Most of the videos I have created so far have been for Kalaber Creations, Inc.(KCI). Some of them are for the products created by KCI, some to advertise sponsors products and some for just fun.
Let me begin by clarifying a couple of things. First, I am not a professional video filming or editor. I have never taken a class of any kind to learn techniques or tricks. Second, I don't have professional gear to film or software to edit. Last but no least, I was able to accomplish a lot with them and also have lots of fun.
Ural Kalaber Expedition Series
They are a series of 5 videos taken in Tucson, AZ. The purpose was to release an off-road conversion kit for Ural Motorcycles. We spent an entire Saturday playing with the bikes and recording as much as I could with my cameras. At the end of the day, I have more then 90 min of video to edit. I decided to divide them into 5 videos of about 15 min each. This way, it's easy on the viewer, each episode have a theme and a better way for me to edit them. It took me a week or so edit each video and I released them one at week.
15 beautiful women on an URAL Motorcycle at the Overland Expo 2017
This video wasn't plan in any way. Mark (owner of KCI) asked me to jump into the sidecar with a camera to follow Carla King (bike rider) on another Ural motorcycle. Her goal was to get as many women on a single bike and riding it around to pick them up. The idea of this event being a good advertisement strategy (which it is) was quickly forgotten by the laugh and smiles we all got by being part of it. This is now a tradition during the Overland Expo West hosted by Kalaber Creations, Inc and Ural Motorcycles. Enjoy!
KALABER J1, 1ST 4 DOOR JEEP BUILT EVER!
This video was to celebrate the build of one of the most amazing custom vehicles I have seen. The KALABER J1 is a living project that Mark (owner of KCI) started in 1997. First of a kind, it was the first 4 door Jeep ever at The SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada. I used a template from my iMovie (Iphone) and a bunch of old and new pictures of the vehicle to display the build process and the story behind it. The music is very dramatic and added more to the story.
Tucson Eats - Intro Video
This video was fun to shoot as I have an idea in mind, a template to use and lots of content. I only wish I had a camera stabilizer for some of the shots but overall, I'm very happy with the result.
Every time I get to work on shooting and editing a video I get very exited. I truly enjoy the process and I learn something new every time.
After my 1300 miles road trip I came home with a bit more than 400Gbs of data. All of that date came from my iPhone Xs Max, my GoPro Hero 5 and my Canon T2i. Pictures, videos, time-lapses, voice recordings, you mane it. I took my laptop with me during my adventure to download the content daily to free the memory cards and to better short the content. Once at home, I started to transfer those 400 GBs to my main PC to then back it up to my FREENAS (Home Server) but I ran into three major issues....
It was the first PC I built. It happened back in 2009 when I was still in school and had a PC support side gig. Some day I'll share that story. The PC was build for gaming needs to ensure it could handled my photography hobby, multitasking, school labs and whatever. At the time, this motherboard and processor (both Intel) were top of the line and very expensive. I just realized it lasted 10 years, not bad at all.
The three issues I had last week with this PC were:
My 2Tbs Photography hard drive had only 300Gbs available
Windows 8 wasn't able to run 4K videos anymore
When editing RAW large pictures from my Canon in Photoshop, the PC was simply shooting down.
With a mix feelings between my wallet and my geek side, I order new parts to build a new one. With pictures and videos getting better in quality from pretty much any device, therefore bigger in size, I realized I needed a beast.
With all those awesome parts at home, I had to call a good friend that loves putting PCs together, having a beer with me and talk about life. Scott came and we did magic! Well, mostly him, I was the helper and bartender! See the time-lapse video below of the building process!
PC is robust enough now, I have plenty of room for data and my desk now looks sexy!
I promised myself to go on a road trip this summer between Arizona and Utah after the Overland Expo West. After all, I need to put to the test the new improvements done to my 4Runner. Most of the route will be highway roads with occasional detours; a few reasons force my trip to be that way. The first one and main one: I have a tight schedule, I'm leaving Wednesday, July 3rd after my regular job at 5pm and I have to be back in Tucson on Sunday, July 7th to be at my desk on Monday at 8am. The second one: I have never done a road trip alone in The States since I moved in. Therefore, I choose to be conservative. The third one: The loop route is a bit aggressive but in my mind, it doesn't make sense to do a back and forth plan. The last one: I know this will be my last trip with the current set of tires. In fact, part of me feels that I'm pushing it. Fingers crossed!
This will be a quick blog as my intention is to share what I did and how I did it. I don't pretend to school you, I simply want to share with you the way I do things. I guess we will all learn from them.
Back in April while I was in Costa Rica, Mark Tetreau with Kalaber Creations, Inc took my 4Runner (Tico) to work on some modifications. The biggest and main one was the OEM back bumper replacement with a RPMFAB one (not longer in business). Mark was told that no winch was compatible with the bumper, and he with the classic move said "Hold my Beer". He customized the bumper to fit a Warn 9.5 XP-S Winch and a Hi-Lift.
Mark was able to modify the bumper, install the 2 arms, the winch, and hi-lift and painted during my 2 weeks absent. However, he ran out of time and did not feed the winch rope. Below is a video of the way I did it I learned a lot, by doing it alone and I'm proud of myself for completing the task.
What's in the box?
Warn Industries, one of my main sponsors sent me a box with stuff before my trip. Let's unbox it in this video.
Another box to open! This tool have safe me in the past 2 years during the Overland Expo West. My brother in law owns one and every year at the expo, I have to borrow his. So I decided to buy one before my trip. This is just in case, I hope I don't have to use it.
A couple of days after I bought the XP-3 Micro Start and unbox it, my destiny had a nice surprise for me and Tico. On a Friday after work (a week before my trip) Tico wouldn't start. I had my new XP-3 at home charging and I had to kick myself for that one. Anyway, a co-worker jumped me and I made it home. On Saturday when I was ready to leave my place Tico wouldn't start again. At this point, I checked the battery's purchase receipt and guess what?; It was still under warranty. All I needed to do was to survive until Monday to go where I bought it to have them replace it. Meanwhile, I had to have the XP-3 with me at all times and charged. See the below video of a real life test. Needless to say, it was worth every single penny I paid for it.
A time to see good friends .... and make some business!
During the last few years, I have been heavily involved with Kalaber Creations and Ural Motorcycles to bring the lovely Russian sidecar motorcycles to the Overland Expo West. The ones we all love to see around and steals you a smile. Well, this year wasn't the exception, however, the difference this year were all the modifications I have made to my Tico (4Runner) during the last year. A detailed post will be dedicated to this topic.
This is Mark Tetreau, owner of Kalaber Creations, Inc. Mark is the Ural dealer that brings the bikes to the expo in partnership with Ural HQ. He also manufactures off-road accessories for the soviet bikes. If you go to the Expo, you have seen him goofing around in one of his Urals, I'm sure.
Before I my Trip to Costa Rica in April of this year, I finally sucked it up and got my motorcycle endorsement. Mark got me a nice surprise as "congrats"; a label with the Costa Rican flag and my nick name (Tico) on the Ural's front fender.
This is Valerie, she was representing Urals and Kalaber Creations at the "cool ride" contest. She was one of the 8 finalists out of hundreds of pictures submitted. The contest is hosted and managed by Overland Expo and it takes place online for voting and then in downtown Flagstaff with a parade of the final 8.
Funny story. My brother from another mother; Pablo with ADV Magazine got evicted from where he sat up camp. So, I came over to the rescue with one of our Urals and started the move of his stuff to our camp area. Good times!
A deserved refreshment after a dusty and windy day. That's all!
Our booth/camp. We ended up with more than 20 Urals in there. Some owned by customers, by Kalaber Creations and Ural HQ. It was crazy! I don't remember seeing that many colors, models and modified Urals in one spot before!
The "Girls Ride". A tradition started by Carla King (absent this year) as the bike rider and Kalaber Creations as the bike provide it. The girls ride consist on Carla riding around the expo, picking up woman to ride on the bike with her. Every year the amount of girls on it increases by one. This year, the final count was 20 passing the 2018 record of 19. Good job Alison for filling in for Carla!
Cuban Beans; by Pablo. This is another tradition created over the years at the expo. Pablo's famous Cuban beans. They are truly Cuban, in fact, the recipe is from Pablo's mom! The process is long, is almost like a ritual, it takes about 5 hours to have them done. The wait is definitely worth it. Best part is, I get to hangout with Pablo, listening old school salsa music and drinking beer. Or coke while I'm working. :)
This year, Mark built a food/drinks station using a Ural frame (no engine on it) and an old Chinese sidecar. The sidecar was heavily modify to fit a medium size grill and it's propane tank, a cooler with cold drinks and two OXX coffee makers. On Saturday, those burgers and hot dogs sold very quickly. (they were free) They were delicious!
I also had the opportunity to show off my culinary skills (almost none). Mexican chorizo and eggs for breakfast. The best part of Sunday's breakfast is that you are encouraged to share your food with anybody. A great opportunity to meet cool people.
A selfie with the most iconic Ural on every Overland Expo West; the camo one with the OX.20XX sign on the front fender. You might have seen it on many videos and pictures all over the internet. This bike has been designated to Anthony Sicola, an OX staff member for many years now. If you ever see it, don't miss the opportunity to get a selfie with it!
Ok so, I was sleeping in my car. I was camping in there alone, so no big deal. However, we got a bit of snow after midnight on Sunday. It was cold sleeping in there despite my two cloth layers, sleeping bag (rated for 30 degrees) and couple of blankets. It was all good!
This video shows the drastic change of weather I experienced while driving from the expo in Flagstaff, AZ, to Tucson, AZ.
Whether you go to the Overland Expo for fun, business or shopping, one thing is for sure, you will meet cool people and want to come back again. I cannot wait until OXW20!
After my recent divorce, I decided to go back to my mothership. I booked a flight ticket, made some calls, reservations and left. My first time back at "home" as a single man since 2004. I wasn't sure what to expect. For some time, I kept my plans of going as private as I could. Eventually the anxiety won and I started to post on social media my count down. In a way, it helped me release the stress and anxiety, in the other hand, friends and family demanded time with me. Purposely, I scheduled only three nights in my home town, to enjoy my self, alone and with a few ones; the chosen ones!.
The trip was AWESOME and now I am thinking on doing it an annual thing. We will see what the next 12 months bring. For now, I'll share some pictures and about what my eyes captured during this retreat kind a trip.
Trip summary in video,
Heredia, Costa Rica - This is where I lived almost my entire life.
Heredia's central park.
This is my brother Josue. Soon after he was born, I moved out of the house to live with my dad (my parents got divorced when I was 12). So, I basically don't know the guy despite our almost daily communication.
This picture have many special meanings; first, it's the night I flew in, single Tico is back in town!, second, Josue took me straight from the airport to his favorite bar. Wait, my little brother have a favorite bar? Damn, I felt old. Third and provably the most important and shocking one; those 2 beers, were the first ones we have EVER drank together. When I moved to Arizona, he wasn't old enough to drink and we never got together during my previous trips to have a "fria" (Costa Rican way to called a beer). Little that we knew at that time, we would have many more together and enjoyed every single one.
The exception to the rule. Go visit "Doña Luisa", grandma. At 96 and physically not in the best shape, abuela wanted to sit on her wheelchair for a few moments to receive me. I was planning to spend there only a couple of hours as she doesn't recognize much anymore. Instead, I spent the entire day there talking to my uncle Victor. A great guy that after his retirement, spends his time with Doña Luisa. One of the highlights of my trip.
"Fofos", El Rancho de Fofo was my favorite bar during my last 2 years in Costa Rica. This place saw the best and worse of me. I spent endless hours (and money for that matter) in that place. Unfortunately, it was closed due to "Semana Santa" (Easter). During Semana Santa, the sell of alcohol is prohibited by "law", however some business choose to enforce it and some choose not to.
Barva Town's Church
Barva's Town is famous for making the best mask. They take proud of that local talent by decorating the streets with some of them, specially the ones with famous faces.
Plato mixto de bocas. This is a typical mix plate with appetizers you would order in a bar or restaurant to share. It includes:
Fried plantain
Frijoles Molidos
Steak
Chiken
Pork
Sausage
Fried cheese
Yuca
Corn Tortillas
Feeds 4, however, my brother and I killed it with no mercy.
San Jose, Costa Rica
Gallo Pinto
This is Costa Rica's typical breakfast; "Pinto".
A mix of rice and beans with a sofrito made with bell peppers, onions and Salsa Lizano. A traditional Costa Rican salsa made specially for seasoning almost everything that gets cooked in Costa Rica. For real!, eggs (your choice), Costa Rican sour cream (thicker than US and Mexico ones), "a la plancha" local cheese, platano maduro (sweet plantain) and tortillas. It's a heavy meal for breakfast but easy to get used to love it.
Leon, Josue, Me
Off to the Caribbean. A brother from another mother joined me and Josue for a few days. Leon; Jose Leon, a high school classmate. They drank while I was driving. After all, somebody needed to be responsible. I was drinking coke zero as I always do while driving.
Prove, my left toe.
The guys were giving me a hard time for pulling over on almost every gas station to pee. This due to the many cokes I was drinking. They pushed me to pull over on the side of the road to pee like a real Tico. I got enough of their BS and pulled over. Well, while peeing 10 feet from the car, I got bitten by a non-poisoning snake on my left toe. It hurt and got me by surprise, so while still peeing, I jumped and screamed running back to the car. Yes, I peed all over me. Once in the car, I drank a couple of beers, squeezed my toe and proved my point! Pura Vida! (Life is Good)
Manzanillo, Limon
This is a view point in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife and Marine Refuge. We drove about 20 min from our little hotel, the main road (only street in Puerto Viejo pretty much) ends here, at this amazing place. If you visit Puerto Viejo, do yourself a favor, Go There!
If your life perception doesn't change while seating there, nothing else will do it. It was very peaceful and quiet (other than the waves). Seating there is when I realized that all sacrifices made to be there, were worth it. Even the snake bite!
I can't think of a better company than my Bro to be right there at that time.
Until next time Caribbean!
While in Puerto Viejo, we meet with this couple; Ariel and Jancy. They are friends of my brother, they tagged along and we had an amazing time together. Life can surprise you at anytime, and you can always learn from anybody. I don't remember laughing that much in my life than when we were all driving together to be there. Life is Pura Vida in Costa Rica.
It took like 20 min to get this shot (top right). We got photobombed so many times!. Our friend Ariel wanted the best shot, so he stud in the middle of the road stopping all the traffic. I thought people were going to kill us but no, they were good sports about it. I like to think that those signs are a good description of the Rasta Dude fishing.
After a long drive from the Caribbean to La Fortuna, San Carlos, we checked in at Montaña de Fuego hotel, went straight to the wet bar and got freshly made, piña coladas!
The Arenal Volcano is an old friend of mine. I used to live in Fortuna town before moving to The States. I have seen this volcano erupt many times, day, night and everything in between. I got to appreciate it, learned to love and respect it. I cannot go to Costa Rica and not visit him. Half of that mountain is covered with vegetation and the other half is covered with lava rocks and ashes. Most resorts there have access to hot springs coming directly from the volcano. Something you definitely have to experience.
Arenal Volcano Time Lapse
You are welcome!
Ceibo tree. The biggest tree you will find in Costa Rica. I lived there for 25 years and never saw one. This time, a friend told me to stop there and look at it. It is massive, green, beautiful and full of life! It's inspiring me to plan a trip to CA to see the sequoias.
Rio Celeste, Guanacaste. This is a river in the Tenorio Volcano National Park. The turquoise color comes from the combination of sulfur and calcium carbonate from the volcano. There are more to see in there, however, I ran out of time. Noted for the next time.
Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste. A paradise I haven't visit in a long time. Guanacaste in my opinion have the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.
Tamarindo town, Guanacaste. I lived there in 2003 and enjoyed every day. From the sunsets, the parties, people, food, bars; everything. I had to go back! This place had a surprised planned for me. Keep reading...
After leaving in Tucson, Arizona for so many years, I have developed a taste for Mexican food. So, walking in Tamarindo main street looking for a beer and a bite, this sign called my attention.
Inside, I found a local micro brewing.
Bingo!
In 2006 I saw for the last time to my "brother from another mother" Javier; Tortos. I lost contact despite of social media, friends in common and emails. I entered into Volcano Brewing Co. because of the nachos sign outside and voila! Javi was the bartender. It was like the time never passed. We catched up, he made us the BEST piña coladas EVER and party hard that night like the old times. This was the highlight of my trip. Te I love you en puta Tortos! Someday I'll explain the "tortos" nick name.
Almost frozen, Agua de Pipa. No better way to drink coconut water and it doesn't get any fresher than this. I bought it from this lady that had a pick up truck park on the side of the road. It costed me 500 colones (local currency), which is a bit under $1. Cheap, cold, fresh and helps the local economy, a win win if you ask me.
In "Tama", short for Tamarindo, I was lucky enough to meet this cool guy: Milton. He is in a journey from Argentina to Alaska with his Family. Such an inspiration! El Viaje del Caracol.
One morning while having breakfast at Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, I got up to get more orange juice and when I came back to the table, there it was; my food stealer! But wait, a bird eating eggs, isn't that some kind of cannibalism?
Playa Conchal, Guanacaste. This is one of me most amazing beaches in Costa Rica. There is no sand, only grounded shell. No it does not hurt to walk there barefoot. Since there is no sand, the water is as clear as it can be.
You are Welcome!
This is where the sand and the grounded shells meet. If you think that this is cool, you have to see it in person. Mind blowing.
Playa Negra, Guanacaste
This gem in almost a secret beach. It's a quiet, peaceful, lonely and beautiful. A friend recommended me to go there, and I'm glad I did.
My brother and I took the opportunity to enjoyed a cold local brew beer in Playa Negra.
Last sunset at the beach before heading to San Jose to fly back to The States.
Sunset Time Lapse at Flamingo Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
With this one I'll warp it here. Costa Rica, their people, their food, their drinks, their beaches, their cities and their everything is PURA VIDA!
