japa_justin's photostream  

I'm sorry its been so long since I've post here on Flickr but I really want to thank everyone that helped Japan out during their time of need! Every comment was very encouraging and I'm glad that people here on flickr cared enough to send me messages about how they donated or did something to help.

So, its now the middle of the summer months and I'm finally getting around to taking a few photos here and there. I recently got a new car, well sorta, a new used car. I got a 1995 Lexus SC300 and a 1988 BMW 325i. I've been addicted to working on them and driving them all over the place. I hope to have a little photoshoot with my new babies in the near future.

For now though, I'm on a quest to find all the best view of LA! I wanna drive all the mountain roads, hike the peaks, take the pictures and explore the beautiful urban center that I call home.

If you live somewhere in the LA or SoCal area and have a recomendation I love to hear from you. We can trade epic spots info!

Most of you probably know, but if not, Japan was hit by an 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm Japan Time. After the quake there was an ensuing Tsunami wave that devastated many coastal communities in Japan, destroying homes cars and lives.

This hits close to home for me since I have friends and family residing in Japan so I urge you all to please donate towards the relief efforts that are being set into motion.

You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the Red Cross who will see that your donations are put to good use.
I'VE TEXTED THIS 1 TIME.

Thank You if you do it would mean a lot to me, my family, my friends and all those that have been effected by this disaster.

If you have facebook then follow this link and like Their goal is to reach 100K likes and they'll send $100K to Japan for the relief efforts. But only if that goal is reached in 10 days. If you can't donate money then this could be your way of helping!:
www.facebook.com/exploredogs

Lady GaGa is also offering these wristbands in support for Japan. Here you can buy a wristband for $5 and add-on anything else that you want to donate:
ladygaga.shop.bravadousa.com/Product.aspx?cp=14781_42444&...
I'VE ORDERED 1 OF THESE.

UCSD's Japanese Student Association has setup a site for collecting donations. They are hoping to send the money directly to the Miyagi Prefectural Government so that they can allocate the money directly to what is most needed:
www.wepay.com/donate/helpjapan

You can go directly to the Red Cross and donate. Remember your donations at the Red Cross can be made a tax deductible! Support the relief efforts AND get a tax break, sounds like a win-win situation:
www.redcross.org/

You can buy cool graphic design t-shirts. They're $20 and $10 of that is donated.
www.weareontheryze.com/

Donate directly to google:
www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

If you play any Zynga games (CityVille, FrontierVille, FarmVille, Zynga Poker etc.) on Facebook many of them are offering VIP packages for a $5 donation towards Japan's relief efforts!

Cool stickers for $5, proceeds go to the Red Cross!:
www.forjapan.bigcartel.com/
I'VE ORDERED 4 OF THESE.

These cool prints are kind of pricy but it would probably look great in your room if you're passionate about Japan:
fullbleed.imagekind.com/store/imagedetail.aspx/a8eff957-6...

Remember the Racist UCLA student Alexandra Wallace? We can thank her for one thing... A T-shirt Parody has been made of her comments you can buy it for $12 and the profits goes to Japan:
chingchongtingtong.com/

Facebook Causes has added a donation site. You can complete offers that donate a small amount of money at no cost to you or you can donate the regular amounts ($10, $25, $50 etc):
www.causes.com/campaigns/154523

UCI is selling T-Shirts. All proceeds go to Operation Compassion:
japanrelieffunds.weebly.com/non-uci-buyers.html

Cool minimalist design graphic T-Shirt with proceeds going to Japan:
shop.respireapparel.com/product/help-japan

It was a beautiful day today in Riverside, California. That not something that I find myself saying to often but to day was great. Cool but crisp. Windy but refreshing.

After the heavy rain that we got last night you could see the mountains got a generous amount of snow. It might be a little hard to see since the picture was actually taken with my phone, the Droid X. Edited this one in photoshop and went for a more vintage look since the picture quality wasn't exactly HD.

Quote: "Art is anything you can get away with" -Andy Worhol
Typographic inspiration from jaaanet ♫. =]
Model: Alex Ryu

Currently Listening to: Peaches by New Heights

Really liking this song right now. First heard of it when I watched the youtube video "Love Language". Its a really good video [taken by an SLR] and a really good song.

This actually came from a photoshoot from a while back. I just didn't have time to edit it until now [even though I should probably be studying for finals or sleeping instead].

Been pretty lazy in 2011 when its comes to doing photoshoots. There are plenty of people that I have promised to take photos for them but I've just been lacking inspiration lately. I'm actually trying to sell my XSi and some lenses right now. Probably so I can upgrade to a better body and maybe get a new lens. If anyone is interested let me know. =]

Happy New Year everyone! =]

Hope your 2010 was is great as mine was! College, family, friends, trips, sports you name it.

"here's to starting over" is really a good thing. A new year is like a new you, you don't have to be constrained by preconceptions. Start your year over, do what you want to do and be who you want to be. Being in college its like you're starting all over again but with new classes and new people in those classes. Maybe I'll make new friends this quarter, maybe I'll get even better grades than I did last quarter. Who knows? ;]

This typography was inspired by something that I saw off of Tumblr. I took this picture some years ago, one of the few times that you ever see any interesting clouds in Venice, California and I added the typography today.