Sample Surplus - Collection 3

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My bro, Brett, has been killing it with Sample Surplus. We occasionally refer back to this video for the doubters. The many no’s, the haters and failures it took to get this point. And now look, life is looking great. You’ll see the glory in the upcoming issue.

With that being said, my bro just dropped a 24 piece collection. 24. 2-4. For a local brand. Well, I guess you can say global because everyone supports him, from NBA players to pro skaters. And mind you, he has an official collab with Boo Johnson that drops next week too. I’m proud to see it. Honestly. He has been working too hard to not get his flowers. I’m here for it. And of course, I do my part to help in any way possible. Enjoy the look book and some BTS photos below I was fortunate enough to capture.

Issue 003 - The Road Less Traveled

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This next issue has taken a lifetime to create. I sit down with my good brother of over 25 years, Brett Pierce, owner of the one and only and often imitated, Sample Surplus. We talk about the many failures and the evolution of what has now become Sample Surplus. Beyond proud of the drive my brother has shown to get to this point. A truly inspirational story that is STILL in the making. Stay tuned for March 2021.

I’ve been playing around with the cover designs. Here is a first look below.

Issue 002 hard copies is STILL in production. Just need a little bit more time for it to arrive in my hands.

A day in the park...

It’s been a crazy month over here! Slight delay in the hard copy magazine release. We’ve been busy packing and moving (bought a new home). Give me about 2 weeks to get things sorted and we can get this ball rolling again. I’m already working on Issue 003 for a 2021 release at the top of the year. You’ll begin seeing the rollout for that this month! As well as some other visuals I’m working on behind the scenes.

Anyways, with all this moving around we were finally able to get out and get some fresh air! The kids hit the skate park with their cousins and I was able to test out this DJI Pocket 2. I wanted to test out this fisheye but forgot I had the 85mm attached from my last shoot. My gear is spread all over the place so I need to do some organizing once we unpack and settle.

Something slight below.

SB6 Magazine: Issue 002 - Serenity (Digital)

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Last night I released the digital issue of my magazine to the world! It’s up for grabs for $1. Next week I’ll be making hard copies available as well as the official merch. You can catch a preview of the merch in the digital issue of the magazine. The hard copies will have some additional pages and bonus behind the scenes photos. Special thanks to Brian for sitting down me and doing the interview for this magazine. It was awesome to just be able to chop it up with you, catch up and just talk nerd shit—haha.

Click here to purchase your copy today and pass it along to your friends and family. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting this journey, I appreciate you!

SB6MAG Issue 002 Promo Video

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Ah man, it’s cram time! In about 24 hours I’ll be releasing the second issue of my magazine. It’s been a helluva week as I put together the finishing touches. Am I over doing it with last minute adjustments? Shit, who knows. Or as I like to say, we shall see!

I just submitted the final copy for print today (as in Wednesday). So it should be here within a week or 2. 100 copies! I’m super excited to get that into your hands.

I was able to put together this promo video for the release (see below). The song is by a good friend of mine, Your Ex. I saw him post this awhile back and I already knew this was meant to be for Issue 002. I made a mental note to reach out to him for the record. Safe to say I did it some justice. It describes the tone of Issue 002 perfectly. Enjoy and stay tuned on release details. I have some gems dropping with the magazine.

Autumn - COVID Edition

We been trying to make the best out of things here during this pandemic. Around this time of the year we normally do our pumpkin patch picking; slides, zip-lining and tons of games for the kids. This year was totally different. Shit, they weren’t even giving away your usual free pumpkins, haha! Mask up, 6 feet, and a bunch of sanitizer. Anyway, I’m not here to rant. Hey, as long as the kids have fun…all that matters.

SB6 MAGAZINE ISSUE 001 - HARD COPIES NOW AVAILABLE!

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Store update! You can now purchase a hardcopy of issue 001, BLM Series Volume 001 (for free) in the web store at this very moment. I know quite a few people reached out to me asking for a hard copy when it became available but it’s been hard to keep track. I limited the copies to 50 so grab them while you can and share it amongst your friends and family! Click here to purchase your free copy!

FIRST LOOK - SB6 MAGAZINE ISSUE 002

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In less than a month I will be releasing the second issue of my magazine, Stories by Six. If you haven’t read the first issue, check it out here. I will be reaching out to people at the end of the week and get these in your hands soon!

Issue 002 will be entitled Serenity and features an in depth conversation with my good friend and fellow creative, Brian Dunn. He dropped some major gems as we discussed industry politics and inspiration. Stay tuned to the rollout as I begin to preview a few snippets from our discussion and more!

Issue 002 cover photo is by Brian as well. One of my favorite photos from his catalog. Forever grateful to have Brian be part of this release and share this monumental moment with me. Thank you again Brian! As you can see below, it was difficult to choose between the final three images for the cover photo. I think I made the right choice that fits the theme.

All in all. I’m not sure where this magazine thing is going but I’m in it for the long haul. The fact that I’m able to use my voice and inspire others means a lot. Plus I’m just having fun piecing this together. I have a plan and I’m confident on the execution. See below for the cover of, Issue 002 - Stories by Six Magazine.

Just another shoot with the kids…

We took a break from virtual school and had our own recess. I woke up this morning realizing the kids are growing so fast and time is flying! I wanted to capture some new portraits as it begins to transition from summer to fall. This was probably one of the most difficult moments to snap pics of the kids, they just wanted to play. Not mad at it, sometimes you just have to live in the moment and not capture it.

Summer Adventures 001

The humidity finally broke and we been having some nice cool summer days lately. We turned the television off for the weekend (minus Mulan premiere) and went tree climbing at the park with the kids. As a photographer, I have a pet peeve shooting portraits with a tree behind behind the model. It always look like branches are growing out of their heads, haha. But in this case, I’m liking how these photos came out. Just the right amount of bokeh. Photos below.

Issue 002

I’ve been working on the second issue of my magazine for the past month or so. With all this chaos going on in 2020, I feel it’s only right to focus this issue on something peaceful. The Serenity Issue. It’s looking to debut around late October or early November (6)…with hard copies. I’ll be reaching out for addresses soon for those who wanted hard copies of the first issue (haven’t forgot about you). But anyways, I don’t want to give too much away. I can’t wait to share what I have up my sleeve!

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Golden Hour

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We have been trying to make it to the sunflower fields around here for quite a while. We almost didn’t make it because someone (ahem, me) forgot to buy tickets to the fields. Luckily we were able to reschedule for the next day because it’s been a rainy week and now all tickets are sold out until September. Back in my prime shooting days I would photograph nothing but sunrise and sunset shoots, so it was such a thrill to finally be able to do a golden hour shoot again. This time, with my favorite models. I had about a 30 minute window to get some shots down. A few of my favorite gems below. Can’t wait to print these out for the home!

Store Update

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What a successful week! The store is now officially out of stock of my first series prints, BLM Series Volume I. Final sales goal that will be donated to the Excellence in Education Foundation for Prince George’s County Public Schools is $1450. I like to thank every single person that contributed to this major success. Truth be told, this is the first time I ever did anything like this. To put together a photo series and release a magazine at the same time is an amazing feeling. I finally was able to let the procrastination behind and actually do something for myself for once. Damn, it feels good. And I’m excited to begin my next photo journalism journey. Details later but it is already in the works.

In the meantime, I have hard copies of my magazine that will be going out to a few people within the next week or two. And I’ll be mailing out some special collectible thank you cards over the weekend. Again, I can’t thank you enough for the support. All the shares, likes, the conversations. Let’s keep it going! Much love and respect.

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BLM Series Update

What a busy week! I finally was able to release the first issue of my magazine. I had this idea for about 5 years and was finally able to get myself together and release it. It took me a little over 2 months to put it together and find the direction to go with. I don’t consider myself a writer at all. I wanted to keep it minimal and let the work speak for itself. Positive reactions all around, so thank you to everyone who had the time to read it. Right now I’m currently finding the best solution to printing and binding the hardcopies. I was hoping to have hardcopies printed and ready to go for free with the series orders, but time wasn’t completely on my side. If you haven’t had the chance to view my magazine yet, you may do so here.

Last night was a success for my first series. We raised a little over $600 for the Excellence in Education Foundation for Prince George’s County Public Schools. The series will be closed until either all prints are sold or by August 7. My goal is to hit $1,000. I think that is easily obtainable. Thank you to everyone who has personally invested into the youth future in PG County! If you haven’t had time to visit the web store, please do so. Here is a preview of a few items up for sale.

BLM Series Volume I (Living in America)

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I’ve been working on this Black Lives Matter series for a few months now. I held back on numerous release dates waiting for that right moment. Wondering how should I package everything. Wondering what others may say. Finding the right organization to donate to and so forth. My good brother, DeNiro, sent me this track by Sault , “Living in America”. Told me to give it a good listen and once I pressed play everything started to click. I would have this song on repeat throughout the day wondering what can I do to better myself and my community.

With that being said, I've put together this series that includes 6 fine art prints and an introduction piece to The Raw Files tour shirt. I want to say thank you to Pistol “Young Choppa” Pierce for taking my alley-oop and finishing strong on this piece. You truly brought my vision to life times a million. I also want to thank my wife for holding me accountable to go out to shoot as much as possible. Thank you for your continued support and holding down the family at all times.

Proceeds from this collection will be donated to the Excellence in Education Foundation (EEF) for Prince George's County Public Schools. As a product of PG County, I look forward to finally giving back to my community with this series. The youth is the future!

Release day will be Wednesday, 29th at 7pm EST. Stay tuned tomorrow as I make an introduction to the pieces that will be up for sale.

For the Love

Rule number one, family over everything. We spent the day watching airplanes take off at the airport. Some snacks, good music and ice cream will keep these kids busy any day.

Canon Pro-1000

I purchased the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 last month and its been the best thing I could’ve done, photography wise. Paired with MOAB Paper and it has been amazing! You may wonder, “why invest in a printer?” Everything is digital and influenced by social media nowadays. It’s nice to take a break from that. Us photographers put in countless hours to capture that moment only to be overlooked with a “like” and onto the next photo. Some may be okay with that, and there is nothing wrong with that. As for myself, I’m working to stand the test of time. Being able to print your own photography has been a lifesaver. My eye has changed drastically. I now look at a frame with a printer eye, so to say. It’s truly been therapeutic to just…print. I’ll do another post another day with the actual behind the scenes of printing. I have an idea for that. But, I won’t talk you to death with this post. Here are some gems I was able to print. More to come.

BLM Murals - DC Vol.1

The wife and I finally was able to get some downtime and have our first date since the COVID-19 outbreak. We spent a day in DC to check out some murals we been wanting to see for a while. Minus the dreadful humidity, we had a great time “mural chasing”. It was a time to reflect and realize how much pain the city and the world is in. To all the artists out there, keep creating. We need you more than ever.

Vintage Surplus - Collection 2

So quick rundown on what Vintage Surplus is. Vintage Surplus is still Sample Surplus, just our vintage shirts program. What’s Sample Surplus? Sample Surplus is our printing company, Sample Supply Co. merch. Sample Supply Co.? SSC is Brett and I custom apparel company. Sounds like a lot huh? Well, it’s been a while since I last had a blog. No worries. Just follow us on Instagram and stay up to date on the latest. Here are some BTS photos from our last shoot.

KOQ Series II

About two days had passed since the KOQ shoot back in April. It was a rainy day outside. The wife just wrapped up a custom Forky project with the kids. The mood was set, boredom. I had about a 2 minute window to get “the shot” of my youngest before she gets cranky for nap time. The pressure was set. Queue dramatic music.