ANNANDALE, Virginia — Newly launched in the US, the official Pacquiao brand tees! To help break in the brand, Bradley David Photography, Noel Delarosa Promotions, and skater Angelo Lee teamed up for one hot photoshoot.
Make-up by Ana Huynh
Second shooter: Noreen Delarosa
Models: Josiie and Stephanie
Courtesy of Noreen Delarosa
BARCELONA, Spain — I’m glad we’ve done enough to keep your attention, so welcome to second leg of our two-city tour and what a city it is! What can we say about Barcelona? Well, for one it’s a city for e-ver-y-one. It’s a city with beautiful people and culture, progressive design, and political expression. Barcelona is a motorcyclist’s Mecca. It’s a sexy, explosive blend of the old and the new architecture. It’s a place where skaters and graffiti artists are accepted and embraced–made obvious by the featured skate park at the Barcelona-Sants station and the well-placed graffiti murals on rolling store-front doors. Oh, and don’t get me started on the high-tech rail system. During your ride, look to an adjacent cart and you’ll see the craziest optical illusion as the train snakes its way beneath the city. It’s one of many subtle differences that makes other leading countries look, well, ancient. I’m not talking about you, Venice; you’re different.
Let’s continue on our restless, Red Bull-infused, photo bonanza! Watch as we hit up Parc Guell… an hour after the other tourists raid the joint, kicking up dust, and giving us impossible framing options. Fun, fun, fun! We shoot, we leave, we eat, we freshen up, we change wardrobe, then head to La Padreras–a rooftop to end all rooftops, seriously–with plenty of time to spare. Uh, yeah right! 15 minutes to shoot. No joke. We spent more time in line and in the elevator than we did shooting. We wouldn’t expect anything less.
VENICE, Italy – After missing our original flight from DCA to LaGuardia, some quick wheelin-n-dealin from Ramon and Kristina with the airline got us back on track, sort of. Our new route: a five-hour bus ride from Virginia to New York’s Penn Station, a quick bite at Shake Shack, and finally a mad dash–albeit slow–through the infamous Holland Tunnel and into Newark, NJ. After a short layover in Rome, we headed North to Venice. Upon landing, we were greeted with some awesome, blue-sky weather. A 20-minute ride aboard a spectacular water taxi yielded some impressive views of the ancient city. So we lost a half a day of scouting; no big deal. We were made to push through impossible odds! Besides, we’re in Europe, baby!
Without further ado, follow Ramon, Kristina, and their relentless photographer on the first leg of the three-city tour, beginning with Venice, Italy. Our photo sessions take us around the magnificent Piazza San Marco along the Grand Canal, the splendid Salute, the timeless Rialto Bridge, and through the endless alleys and bridges of Venezia! Enjoy!
Stay tuned for Barcelona!
SILVER SPRING, Maryland – Sure, these may be last year’s model, but nothing’s changed except the colorway. I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect replacement for my six-year old Northwave Kevin Jones boots, and stumbled across the Nike Kaiju. Wow, I normally wouldn’t look to Nike for snowboard gear, but this boot was too hot to ignore. Nikes were also highly recommended by my friends, so it was a no-brainer to order them. I secured one of the last remaining pair from Martini Skate & Snow for $244.00!
What caught my eye the most was the strong Jordan design influence married with a bit of Asian flare (a la the Japanese characters). Yo, can’t go wrong with the elephant print and XI’s eye loops.
And it’s definitely not overrated; the fit is amazing and feels a lot less bulky than other boots. The liner hugs your foot without being constricting. I can’t wait to break them in. I’m not sure if I’ll heat mold them or just do what Mike of Martini Skate & Snow suggested; that is, put on snowboard socks, wear the boot for an hour, take them off for 10, then another hour with the boot back on.
I’m confident these will hold up for me for the next five years; that’s not to say I won’t pick up the 2010/2011 colorway when this season is over! Thanks to Marlon and Jordy for suggesting the Nike brand! Check out some of the images I took in my makeshift bedroom studio! 
2009/2010 Nike Zoom Kaiju (black/varsity royal)
Baltimore, MARYLAND — This portrait session with Hip-Hop artist SoulStice was several months in the making. SoulStice is not only an accomplished song writer–his skills made known on the Oscar award-winning movie, “The Blind Side“–but he also holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
I originally penned the Little Italy neighborhood as the our location, but SoulStice suggested a back-up location at Clipper Mill. The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes is actually down the street. On the day of the shoot, the back-up location seemed a lot more appealing, so we headed there–it turned out that before all the renovations, I planned to shoot at the abandoned mill–and we couldn’t have been luckier!
The weather and lighting conditions were all ideal. Even the crowds were non-existent. I honestly couldn’t believe that we were the only ones shooting there. We nailed all our shots and then some. Here’s a sample:
Maryland — Today, I received my Vibram FiveFingers KSO. I don’t remember where or when I heard about the FiveFingers, but I knew the idea behind barefoot running made perfect sense. Rob, a close friend of mine, has been using them for a while and suggested the KSO model instead of the KSO Trek. KSO Trek has a crazy tread pattern and uses Kangaroo leather; soooo soft! Before I ordered a pair, I headed down to CitySports in Bethesda to get a feel for the size and fit. I’m a size 9.5, normally, and the European 40 fit perfectly. The build quality was excellent and look so much better in-person. I picked mine up at Rock/Creek for $84.95 w/ FREE SHIPPING and NO TAX since CitySports was out of stock.
As a former high school track sprinter/runner, I’m used to running on the balls of my feet. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and my joints and muscles aren’t like they used to be. After I get some miles on my KSOs, I may follow up on here or you can just email me if you’re interested in my thoughts and opinions. You can Google “barefoot running” since more qualified people on YouTube and various blogs have drawn-out discussions and analysis on the subject.
I took some shots of them before I jack them up on the street:
First of all, many thanks to Marlow Prado-Blankenship and Ms. Sarina Morales, The Nike Field Reporter, for thinking of me and my coverage from last year’s LA Boxing: Fight Night. Marlow and Barbara [Bartolomeo] were one of several fighters in the exhibition. Needless to say I was highly impressed with the toughness and conditioning of these ladies. I would not want to tick either one of them off. Congrats to your both on the article. Check it out here:
Bradley
Chicago, Illinois — Available for order, Christina and Christian’s wedding album!
New York — This is the second collection I’ve photographed for Arti and NeuAura. Before I received the samples I had plans to shoot the collection outdoors. Unfortunately, the DC area got hit with two monster snow storms, so I was a bit worried about the shoot. My only requirement was to maintain a rustic theme, so I Googled “rustic” and didn’t see images that I liked. I stumbled on some images of wood flooring and knew that was the direction I wanted to take.
I headed down to Home Depot, perused the aisles for cheap solutions, but didn’t find anything reasonable. Staining cut planks of wood required too much effort and buying a big box of wood flooring was uneconomical. I stumbled on some pressed wood shelving and decided to go with four shelves for $20. But after shooting the shoes on them, the results were terrible. The wood pattern and quality looked really cheap. I was really worried after that.
Overnight, I remembered seeing some pretty good quality flooring at Ikea. The next day I swung by and picked a box for $30. Wow! The put together the set on my dining room table, but still wasn’t sure what to expect. After shooting a test shot, I was feeling pretty good. The results were lightyears ahead of the Home Depot solution. I’ll be return the shelving and keeping the flooring for future shoots!
Fort Washington, Maryland — This was a really cool shoot at Old School Boxing, located in the basement of Rosecroft Raceway. The thing that got me was, from the outside, you’d never know it was there. I went back and forth down Rosecroft Drive thinking I had missed it. Lucky for me Cyprian answers his cell phone! The gym is a very authentic boxing gym with, you guessed it, that old school atmosphere. Inside, dozens of sweaty, yet welcoming faces greeted me as I entered the gym. The smell reminded me of the wrestling rooms back in high school. Weathered boxing gloves and old speed bags line the ceiling, while posters of boxing legends hang immortalized on the walls. I’ll definitely make another run back there and shoot around.
