No Ceilings...

When you don't have any limits or boundaries, you can do anything you set your mind to. Most times people fail because they have a subconscious voice in the back of their mind saying they really can't accomplish the goal at hand.

Lil Wayne is successful because obviously he told that voice in the back of his mind to shut up. Whether you agree with his self-proclamation that he is the best rapper alive or not really doesn't matter. Weezy F. Baby believes it and so for him that's all that needs to be said...

I know my personal opinion doesn't matter, and with Lil Wayne having to do a prison bid, he has decided to leave the people with some food for thought for us to contemplate while he is gone. Check out the mixtape No Ceilings and decide if he is the best rapper alive for yourself.

Download the mixtape here...

Mixtape courtesy of TheNewSauga

Empire State Of Mind...

What does it mean to be a champion? For one, to be a champion you have to have heart, dedication and a strong support system. I can't lie, Jay-Z's song Empire State Of Mind featuring Alicia Keys embodies all of that.

What's ironic is even if you are NOT from New York, like a lot of people aren't, this song makes you feel like you should stand up for something strong, something that you can believe in and something that will encourage you to go be great!

I'm not from New York, but listening to this song makes me want to go stand on the top of the Empire State Building and proclaim I can do anything I set my mind to. Ha!

Anyway, Here is the Video for Empire State Of Mind

*video courtesy of On Smash...

To Be The Man...You Have To Beat The Man...

I was always taught that in order to be the best you have to beat the best. In Sports entertainment, i.e. "wrastling", Ric Flair used to scream it all the time.

"Whoooo, to Be the man, You have to Beat the man, Whoooo!" I believe he was right! You can't earn respect as a world champion without beating the champion.

In sports, obviously the competition is elite and as you climb the ladder of success, the competition continues to get faster, harder and stronger. And speaking of competition, its that time again for the World Series Championship of Baseball.

The 2009 World Series is what sports legends are made of. The Philadelphia Phillies return to the world series to defend their championship against the New York Yankees, the all time most winning ball club in sports history. As a kid in little league, this is the exact stage you would strive to reach for.

The irony of this years world series is people always comment about flukes and whether or not someone has earned their championship, or they didn't actually beat the reigning champions, (cough cough hence Michael Jordan retiring and THEN Kobe's Lakers win back to back titles, BUT he never beat the Bulls for those titles! Or... a healthy Kevin Garnett with the Celtics for that matter, HA) but seriously, this year the 2009 Baseball title will be undisputed.

New York had the best record in baseball this season and the Phillies actually RETURN to the world series to defend their title. For once, the two best teams are going head to head for the championship in a winner-take-all fight to the finish. I will have my popcorn for sure. All I have to say is...may the best team win.

(In Darth Vader Voice) The Empire Strikes Back!

Audrina Patridge At Stingaree

This past weekend, Encore Entertainment, IAG and Hypnotic rolled out the red carpet once again for Audrina Patridge as she hosted her Maxim cover issue release party at Stingaree.

Audrina is one of the stars from MTV's The Hills as well as the movie Sorority Row. DJ Cobra was also in the mix spinning the heat on the 1s and twos.

Off the record, being an event photographer, I tend to meet a lot of celebrities and some of them are cool and some of them are untouchable.

I can honestly say, Audrina was one of the coolest "celebs" I have met in a very long time. And without Selling Dreams, I can say we actually hung out together in the VIP, as opposed to me saying we hung out but I was actually working and didn't talk to her at all. HA!

Anyway...Go check out the Pics from Audrina's party HERE...

*special thanks to Lauren from J Public Relations.

Keak Da Sneak Birthday Party

Coming all the way from The Bay to San Diego, Bay Area rap artist Keak Da Sneak held his birthday party @ Decos Nightclub where DJ Ironic had the floor "getting it in." To break that down for lingo-challenged people, it means the party dance floor was packed with people actually dancing.

I had a good time as well and drinks were flowing so that always adds to the party when everyone in the party can party like a rockstar.

Check out the photos from Keak's Birthday party here...

I heard a rumor...

The heart and sole of Stop Selling Dreams is dedicated to the "artist" trying to become great and not letting anyone stop the journey. When you are in the process of building something great, there is always one or maybe even two people that will try to either "hype you up" or bring you down.

I always listen to music while I am editing photos or just on the computer in general and tend to come across that get focused song. Today's "I'm Focused" song is by Timbaland, Keri Hilson & Jay-Z called Rumors.

This song fits perfectly because people will always have something to say and you can't control what they think let alone read their mind so you might as well continue working towards your goal because those doubters will be the same ones with their hand out saying they helped you out from the beginning. Suuuuure...Okay...If they do say that you untruth you can always tell the people, Hey Its Just a Rumor...

Timbaland - Rumors feat Jay-Z & Keri Hilson

*song courtesy of www.thesmokingsection.com

I Could Use Somebody...

Each day, God/The universe/"they"/life/ or whoever, gives you a basket of lemons to start with and its your job to figure out what to do with those lemons. Some might have the audacity to complain by saying, "why didn't I get a basket of apples or oranges" but I say in this life be happy that you are getting anything at all because truthfully there are four types of scenarios that can happen when it comes to this thing we call life or in this case, having these lemons.

First case scenario, some people will get this basket and continue to live a sour and meaningless existence, accepting life just as it is, meaning they eat the lemons just as they are without trying to change or adapt to them.

Scenario 2 would be other people will slice the lemons to make ice water with a slight flavor of lemon, meaning they may just be content with their life as long as they can dibble in a flavorful existence once in a while without having to do too much extra curricular activity and continue on by only maintaining in their comfort zone.

Scenario 3 would be a person chooses to take that Iced water with lemon, add sugar and make lemonade. Although you do put in a lot of work to make yourself happy, something on the inside just doesn't feel right because you are consumed with selfish intentions to be happy while knowing something or someone is missing.

Scenario 4 is to take that lemonade you make and offer it to other people meaning you share your happiness with others, whether it be for a profit or just because you want to share your ideas and gifts with the world.

Stop Selling Dreams is a site much like life scenario 4, I have certain jewels that I am continuously picking up along my quest to become the next Gordon Parks, Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz so I feel the need to share my stories, beliefs and findings with people so they don't have to make the same mistakes that I make along my journey.

Every day you have challenging life scenarios brought to you that can change the comfort level you are used to, but its up to you to decide what your reaction will be and how you deal with these setbacks.

I am a Scorpio which means, at times I can wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I can also at any time cover my sleeve up with a jacket as well. I feel the need to share in this particular case because I am again at a crossroad and need to write as a way to release in order to read and comprehend as and for advice to myself (if that makes any sense).

I just found out my Father's Father just passed away. My grandfather "Slack" Harris. I am hurting right now, but not in the typical, emotional way you would think but more as a vulnerable, don't-know-how-to-feel type of way.

I am not looking for sympathy, empathy or anything of the sort, but what I am looking for is motivation. Motivation to keep going, knowing that eventually we all must die and everything we think is important really is not and everything that we think is not important really is. Basically reevaluating my life's goals, values and beliefs.

Without going to deep into the situation, I am My father and he is his father which makes me my grandfather and knowing that it makes it hard to function with one another because, in a sense, I talk to a mirror when certain scenarios arise.

Although I have experienced death and it hurts for sure, it wasn't until yesterday, that I only had two people CLOSE to me pass away and now with my grandfather this would make three.

During the first two hard times, there were certain songs that were intertwined with this particular period. My mothers father passed when I was 15 and at the time Bone Thugs - Crossroads was the song of the time. Forever I have that song to bring me back to May 18Th 1996. The second was my Mother's Mother February 1st 2008 in which Justin Timberlake - Until The End Of Time featuring Beyonce has become a time portal to that day.

Now, October 19Th will always be linked to Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody, because at this point in time I could really use somebody, but the question is for what? An ear, support, a shoulder, or just to not be alone? These 3 songs serve as a time machine, a portrait and a pressure release valve for 3 very important people in my life.

Listening to Kings Of Leon on repeat makes me realize this is one of those situations where I have to figure out what to do with this basket of lemons I have. I have been down this road before, and actually you would think it would be easier to deal with because I have experienced the death of a close loved one previously, but since I do in fact know what to expect, it makes it even harder because I know what the pain feels like and I know what emotional roller coaster ride feels like that I am about to embrace.

I can honestly tell you, last night I was already upset about the Yankees AND Chargers losing clutch games and right as these so called "tragic moments" unveiled was the same time I got the call about my grandfather. At that moment, my thought process of "everything" changed, including life goals.

Right now as I wake up realizing last night was not a dream, I am emotionless, non-energetic, unmotivated, and just not compelled to do anything, including not wanting to be lazy. Which is the reason why I feel the need to share that I don't know how to feel because it feels like nothing matters and I have to re access my life's direction.

This is the worse way to feel because misguided energy can be the worst energy ever. To that thought, to you and for me, I say, "keep going!" Find the motivation you need to continue on your journey. No matter what, find it, take some time, breathe deeply and find your motivation. Don't let the loss stop your journey.

To sum it up, I will definitely say what a difference a day makes. Yesterday morning I woke up with that basket of lemons stressing about my own personal daily woes and had to use a song from Young Jeezy - Don't Worry (I Got This) to get my day started and today I woke up with Kings Of Leon on the brain because I really could Use Somebody.

Whichever life scenario you choose to live, the most important thing to remember is to make sure you have someone there that can help you through your trials and tribulations and also to make sure you tell them you appreciate them for being there, because at any moment they could be gone.

Flaunt Friday...10-16-09

Here we are again for another adventure in Flaunt Fridays...I think this a great photo set this week and my new photography assistant Rebecca is really working out. She has great composition and is developing a great eye so be on the look out for her work.

Flaunt Fridays 10-16-09 Photos HERE...

Paranormal Activity...I wonder...

Hype. Marketing. Buzz. These are all terms I'm sure we are familiar with. If you are a owner of a product, business or you are a "talent" and don't have one or all of those things, you could potentially be considered just an amateur, but with talent, a killer marketing team, hype and a street buzz even if you are a no talent worthless bum, you can still be successful because with proper marketing, you can promote crap and still make it a hit.

This is the exact reason for www.StopSellingDreams.com, to erase the hype about something and uncover the actual truth if this "something" is worthy of all the accolades.

Alright Kids, today's hyped up product was the alleged scary movie Paranormal Activity. For about a week straight, I had been hearing people talk about how scary this movie was. That only can mean one thing, Research Time!!!!!! I love this site because it gives me a reason to enjoy work by researching pleasure.

I went to finally go see this movie after about another week of trying to round up the troops brave enough to encounter this phenomenon, if its that scary I wasn't going to go alone, who goes to the movies alone anyway? What's funny is the movie takes place in San Diego, so that made me more excited to go see it.

Without giving to much away, the movie did indeed have "creepy" parts but for all the Internet buzz and street talk it recieved about how scary it was, after going to see it, I was less than pleased. I am not hating at all, there were times in the movie where I was like, Awww heck naw, that's some madness right there!

(Translation: I'm jumpy, but I'm still cool and I hope no one noticed me fidget because it didn't last that long anyway).

Overall to be like wow this movie is soooooo scary, I don't necessarily agree with.

I DO think you should go see it for yourself, I will give it that, but I wasn't just scared the whole time. I can't think of a movie which had me like that in a long time.

Flaunt Fridays...The Residency

I am proud to say that I have picked up a new weekly endeavor in Flaunt Fridays. And I will say, shooting everyone Eelse's events is Always a good thing because you become well rounded, meet a lot of people and become very connected, but when you can launch, promote and host your own event is always even a better thing because its something that you can be proud of.

Flaunt Fridays is a new modern day upscale hip hop spot in the Gas Lamp which is hard to do. San Diego is very conservative and playing one type of genre of music brings a certain crowd no matter what the genre, so a lot of clubs play what you call mashups to keep everyone happy.

I am proud to be a house photographer for Flaunt Fridays seeing as it combines my 2 favorite things: Upscale & Hiphop. (Like I said in San Diego is a hard thing to do, not impossible, but definitely a challenge.)

For these posts I'm Just gonna post the dates...10-09-09

Circus @ Voyeur

Something new, different and fun is always a good thing, especially when things potientially can become repeative like weekly routines such as going to work, clubbing and and lunchtime restaurant menus. (Random but true, ha).

Last Wednesday at Voyeur brought something fun to the nightlife scene by mixing the clubs high energy dance music with a circus-esk performance including stilt walkers and a circus ring leader hosting the event. An enjoyable, packed night to say the least, brought a capacity crowd to Voyeur night club. As an event photographer, I tend to shoot alot of the elite, special, one time and profound events and covering this event was business as usual.

Circus had a lot of help with some of San Diego's top event promoters and also one of my mentor's Jesse Arryo's birthday was celebrated as well which made for a great night.

Check out the photos from Circus @ Voyeur Here...

Jay Sean in San Diego...

Jay Sean, an uprising R&B Cash Money Records star, who has hit the #1 spot on The Billboard Hot 100 single list, stopped into San Diego's Gas Lamp District this past week. Eager fans got a chance to see him perform his number one single Down as well as some of his other fan favorites.

Jay Sean will perform with Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg on Oct 17th in Las Vegas for "The Justin Timberlake and Friends Concert Benefiting Shriners Hospitals For Children" at Mandalay Bay.

Until then Check out Jay Sean Photos Here...

Jamie Foxx @ Stingaree

Having a career can be a stressful yet, exuberant, up and down roller coaster with perks as well as disappointments but it all goes into realizing that you are working towards a goal.

With all the trials and tribulations intertwined in being an artist/photographer, I can honestly say I always love this specific part of the job because I get a chance to do one thing that a lot of people don't and that is CAPTURE the visual memory through photography.

This past weekend was business as usual when Jamie Foxx rolled through town as part of his "Blame It Tour" San Diego stop. Mr. Foxx hosted his afterparty at Stingaree where he greeted fans and cheered on about his past trips to the infamous TJ back in the day.

Although I am a professional photographer, there are certain times when I have to confess "hey, I'm also a fan."

My motto throughout the event was "Get the job done, but enjoy the memory by taking a picture to make it last longer."

There were fun times for sure and I have to give a special thanks to Shane Brennan, Jay Brown and all my Stingaree colleagues.

Without any further delay, here is the moment frozen in time...Jamie FOXX photos...

Rapper Shyne Released...or was he...

It really is amazing to me how time flies. In 1999, I remember specifically when Jamal "Shyne" Barrow was one of the hottest rappers in the hip hop world fully emerging from the Notorious B.IG.'s shadow and becoming a superstar in his own right.

But I also remember that detrimental night where fate took place and Shyne got caught up in the "life" by living out his rhymes and protecting his "investment/people" by firing a hand gun in a packed New York night club, therefore ending his reign and sending him to a 10 year prison sentence.

Some people believe the same people/investment he attempted to protect is the same team that abandoned him. Now whether you are Team Diddy or Team Shyne, you have to admit each person is responsible for his or her own actions.

I do however believe everyone deserves a second chance; fast forward 10 years and here we are, today Shyne was supposed to be released from prison but apparently due to some immigration laws he may be deported to Belize. Talk about the ups and down.

I know he has a lot on his mind and is anxious to let the people hear what he has to say. I can't wait for some new material to be unleashed to the public. Until then, I guess we have to stay tuned to find out what will happen!

Read more news on Shyne Here...

and Here...

In The Studio with Keak Da Sneak & C-Hecc

To say it plain and simple, my passion lies between music and art by using my talent, photography, to combine the two. I think people from the Bay Area can appreciate this studio session featuring San Diego Rapper C-Hecc and the Bay's very own Keak Da Sneak.

Working closely with Ridiculous Entertainment and Full Clip Studios, I got a chance to get some behind the scenes shots of the rappers collectively brainstorming for their collaboration track coming soon.

Being from the Midwest, it was good for me to see the Bay and San Diego coming together for a common goal and great cause which was making music for the people. I have heard that Nor-Cal and So-Cal usually don't mix too well, but when they do it's good to see them getting it in!

Studio Photo Session pics here...

Afterhours @ On Broadway...

I have to admit that being a photographer in the industry, or "the scene" as we industy heads call it, I get alot of perks and advantages as well as an insider edge on certain things some people may not know about which I am very, VERY appreciative of.

This is the life I chose, but to be honest, by me also being a consumer during this financial crunch, it has also made me realize, if you can get an advantage or an extra edge take it.

If someone whispers from around the corner "Hey buddy, I have the hook up on...," you might just want to think about checking out this magical offer, unless of course the jerk was selling dreams or you were in Tijuana, then you might want to back away slowly...ha!

Anyway, I love going to VIP private parties, meeting playboy models in the Palms Hugh Hefner Suite and attending almost any type of after hours events (because we all know in California the party ends at 2, so we gotta keep the party going some how!)

Alright, I know afterhours isn't really that special but its still an advantage that a lot of people don't have so I take privilege in knowing I can be apart of that elite crew.

Check out the photos from On Broadway's afterhours with Sharam Here...

*sidenote, usually at afterhours there are no cameras allowed so, here's your advantage...and

you can thank me later... ;)

Blackberry and Adobe Flash...

Uh oh, talk about leveling the playing field. If there is one thing I will admit is that the iPhone is most definitely a great wireless device.
But on the same hand, I will also admit that Blackberry is just as good of a device.
Obviously, there will always be pros and cons to each device and I really don't want to get into this Coke, Pepsi, iPhone, Blackberry, Mac, PC and Canon or Nikon debate right now. All of these products are superior and it really is to each his own or else these products wouldn't be a part of fortune 500 companies.

Hey, this site is dedicated to erasing the hype so I won't hype any of them up. I will say that Blackberry finally getting Adobe flash will definitely give an edge to RIM up on the wireless battle for supremacy. Believe me when this happens, I will be the first person streaming imeem, as well as a few other "flash" sites from my blackberry! Ha...

Check out more info on Pocketberry...

Flaunt Fridays...Grand Opening

With so many spots to choose from on a Friday night, its always good to bring something new and fresh to the strip. Flaunt Fridays is the newest weekly event to step forth into the Gaslamp district.

This week will be busy so make sure you get your walking shoes on to keep up with all the events!

Photos from Flaunt Fridays HERE...