It feels like all I do is play DotA and nothing else. But I saw the last blog and it reminded me that I did a shit ton that week. And looking back… I did a shit ton last week as well.
I wish I made money doing all I did… but it was an awesome Ensenada adventure.
And after all, I could make money from all my work.
The excuse was work.
Fuck it.
I want to play some more DotA.
I did it. I ignored all of Wednesday and played DotA all day. I’m a bit DotA obsessed. I could play all day today as well. I have a gig in San Diego though. It should be an easy and well paid gig. I’m taking my studio lights and my drone just for kicks. Overkill. But always go for the best. That’s my new thing. Let’s see how it goes.
I don’t like Andy Warhol. I don’t think Andy Warhol liked Andy Warhol.
Fame is a weird thing. Even weirder in the modern context.
Kim Shantal.
Chapter 28.
Most people I know don’t know who Kim is.
I didn’t.
But most people I don’t know do know who Kim is.
At least 10 million followers on her IG and more on her TikTok. More importantly, a million subscribers on YouTube.
I went to drink beer at Madueño Brewery. There was a kid filming the brewery and I happened to be at the door. He was pointing his cell phone my way for his show. I was saying hi to the bartender who signaled me that he would be right there to let me in. The kid thought I was waving at his phone video and waved back.
I played it like that was it.
He sat near me with a flight of beers. When he was done, he started telling the bartender about his YouTube beer show. I couldn’t help but ask him what the show was. He told me and went to the bathroom. I heard “PunkyDee” and looked him up. Nothing.
After that, I asked him again. It was MonkeyDeeShow. Here. I subscribed and told him my channel. He looked it up and saw I had 166 subscribers and said that was a lot.
Hah.
That’s fucking nothing.
1 million is a fucking lot.
Fame.
I don’t want it. I just want the money that goes behind it.
I stopped doing Drinking Beer with Matingas. I got busy. I wanted to make it better instead of just in my space and in my underwear. It didn’t go anywhere. I stopped. Until Bobby came over and I had a bottle of mead to drink. This was on my birthday. This was the result.
I’m not sure how Kim feels about her fame.
How does every famous person feel about their own fame?
For a while… it was all I did. Follow famous people around and take their picture.
You can read about it in my book. Here.
If I translate the book into Spanish, Kim is Chapter 28. And Alfonso Dosal. And Tamara Vallarta.
I thought that my friend had over 100k followers was a lot of crazy fame.
Nope.
10 million.
And that’s probably not enough. Is there ever enough?
I think I’ll be happy with a nice 10 to 20k. That would be enough to drum business in my area and make decent money.
After shooting Kim Shantal and befriended her… the thought of having so many followers haunted me. It was an in between fantasy and nightmare of what it would be like. I had a path for 2021. It didn’t involve Kim Shantal. I pushed it back. Ignored it. But when checking my Instagram and seeing that she posted the pictures from the set (not the ones I took), my heart would skip a beat. Maybe this it. Maybe this is the key to selling a shit ton of books.
And nothing.
I was finally on a week of nothing. I finally was like, I gotta post these fucking pictures…
And… nothing.
Kim was just like the rest of the models I worked with. She hated some pictures. She loved some pictures. I loved all. It was tough to decide. Looking back, I wish I did way more. I wish I directed. I wish I had my lights.
From over 1,000 pictures… here is the result.
It could be so much better…
I liked what I did with the titles. I like tennis:
Post 1.
I really want to do a tennis photoshoot and take my Elinchrom lights.
Post 2.
Post 2 wasn’t meant to be post 2, but post 3. I woke up to a message by Kim telling me that I posted the picture that she didn’t like. At least she was nice about it and said, “that’s the one I didn’t love.” I deleted it and apologized. I sent more options and she didn’t like the other options as well. Post 3 was already approved. So post 3 become post 2.
Post 3.
The original post was her laying on the court with oranges. The angle was weird and her legs looked small. I liked it. But I liked it better if I got on top of her (non-sexually) for the photos. I didn’t dare. I didn’t direct. I knew it would be a better and not weird angle. But I didn’t do it.
She liked that picture instead… and to be honest, I don’t really like that one… So, it happens like with the rest of the models I work with. Sometimes I like pictures they hate, and they like the ones I don’t really love. Oh well.
Photography life.
That’s how much thought goes into Instagram posts. And that bothers me way too much.
Ensenada Adventure.
What an adventure.
I also did it for Instagram posts. Or more like prints. And also because I told my friend Gaby I would do a photoshoot.
The idea was to find the shipwreck. The Vicmar. And get the lunar eclipse super flower moon setting on the western horizon while the sunrises on the eastern at around 5 a.m. The only risk, getting cloudblocked.
I got cloudblocked.
Apparently, most of the people in the pacific got cloudblocked. But we still made it work.
I reserved a small trailer in Playa Saldamando for $65 the night. The trailer had no electricity, blankets, or toilet paper. It did have running water but it went unused. Bigger and nicer trailers cost $75. I rather do a bigger trailer next time.
Overpriced, but a mile away from the shipwreck and the best way to get to the shipwreck near dawn.
I picked up Gaby in Ensenada and headed to La Guerrerense’s spin-off restaurant, Sabina. Those pictures are on my other Instagram. The foodagram. That one is already almost at 3k. Food and review there.
These are also meant for Eater. I should write that guide soon. I said I will. I started the draft, posted the pictures, wrote the title… then did nothing. I shall get that finished this week. There are some Ensenada places missing and that’s probably what is stopping me.
After that stop… we went to Astillero.10, a new spot near the beach. I happened to meet the chef the previous day, so it was perfect.
Though I wasn’t very hungry… I managed to eat most of that. I wanted to get back to Playa Saldamando for dusk so we can have a photoshoot with the Elinchrom. This was the result.
That’s Gaby shooting me after I shot her for a while. I learned valuable lessons with my Elinchrom Ranger RX that day. More than anything, that the battery is very sensitive. I was worried for a while it wouldn’t work…
After the Elinchrom ran out of battery, I did a few long exposures as we hiked around Playa Saldamando. The full moon peeked behind the clouds for a few minutes. I wanted to go to bed early to catch the moonset at dawn. We never saw the moon again. Only clouds.
At least clouds make for great sunsets and with the Elinchrom, the results can be fantastic
Those were the shots I got of Gaby. It was a lot of fun. I really want to take my Elinchrom outside more often… and that’s what I’m going to do today!
Ahh fuck me.
The border line is a fucking disaster today. It is almost everyday. But Thursdays should be chill. FUCK ME!
Oh well. I can manage it. It’s a nice photoshoot and well paid.
The clouds ruined my plans, but I still wanted to go to the fucking shipwreck. It’s not an easy trek. The shipwreck sits between “Salsipuedes” bay (ironic) and Playa Saldamando. The path is exactly where they were fixing the road. There was no nearby parking. I’m not sure how other people get there. But the easiest and safest for us, was to park in Playa Saldamando and walk on the highway until the small path.
The path is treacherous one, but at least someone built some wooden stairs (careful, they are flimsy, signs of decay, and some steps are already broken).
But once there… It was lovely.
Again, Gaby taking pics of me after I took pictures of her.
Drone action and the popular shots. I wanted to fly close. Fly close I did. And three fucking seagulls came out of the ship like pirates defending their booty. One was adamant on destroying my drone. So I flew it back towards me quickly and the seagull came coming. I crashed it again.
I have crashed the drone three times now.
Mother fucker still flies. That’s some DJI Mavic Mini quality.
And Gaby by the shipwreck. Ooeee. If I took my Elinchroms there, shoots would be epic at sunset. But again, dangerous trek. I want to do it again. But it would also be an adventure.
The adventure switched from Gaby to Kelvin. I left her back at her place and I went to Kelvin’s to shower and to spend my second night (and adventure) with him.
We went to Cervecería Cardera just to pick beers to go but bam. We bumped into the brewers (who I had just met as well) and they told us we could have some beers there. Here is the result.
Cardera has quickly became one of my highest regarded beers in Baja. Quality is amazing and their turista turmeric berliner is fantastic.
We visited Muto after… and oh my. I definitely want to go back here.
Ensenada has better sushi than Tijuana and it’s cheaper… The roll wasn’t my favorite but the rest were on point.
We were tight on time, Kelvin had a show at Transpeninsular. So I couldn’t try more places I wanted to try. Here’s Kelvin playing live with his band Lauburo.
Kelvin is a fantastic and versatile guitarist. You can hear him go all over the place. His drummer is super into Dream Theater, and you can hear a lot of that as well. And the bassist was tapping and doing more what Tool would do. Singer was fine, but I’m not much for bands with singers (like Dream Theater). But overall, fantastic performance and I got some killer shots (they have only posted one).
After that, I was already exhausted. I didn’t sleep well the previous night. We had a long hike. I took a shit ton of pictures…
But Kelvin wanted me to check Syncópa Brewery… new place in Ensenada by the bassist of his band others. I remember the beer was good but I was too exhausted to even think of what was going on.
The following morning, after some tea with Kelvin, I came back to Tijuana with a shit ton of pictures to edit and tired as fuck.
That was my Ensenada Adventure.
It was followed by a Tijuana Adventure.
On Saturday… I had a Tijuana tour with Jackie Bryant cannabis girl extraordinaire and fellow writer in San Diego. She told me she went to school with Lohan. Crazy times.
And the fame.
Crazy fame.
Life goes full circle.
This post needs a feature image.
Here it is, the shipwreck from above with some Luminar edits:
If you enjoy my blog and all the other stupid shit I do, subscribe to my Patreon so I can continue doing it! Patrons get full access to all my high quality photos as well as special requests to whatever you want. My Patreon is still growing so perks will increase and will get better in time.
Thanks to my patrons for making this blog and Matingas life happen!
The more patrons, the more adventures.
Matingas 