Kindergarten. That was way back in 2002 or 2003. I remember being the guy that played the keyboard for a Circus we had. It was fun. I took lessons through either third or fourth grade. I really like playing for fun. I remember back when I was in first grade, we had the opportunity to play something on the piano when we had our snack. I remember a classmate being silly and just randomly played all the low notes on the piano.
When did I start playing percussion?
Fourth grade back in 2006. I remember the day we were able to try out instruments. The only issue was that I had this herbst appliance thing in my mouth so it would be pretty difficult to play any other instrument besides percussion. I did have the piano background which helped. The guy asked me to play a scale on the bell kit which I messed up and I think even a drum beat on the snare. I was the only percussionist from my class. There were only 16 people in my class and only maybe nine of us (maybe ten) chose to play in beginner band. I have been playing now for about 12 years now.
What percussion gear do I have?
Drum Set
Basix brand five piece drum set. It came with a set of Royce hi-hats and a 16 inch Royce crash
Zildjian 22 inch ZHT Ride
Sabian 14 inch XSR Fast Crash
Zildjian 10 inch A Flash Splash
Latin Percussion Cyclops mounted tambourine
PDP by DW 800 cymbal stand (2)
Aux Percussion
Tambourine I found at Goodwill
Toy tambourine from Target
Toy triangle from Target
LP triangle
Old cowbell from my Grandpa
What I think is a Taiko drum. (I got it from my grandpa and has dragons painted on the side)
Train whistle
Other Stuff
Meinl Cajon
Piccolo snare
Bell kit
Ludwig? snare w/carrying case
Vic Firth stick bag (it's really big): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FP92JK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Evans RealFeel 2-sided practice pad: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FMDIXY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Drum sticks
COMING SOON
Mallets
COMING SOON
When did I first find a love for photography?
For the longest time I did not have any sort of camera to take pictures, whether it be on a phone or an actual camera. During the Summer before my senior year of high school(2014), I upgraded from a third generation iPod touch to a fourth generation iPod touch. This newer iPod had a camera on it and I started taking pictures on it. The picture quality wasn't the best simply because it was a slightly older model and zooming in made the image worse. I think it also had to do with the screen size. In September of that same year I upgraded to a smartphone, the iPhone 5s. I was able to take more pictures. That's really how it started.
What cameras do I have?
Nikon Coolpix L340. It's a zoom camera with a great zoom length. I believe its a 28x zoom. This camera is easy to use so if you want to take pictures mainly for fun this is the way to go. You don't need to change lenses or anything, it's just a fixed lens that moves in or out depending on the zoom you want. It has basic exposure controls and flash. You can even shoot video with it. Images produced are 8x10s compared to the 8x12s on most dSLRS. It requires four AA batteries, so I would suggest if you want to be taking lots of pictures go for rechargeable AA batteries.You also need an SD card. Most places tell you how much a certain GB SD card holds as far as pictures and videos go. It comes with a neck strap and a lens cover. This also allows for mounting on a tripod. Nikon D3400. My parents have a Nikon dSLR camera so I wanted one too. This was the cheapest model I could find at around $500 or so. This camera came with:
Body
Two lenses: a 70-300mm and an 18-55mm
Cap for the body when no lenses are attached
Neck strap
rechargeable EN-EL 14a battery
lens caps and covers.
This camera has all the features that an average dSLR has: exposure control, aperture control, ISO; Manual and automatic controls, flash, video. Images can be shot as JPEG or RAW, and come out as 8x12. It gets the job done and I am satisfied at what it does.
What other camera gear do I have?
Tripods:
A cheap Targus model from WalMart. It's very lightweight and after lots of use has fallen apart.
Merkury Innovations 66 in. tripod. Very well built and is taller than the Targus model.
A flexible small tripod ( I forgot the brand but I got it from WalMart). You can put this tripod anywhere, hang it off something and your camera should hold. I think it's not meant for really heavy cameras, but instead for lighter point and shoots.
Sunpak 6700M 67 inch Monopod. It has four sections. This is great if there isn't enough space to have your tripod legs fully extended. Best if used for really fast shutter speeds (unless you have really good camera stabilization).
Sunpak Travel Lite tripod. I found it at Goodwill. It has a metal build, one twist lock mechanisms per leg, and a click in place mechanism for extending the legs longer. It's slightly flimsy and the camera mount isn't the best since it can easily unscrew.
Memorex tripod. I found it at goodwill too. I haven't used it yet but has the tab locking mechanisms for the legs.
Lighting
NEEWER CN-216. This device acts as another light source for taking pictures or just as a flashlight to see where you're going in the dark. It mounts to the hot shoe mount on you camera. It uses six AA batteries and seems to drain them quickly. It has an LED indicator letting you know how much battery is left. You can adjust the brightness to your liking. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ0RGD0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Camera Bag
Lowepro Format 150 camera backpack. I wanted something I could carry on my back like a regular backpack since I was going to ride around to places on my bike with my camera or just walk around in the outdoors. I didn't want something that would hit against my side all the time. This bag has a front zipper pocket to hold small things like microfiber cloths or instruction manuals. I use it to carry my flash drive and hard drive. On the inside (on the other side of the front zipper pocket) is a slot to put things in. I have my camera manual in there and have pens/pencils hanging off the side. In the main part of the bag there are fabric-y pieces with velcro on the end so you can customize the size and shape of the different sections of the bag.
Case logic basic camera bag. It's very basic with a main section that can probably only hold a body of a camera. There are two identical pockets on the side where I hold extra batteries. I mainly use this if I run out of room in my Lowepro bag to store extra camera gear (usually lens attachments).
Lens Attachments
UV Protection Lens Filter and Polarizing Lens Filter. Both are Amazon Basics brand, so cheaper than most other brands. I got a size ᴓ55 and a size ᴓ58 each to fit both of my lenses. Polarizer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNMXRUW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 UV: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNMWP1Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Tulip flower lens hood: *THIS IS FOR NIKON LENSES 18-55mm and 70-300mm* https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVD2TTP/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Soft Rubber lens hood: *THIS IS FOR NIKON LENSES 18-55mm and 70-300mm* https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FWPNGPV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Remote Shutter
Nikon ML-L3. This is pretty tiny and could easily get lost. It has a small carrying pouch for travel. I found it only works well if it's pointed towards the front of the camera when triggering it. That's my only downside. it does come with a battery. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007EDZG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1