozer. The door only opened from the outside. The second photo is us exploring a tiny tunnel in a drainage ditch near Estancia High School. The other end let out to a golf course. The final photo pictures my friends climbing up a ladder to the roof of Estancia. The picture may not show much, but this was a HUGE drop. October 14, 2011
I like this image for two reasons. First off Its one of the only photos in chill-outman that I am in. That's me there in the beanie. Second of all, that was The Bluffs playing before the bluffs were a thing. It amazes me to see how far they have gotten since this point. October 15, 2011.
This was taken the same day as The bluff photo. We returned to the tunnels during the day with some flashlights and thoroughly explored them at least 5 miles in. We got a little too far when we realized cockroaches littered the ceiling and in a fit of panic we ran back. We didn't realize how true the writing on the wall was about to be.
This photo was the first photo I had ever taken of people surfing. Before chill-outman, my photos had been centered mostly around non-human subjects. October 16, 2011.
Pictured above is another string of photographs of the Hindu Pirates playing at the Captains Helm for their "Dont Be Yourself!" Halloween Concert. This was the first time I remember being really proud of my photography. October 29,2011
All the photos above were taken while I was the photographer for the short lived: Edison Skate Team. That was a great time and I got to take photos of some really rad skaters! Too bad it ended so early. November 11, 2011
The Toasters!... Yeah, that's right, before Coastal Access was a thing, Thomas and I started the band originally going under the name The Toasters. What a Shitty name. This photo was taken by my uncle of our first and only show at Thomas's house on November 19th 2011.
Between the gap in time between these photos, Colton rode too high up causing him to slip out and drop 15+ feet straight to his back. No injuries were obtained. This photo was shot at the new Etnies park in Lake Forest on November 20th 2011 (I'm just starting to realize how much I used to post back then. I was crazy!)
These are the photos taken at the first ever visit of El Moro Canyon. A popular hang out for me and my friends there after. We explored through valleys of erosion when we spoted a ranger hat quickly following behind us. We sprinted out before running into a large thorn bush. Skyler sacrificed his jacket that day for the sake of us all. We salute you sweater. January 14th 2012
What a beautiful couple of faces! This was my first experiment with light trailing with my camera and I had a really good time with them. This night was a blast, we found a bike someone had thrown away and we had some fun with it. Skyler is pictured on the second photo throwing it off a cliff. January 12, 2011
My first time ever taking photos at the observatory. Possibly my first time there, though I can't say for sure. I had snuck my camera in to take some photos of Dr, Dog. No one seemed to notice, but I had a lot to learn about adjusting for lighting without sacrificing ISO. February 9, 2012
This was the age of TonyxTsunami (Anthony). We had become pretty close friends at the time. Here he is pictured skating his uncle's ramp during a little Cinco De Mayo Skate Sesh. I had obtained the album Hair by Ty Segall & White Fence a week early some how, and this album was blasting over his speakers in the backyard. I still never got that CD back. May 5, 2012
Later that same day was a photo taken from Jasmine's car of Maddie top. This was the first day I had ever met them and we've been great friends ever since. This photo was taken moments before someone had tossed a fruit pie that smashed straight into Anthony's face. I also want to point out that this post was my most successful at the time. I had been averaging 20 hits a post, but this post got well over 500.
My first time trying Harbor House Cafe. I hadn't gotten my fixed gear at that point yet, so both me and Hunter had trouble keeping up as rode over 10 miles on beach cruisers. July 14 2012
The first photo is a photo I still really like to this day. Taken at the Milk and Honey benefit concert at the Hurley Warehouse of Skyler and Maddie Topp dancing. Wildcat! Wildcat! put on an amazing performance. This band has also come a long way since then. July 20, 2012
We tried to build a boat and we were not very successful. Shown is Captain Buss going down with his ship. July 21, 2012
My first attempt at film photography. We broke into an oil rig graveyard and rode them. September 9th 2012.
I just really like this photo for some reason, even though it's not very good. A blue-haired Maddie Topp is pictured above laying in a bed of like-colored flowers. September 22, 2012
Dr. Dog came back. This was my chance to use my new photography knowledge to take some better photos. I think I did a much better job. October 5 2012 (The first full year of chill out man posts!)
Centripetal force is one nasty mistress as the force from Jack swinging on the rope swing ripped his pants clean off. October 6, 2012
My bravery at its finest. Jack, Lexi, and I broke off from the group in a water soaked forest into the pitch black darkness using only the flash of my camera and the light of our phones. October 13, 2012
Tijuana Panthers playing at the very first Beach Goth Concert. This brought SO much traffic to my website it was ridiculous. Over 1000 people viewed this post in the first few hours. I am still proud because as of posting this retrospective, if you search Beach Goth on Google, you can see my photos on there. October 20th 2012
Jake Reuter is shown launching off a ramp about to tail slide across a brick wall at the Joker Skate Shop Halloween Skate Jam. October 28th 2012
I just like this photo because it was when Jake and Jasmine were still dating. Look at that cute couple. November 3rd 2012
Jack leaps off the roof of his cousins second story roof only to land on a dog bed and a trampoline. It's surprising to find out that it wasn't this that ultimately broke that trampoline, but a single backflip by Jake. November 21st 2012
A group snapshot of a little group of my friends when we still hung out with Lexi and Jenn. Hunter is pictured on Jack's shoulders on a beach somewhere near Crystal Cove. December 2nd 2012
Pictured is Jack jumping out of Jason's window to the grass below. What the fuck is wrong with us?
Here is an old tv Jack had. So what else to do with it than fill it up with explosives and run like hell?
This was what got us a lot more into urban exploring. We dreamed of getting into this old abandoned Boys and Girls club and we finally got lucky and found an unlocked door. It was everything we wanted and more. Unfortunately it's no longer there. December 22nd 2012
Back to El Morro. Every time we came here I feel like we found a new and cool place to check out. Its so beautiful there. I want to go back soon. January 2nd 2013
We had found a geo cache the first time we came to El Morro. So while searching for another one months later, we had a crazy idea: "I wonder if we could climb Morro Ridge without using any trails?" So Hunter and I set off alone and climbed through bushes and trees and steep inclines only to get stuck at the top with the trail another mile away and the sun quickly setting. In the distance I saw a deer and snapped a photo. I'm still very excited about that deer to this day. January 4th 2013
I dont remember much about this day but I remember being very bored. January 3rd 2013
Chilloutman goes Hollywood! Hunter and I had taken the metro from Long Beach to Los Angeles in search of some really cool street art and to leave some stickers of my own. January 13th 2013
This was such a weird day. Anthony and his friends wanted to make a zine and I was elected to be the photographer. Needless to say, we never made anything of these photos, but I do remember Anthony being really mad at me in the photo where is pants were off. I'm not sure why. January 19th 2013
Here was another ride we went on. I didn't want to lug around my Sony so I decided to try out some photos with my new GoPro. We had a great day of playing around on some odd playground equipment. April 6th 2013
Here's a photo of Nate Bennett of The Bluffs a few years later now a full band with a hand full of songs and a growing audience. They are shown playing at Left of the Dial Record Shop. April 4th 2013
Josh's trip. No we weren't actually on drugs, don't worry. I just thought it would be funny to way over edit some photos I wouldn't of used otherwise. What was I thinking?
I've always really liked this photo. Jake and I had ridden to main street and climbed up the roof to get some photos of unsuspecting people. We quickly had the police called on us. May 7th 2013
This was a really fun surf trip I went on with Thomas, Skyler, and Conner. We had a blast surfing, skating and cruising around San Elijo. May 12th 2013
I don't want to say too much about this because I would be typing for hours. So I'll keep short and sweet. These were some of my favorite photos I've ever taken on a trip up and down the east coast. It was a great time and I can't wait to go back some day!. May 21st-29th 2013
It may not look like it from this photo, but we are actually in a huge tree house that we built in the middle of the woods. We had at least 5 or 6 people helping us build the place at one point, but as the sun got lower in the sky, everyone but Christian, Jake and I left while we continued building. We heard some rustling in the bushes, followed by a flashlight, and ultimately a police radio. We knew we were screwed. With our skateboards on the ground, and us in the tree there was no where to run. We climbed down and luckily had a nice cop. He told us that as long as we stop building this and carry all the excess wood we had lugged into the forest, he wouldn't give us any tickets.
Have you ever pondered about how those houses right on the edge of a cliff millimeters from dropping into ocean, haven't dropped into the abyss waiting below? Well Sunken City is the aftermath of just that. An entire neighborhood quickly losing the war between land and sea. All that remain now are sheer drops, a broken road and some remains of what used to be a typical Los Angeles Neighborhood. I love this place, if you ever get a chance to visit I highly recommend it. August 20th 2013
Probably not the smartest idea, but at this point we were full fledged into urban exploring. I was approaching 18 years old and wanted to get it all out of my system before laws became a more serious matter. We found an abandoned military base in Irvine and scoured every single building for a way to get in. This storage room was the only one that was unlocked and it looked like it hadn't been opened in years by anyone besides a couple graffiti artists. To make matters worse, sirens sounded every few minutes or so keeping us on edge as there was a fire department just down the street. August 22nd 2013
Shortly after the KFC closed down the street from our houses, we took the liberty to explore it. People must really hate this place because we certainly were not the first to go there as it was littered with shatter signs, dented walls, and broken machinery left behind. August 18th 2013
This was the first visit to what would soon become a very popular hang out for us. An abandoned church on the most populated street this side of Costa Mesa. We weren't brave mind you, just not very smart. We explored the entire place and spent a whole day there before realizing, "there's another room here with seemingly no entrance to it." We spend hours searching for a way in. Finally just before night fall we found it. A strange door on the second floor that opens to nothing. It was getting dark So we decided we would head back soon thereafter to find a way into this secret room. August 18th 2013
Eureka! We found the way in. Jack and I returned alone and grabbed everything we could find in the the abandoned church below that was stable enough to support ourselves. we climbed up and were able to rip off the rotten wood that was boarding up the second door. (Yes we tried opening the bottom door, it didn't lead to this room.) There was something so eerie about the fact that the entrance was a doorway to open ground on the second story. After a month of hanging out there nearly every day we had a couple police scares while we were there and couldn't return and it seemed like every time we arrived, we immediately heard the beating of the police helicopters rotors. It made for some fun adrenaline rushes, but we were sad we couldn't hang out there anymore. The place has since been torn down and built into apartments. August 22nd 2013
This bridge is a really place to ride to. Only about a 5-10 mile ride up the river bed and you come across this giant abandoned suspension bridge. Like the scene in Stand By Me, the bridge was high and the gaps between each wood panel were just far enough to evoke some panic. We walked to the middle where you could climb down and sit on the concrete pillar. If I wasn't afraid of heights before... September 6th 2013
Jake had always had long hair. It was an interesting change of pace when he shaved it.
We got another attempt at our sea legs. We realized the mistakes and made on the actually floated! well at least for a little bit.
My film had been put into the machine wrong and my prints came out all cut up wrong. I was pretty angry, but in the end, it made for some cool looking shots. Picture taken half at Alta coffee shop and half at a friends pool. September 16th 2013
Taken the same day as the photos above Jack and I are pictured above climbing a 5 story ladder to the top of a Walmart under construction so we could play a small acoustic set mostly consisting of Modest Mouse and Johnny Hobo.
This was one fun night. We had hung out with some of Jack's cousins friends who were a bunch of punk kids in the band Concerned Citizens. We went to an abandoned Wallgreens and couldn't get in. We took the flag as a consolation prize. September 19th 2013
Part of the same day. Josh found a box of old VHS tapes someone had thrown away. Pictured above is Kevin tossing some of them at some bikers who flipped us off. If you squint you can see the victim about to be hit with a pile of obsolete technology.
Also part of the same day, we went to an abandoned lumber yard. Some graffiti artist who had just been leaving accidentally spilled some blue paint on Jack and My pants and shoes. I still wear those pants to this day. We also returned to a little abandoned house we've attempted to get into several times. It wasn't until another day that that fantasy would come true.
Hunter and I bouldering in Pirates Cove.
Concerned Citizens set up with long extension chords on a large concrete table-made stage to play all their songs twice through in one long set. This would become a regular occurrence. September 30th 2013
While returning to show some new friends our lumber yard spot, we found that the door on the second story was unlocked. We were not prepared to find what we did inside. After entering the top story, the place was a damp, dark mess. most of the windows were boarded up so the further you got from the door, the darker it got. We didn't have any real flashlights, so our phones had to do. After checking out every room and looking at all the art scattered around the walls, we decided to head downstairs. Going down stairs was a really bad idea for plenty of reasons, but we were mostly afraid of transients and squatters who weren't ok with a couple of kids stumbling on their home turf. What we found was much more frightening, While walking around we noticed all the doors were unlocked only they had a strange line of string tied to each one, we followed the line and saw that the lines were rigged as alarms to alert whoever was in there that someone was coming inside. That was freaking enough but instead of leaving we investigated further. That's when we began to stumble across what appeared to be all the ingredients to meth as well as a lot of different glass bottles and pipes. Now that being said, my knowledge of meth goes as far as Breaking Bad, But this place looked like a meth lab. Without a single word needing to be said we all decided it was time to leave NOW. We walked as cautiously fast as we could to the but running was too dangerous amongst the muck and trash on the floor. We made it out and began to walk towards the rip in the fence we got in from. The only problem was that, waiting by the fence, there were two men talking and when they saw us leaving the house the larger one started sprinting towards us. Luckily for us we knew of another way out of the fence. We ran as fast as we could back to the car and floored it out of there. We haven't returned since then. October 12th 2013
I got some amazing photos at this place. Hunter and I were lead by a barefoot Jack Bassham through the wilderness to get to a little waterfall called Holy Jim Falls. Spent the day climbing, exploring and hanging out in a really beautiful place. October 15th 2013
An amazing road trip I had gone on up and down the west coast this time. Driving up to Eugene, Oregon first in a straight shot, 10+ hour drive. We explored up there for a couple day s and saw some amazing things. The Oregon Coast was absolutely gorgeous. Filled with small foggy fishing towns where the houses are all paneled and the rough see is filled with fishing boats...
... Next we headed home but first stopped to spend a couple days in San Francisco. I know I'm not breaking any new ground in saying this, but I really love this place. I got to spend hours looking around Amoeba SF and walking aimlessly on the streets day and night. Even found some cool abandoned buildings to explore. This trip was amazing. First chance I have, I'm hopping in the car and driving up and down the coast for an extended period of time. November 20th-30th 2013
After returning home I was invited to another Concerned Citizens concert. This was one of their biggest ones yet. The crowd was filled with punk kids both young and old. Tension had been raising in the band as they were splitting at the seams and getting closer and closer to breaking up. Something snapped in Aidan that radiated through the crowd shortly after. Chaos broke loose.
January 4th 2014
Here are some photos from one of the greatest night of my life. I don't think they ever got posted. I don't remember but I cant find the post where they're from. Through Music In Press, I got to shoot for Together Pangea for their album release. I had the greatest time of my life on stage with them taking photos and talking with the maniacs behind Burger Records. Everyone was going crazy and the energy in the room was explosive. This is a night for the record books. January 24th 2014
We had heard from Jack Bassham of some really cool new tunnels filled with stalactites. We headed over there as fast as possible and he showed the way through. This was much more interesting than all the tunnels we had been in before, we were able to see actually change in the tunnel with parts being bigger and smaller and parts having cool graffiti while others littered with stalactites. If we ever go explore tunnels again. This will be the new spot. March 3rd 2014
Just a couple of cool pictures from us being idiot teenagers. I love the Jack Bassham is so complacent while sitting in a dumpster. I also started experimenting with some settings and techniques and came up with this coo effect on the last photo. March 16th 2014
I hadn't taken skate photography in a long, long time, so Nic and some friends invited me over to the Hurley Warehouse for a skate session. I got some really good photos despite the lighting and saw how good some of my friends had gotten at skating. April 4th 2014
A long planned road trip to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Hunter and I traveled to the edge of cliffs higher than comprehension. Unfortunately, at the time I was having some issues coping with anxiety and a fear of heights combined with increasing agoraphobia set me over the edge. I couldn't handle this trip at all so because of me we headed home early. I'm not going to lie at all, I felt completely humiliated. Even though I could of assumed my friends wouldn't of cared I didn't want to face them. I spent most of my time alone and with Elise from that point on. Chill-outman went without a post for way too long. April 16th 2014
Recently I've decided I've wanted to take photos again. Its been really sad that I had't picked up a camera in a long time. So I've been taking Elise to some of my favorite places to photograph her. Here is some light trails on the horizon. September 29th 2014
For my birthday we took a Road trip Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. We had an amazing time. We spent several nights just exploring the cool restaurants and sights of Flagstaff, Arizona and finally got to see the Grand Canyon. Everything there was more beautiful then I could put to words.
November 2014
Well that's it. 3 years worth of anecdotes and photos. Chill out man has been a really fun ride. I loved every moment of it. When I was just a bored teenager with some mediocre camera skills, I never thought that it would go this far. Because of my blog, I have a job for a music magazine, countless new friends and even more amazing memories. Which brings me to the important information you most likely want to hear more than anything else I've written in this post. So I'm happy to inform you that Chill-OutMan is coming back! Starting in the new year. I will be posting two times a month. Every other Friday starting January 6th 2015, there will be some new photos and photos from the past that just never got posted before!
So I thank you all for staying tuned. The numbers show that I still get a lot of viewers per post and I appreciate it a lot. So stay tuned because there is a lot of new content coming soon to
Chill-outman.com
See you with another post next Friday, January 6th!
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