If you’re a regular visitor to this personal blog of mine or a stalker of mine over on Instagram, you know Mikey Vibe is my best friend. Aside from that, I think he’s some sort of muse of mine too.

Idk. But I’ve probably photographed him more than anyone else in my life and I’m sure I’m the only person who’s photographed him as much as I have. Literally.

He was one of the first people I photographed when I first picked up a camera. And during the same time, he was beginning to venture off to start his own band, Deer Vibes. Aside from him being my best friend, I think the one thing that keeps me photographing him so damn much is that fact that I’m documenting him.

Yesterday, I had the honor of attending his solo performance at Dorcol for the I F**king Love SA Podcast. It was such an intimate show. He played Michael J & Foxes songs, Deer Vibes songs, and some new solo stuff. The night totally had that VH1 Storytellers vibe, but without the storytelling and just cute little banter from Mikey.

It’s been a long while since I’ve been able take time for myself to snap photos. I talk a lot on Instagram about how I NEED to create for the sake of creating. It’s therapeutic for me.

When I have no end result in mind or any need to deliver anything, it frees my mind. I get to experiment and forget about anything going on in life. It takes me back to when I first picked up a camera. It fuels me.

For me, it’s a reminder of why I continued to use a camera after picking it up in 2010. It’s my expression and voice that I put out into the world. And even at that, it’s not for anyone. It’s for myself.

So far, this blog has a large amount of photos of my best friend, Mikey Vibe. One day, maybe I’ll release a book of all the photos I’ve taken of Deer Vibes. They’re the first band I started photographing after I picked up a camera.

Music was a part of my life before photography. Once I failed and failed trying to keep music going, photographing bands became what healed me. It kept me out of severe depression.

I missed writing and playing music, but I still got to create something for what used to be close to my heart.

Here’s some snapshots from Deer Vibes’ B-Day show for Mikey’s 30th birthday over at VenturaSATX.

For the photographers interested, this was all shot on a Fuji X-Pro 2 with a 23mm lens. That’s it.

Pro Tip: Get as close as possible. Never use a zoom. Get on stage if you can. And in my case as you’ll see, have a whiskey shot with the entire band on stage during the show.

This past weekend I finally got a chance to see Deer Vibes perform after not seeing them for about a year or so. That day, I had been assisting another photographer’s wedding. Luckily, it ended early. And since I didn’t have a camera bag or memory cards to worry about, I managed to make it just in time to see them. And like always, I snapped a few photos with my Fuji X-Pro 2.

Afterwards, I had a beer with everyone and even met someone who has been following me on Instagram. I handed her my camera and asked her to take a few photos of me. And I also handed it over to another friend of mine. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I’m in the photo, I didn’t take it. Lol. I just wanted to share these memories from that night.