...BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM-PA HOLLYWOOOD!
I finally bought a flash and have been trying to teach myself how to use it. And by 'teach myself,' I mean use it at my friend's kid's bday party on the Dark Lord of the Sith (Hollywood Chapter): HOLLYWOOD VADER.
"Join me, and I will complete your training."
I've never liked the idea of using a flash, but I have to admit I like the look of some of the shots I got.
Finally developed our first roll of B&W film shot on our Leica M-A. I think I must have missed the sprockets when I loaded the roll, because I ended up with a few multiple exposures at the head of the roll; which turned out pretty well. Chalk it up to happy accidents.
Accidental psychological portrait of my wife. Her, a map of the world, her books, teacups, unicorn statues, a ballet bar, and other random things she collects. Leica M-A, Summicron 50mm 2.0, Ilford Delta ISO400 35mm film, multiple exposures.
The bottom of the multiple exposure portrait overlapping with my wife being sleepy in an elevator. Leica M-A, Summicron 50mm 2.0, Ilford Delta ISO400 35mm film, improperly cut by the lab? My fault again? I wouldn't rule that out either.
Digital vs. Film. Shot on the same day. A7Rii vs. Leica M-A. Zeiss 35mm 2.8 vs Summicron 50mm 2.0. I think the light and the pose are better in the digital shot (left), but the one on the right has a little more romance in its softness. My wife doesn't like the film shot (right) because she's 'got her bitch face on.'
I swear, I really do take pictures of things besides my wife and kickboxers. ("My wife and kickboxers" copywritten title for my autobiographical sitcom)
I had the opportunity to photograph Simon Marcus defending his GLORY Middleweight Title against the very dangerous Dustin Jacoby at GLORY 30 (gallery is at the bottom if you want to skip my kickboxing nerd talk).
Simon Marcus admires his handiwork after sweeping Dustin Jacoby. GLORY 30 Los Angeles.
I was pumped to get to shoot two fighters getting ready for a big title fight. When I went backstage to get them warming up I was surprised to see that their locker rooms were right next to each other; both doors closed, for obvious reasons of comfort. I could hear the loud smacking of pads through the doors. Jacoby was listening to some 90's jock jams, while Marcus was listening to some 90's R&B. I wondered if each man was trying to hit the pads harder and louder to intimidate their opponent on the other side of the wall, psychological warfare could begin their match hours before they met in the ring. If I were one of them, I'd get my friends to hit pads after I was done warming up to create the illusion of a three hour continuous warm-up. Maybe hire Tong Po to kick a post non-stop, and maybe my opponents younger brother could walk in and see the display of toughness while he was lost, looking for ice (ex. see 1989 film Kickboxer). "HE WAS KICKING ONE OF DEES LIKE DEES-- HHHUUUAAAYYY, UNTIL PLASTER WAS FALLING DOWN!"
I usually would walk right into a fighters locker room to shoot their prep, but I decided to leave them to their own devices until they got the call to walk out. For some reason, they got the call at the same time and had to walk with each other down the hall up to the ramp. It made for a slightly awkward scenario, but luckily I got a shot of them emerging from their locker rooms and seeing each other for the first time that night. It felt like one of those "First Look" photos you see people do for weddings.
Jacoby was on a 5 fight knockout win streak coming into this fight. He has serious power in both hands and a deceptively long reach. For Simon Marcus to employ a hands-down and head movement style of defense was ballsy, to say the least. However, I will say that tactic plus Marcus' experience was what won him the fight. Jacoby was throwing very calculated heavy leather throughout the fight, and Marcus would dodge a majority of it but everytime he ate the really heavy shots, he would continue to slip and duck and dodge even if he was rocked, making the sting of the punch look less effective to the judges. At one point, he even did the Ramba M-16 shuffle after a particularly heated exchange. Marcus would set the pace of the fight with switch kicks to the arm, right leg kicks, and closed the gap with some nasty knees. Jacoby didn't appear to be any worse for the wear until the fifth round where a right kick from Simon Marcus snuck in under his elbow and found his liver. Jacoby dropped to a knee, barely made it up before the 10-count, and showed real heart trying to come back with a knockout for the rest of the final round. Simon Marcus was too experienced to have his belt taken away from him the last seconds and showed some beautiful techniques on his way to securing his first title defense. Backstage, the great Malaipet Sasiprapa was complimenting Simon Marcus on his masterful performance and Simon replied, "That's 'Muay I.Q."
Since I am not decaying nuclear waste, I don't think I'm using the term 'half-life' correctly. But I had a crazy realization last night: 17 years ago, the first incarnation of Beta Lion played its first show. I've been in this band for half of my life. Crazy pants!
A friend recently asked me if I ever get down about the fact that we never hit it big, my reply, "How could I be sad? I've had some of the best times of my life because of the band."
So here, all in one place for the first time ever, are links to all of our music available on teh internets. I'm sure we're missing a lot of tracks, but this is the most complete representation of our body of work, starting from when we were young pop-punkers through to now that we're...old post-pop-punkers?
Part Of The Problem (P.O.P.) - era, 1999-2007:
Beta Lion - "I Believe In Beta Lion" Demo (songs written 2007-2012, released 2012):
Beta Lion - "Hey" B-Side to Tonight At Whisperz Single (2012):
Beta Lion - "Written In Sand EP" (Songs written 2005-2014, released 2014):
Beta Lion - "Dynasty" Single from unreleased album (2015-present, released 2016):
Fun times were had by all. There was dancing. Merriment! Mark sat back and smiled.
Silly me, almost forgot to post a link to an article that AlphaUniverse did on my settings and process for shooting fights. Click on the above picture of Murthel getting splashed by Big Mike, or just click here.
This weekend I married my friends. At first, I thought my dream of a much more progressive polygamist future was in store for me but alas, I was to be the officiant in their wedding. They got married at a beautiful place in Maui and everything and everyone about it was idyllic. I took a lot of photos, but have yet to post much because Hawaii is so beautiful, it's almost like shooting fish in a barrel while taking steroids; it's just unfair.
I have to admit, I showed up to be the officiant and was just way too cocky about it. I rehearsed a bunch, and pride myself on my public speaking abilities. But this wasn't a Beta Lion show, this was my friend's very special day, and I GOT NERVOUS. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've felt nervous in that way. I haven't felt like that since my own wedding. It's interesting, what your body does with nerves. I didn't break into a sweat, nor did I tremble. My mouth was where my nerves expressed themselves. My mouth dried up completely. I felt like a mummy delivering his first words in a thousand years. There was a mid point in the ceremony where I was conscious that I had hit a skid, and I got really mad at myself. I thought, "Fuck that, this isn't about you, get it together!" and somehow my anger miraculously rehydrated my mouth and I was able to carry on as planned. My wife said it was noticeable that I had a "Masato moment" where I just picked my shit up and moved forward. I'm still dwelling on the fact that it didn't go as well as I'd rehearsed, but luckily the bride and groom are such a powerhouse couple that they charmed the audience into a weeping frenzy without my help.
Pictured: My dry mouth conch blowing failure, saved by the help of the groom. Myyyyyyyy hero.
Kindergarten acceptance smile.
Whew. Last week was a whirlwind tour of London where I went to accept my Sony National Photography Award. Little did I know that it was an actual physical award, like, HEAVY, and able to be held. I'd imagined that it was gonna be just a certificate like I got when I graduated from Kindergarten. Okay, it came with a certificate too.
I posted a nigh-play-by-play set of photos on my instagram, for which I feel sorry for because people who don't follow many people basically they've got an entire feed of my English antics. Click on either of these pics to see what I'm talking about. If you've got the guts.
PRO TIP: If you ever end up getting drunk with the editor-in-chiefs of multiple prestigious photography magazines, make sure they get at least if not more drunk than you. Anything less would be unprofessional.
Probably the least sleazy photo ever taken of a mirrored ceiling.
Check out Ssssnake, she know wassup.
Last week I mustered up the strength to get out and see a show at El Cid. Noah Tabakin aka. Ssssnake told me he was going to play with a full band for the first time so I had to go see it. As luck would have it, Kaitlyn the violinist from Seasons was also playing that night in her other band Lady Low. My band had played with both of them multiple times before, so it was like a friends of Beta Lion show.
I missed the first band altogether (Nightjacket), but made it just in time to catch Lady Low's set. Great stuff. Very cool and moody baritone singing and maybe kinda surfy/rockabilly guitars backed up by a pretty full on orchestra. I was so into it, I didn't really take very many pictures.
Ssssnake delivered as always. I've always thought of Noah as maybe the best live performer I've ever seen. Blending comedy, dance, jazz, high brow art, group exercise, crowd participation, and legitimate MC skills, Ssssnake in the words of Mr. Miyagi, "If do right, NO CAN DEFENSE." I was a little bit skeptical when he told me he was playing with a full band. Whenver I'd seen him before, it was just him, his laptop, his saxophone, and a mic. I wasn't concerned that his new band members would be able to musically pull it off, but would they get it? It's a tough act to blend into. They got it. They were awesome, and maybe even better than the solo version.
Ultra Violent Rays had a really cool setup! Laptop playback sync'd up to some of their lighting. Drums and distorted bass. Pretty much everything a boy my age, weight, and zodiac sign could want. I wish I could have stayed for their entire set, but it was a school night and I had to hop into my Uber home before it became an Uber Pumpkin.
Because every time I shoot is an experiment, this time I played around with much slower shutter speeds than I would normally use. The kids from Ssssnake are a particularly fast moving subject, so sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Some of the photos reminded me of old punk rock photos where the faces are blurry from very fast head shakes (not to be confused with head banging).
Click here or on the photos to see the entire album in all of its overly compressed Facebook glory.
In the comedy pit.
No UV filter.
Brian Del Rosario gets ready for a light spar with Luke Drews at The Yard Muay Thai.
This past weekend I dropped in on part of James Law's seminar given through Leica Akademie US. It was a 3-day class, but I only stopped in for the field trip to The Yard Muay Thai gym. It was really exciting to watch James do his teaching thang with a captive audience. His students were of varying experience levels and looked like they were really taking what he was saying to heart and appreciated that he was forcing them to get out of their comfort zones. The provided Leica gear was an added bonus (I shot my first medium format shots, BRO. Wasn't my memory card though, so I don't have a copy, BRO.). I took a few photos, got to see some sparring, chatted with some of the fighters from GLORY and Lionfight, and made a few new friends. If one of my new friends is out there reading this, we're friends right? REIGHT?!? Please?
Amateur champ Natalie Morgan, looking like she's about to hand me a professional beating.
Just kidding, but I seriously feel like I won a fucking Oscar or something.
© Mark Fulinara, Winner, USA, National Award, 2016 Sony World Photography Awards (Click on the photo to see that I'm not lying like you assume I am!)
