Wil Fernandez

Week 9 : Exploring New Orleans

Wil Fernandez — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:34:09 +0000

After Jazz Fest ended in New Orleans, I had a few more days to explore the area and see more of the outskirts of the city. I had my Winnebago parked at Bayou Segnette State Park, which is just over the river from the city center. Gladly, that allowed me to have the best of both worlds – close enough to go anywhere and do anything, but still secluded and quiet when I wanted to get some rest. Sid, my Jack Russell Terrier, met up with his first armadillo there and I also stumbled on some interesting flooded areas under the highway that passes over near the entrance to Bayou Segnette State Park.

While I was in New Orleans, I met up with some old friends and made some new ones. The locals were extremely friendly, open to being photographed and very proud of their city. I got some tips from them and had a chance to experience a less touristy area uptown around Oak Street and ate a wonderful “Nawlins” dinner at Jacques-Imo’s Cafe, where I popped in to the kitchen for some candid shots of the staff.

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Week 8 : Jazz Fest in New Orleans

Wil Fernandez — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:50:52 +0000

This was my first time in New Orleans and found the crowd in town during Jazz Fest to be full of fun-loving, easy-going, music enthusiasts. I’ve never been so comfortable roaming the streets of a bustling city at all hours of the night, snapping candid photos of people. Normally, I feel like I need to warm people up to the idea of a lens in their face – but in New Orleans during Jazz Fest, those barriers seemed to be absent.

In just one night, I had conversations with tipsy school teachers, spotted some mustached ladies in the street, grabbed a late night enchilada from the back of a pick up truck and enjoyed on an amazing musical performance by Soulive.

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Week 7 : Back in Houston

Wil Fernandez — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:04:29 +0000

After a week back in LA, I flew back to Houston to continue my eastward travels, first spending a few more days hanging with the locals that I had met.

I spent some time sampling beers at Flying Saucer “Draught Emporium” in downtown Houston and was lucky enough to check out The Big Easy, a dive of a jazz club with a fun-loving, energetic crowd. The interesting thing about that night was the seemingly mismatched couples that I found dancing together there.

I also went back to the Last Concert Cafe where some glow stick dancers joined the drum circle. While I was there, I played around with some low light shots in the seedy surrounding area. The street lights gave the scene a great feel; “urban etherial” as a friend put it.

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Week 6 : Coachella Music and Arts Festival

Wil Fernandez — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:54:41 +0000

My sixth week on the road actually led me back to Los Angeles while my Winnebago (aka “home”) remained parked in Houston. I had a few meetings and errands to take care of and decided to head out into the desert for Coachella Music and Arts Festival while I was there.

It was great to meet up with my friends at Full of Life Flatbread, who were selling their wood fired flatbread pizzas in the VIP area of the festival. I ran into a few people that I knew as I roamed the festival grounds, which is actually the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA. Luckily, one of those people was my cousin from Miami, who had a shower in his RV.

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Week 5: Houston, Texas

Wil Fernandez — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:47:14 +0000

After a week on Galveston Island, I returned to Houston to do a bit of exploring. I had originally intended on hitting a few restaurants and museums, then moving on to Louisiana; but after meeting a wine broker that was tied into the local scene, my trip took an interesting turn.

Giggle all that you want on this – I had a blast playing bingo on a Tuesday night with hundreds of other Houstonians. Believe it or not, I actually won a game and seemed to bring some good luck to the group I was with – several of us went home with cash in our pockets!

I also learned about a Mexican restaurant with an outdoor stage in a seedy part of town that has live music until the wee hours of the morning. There I met some interesting characters, many of whom were there to participate in the drum circle. (from what I heard, if you bring a drum, you get in for free).

Getting to mix with the locals in Houston was awesome – so much that I wound up staying another week to see what other oddities I could uncover.

click to expand photos below: 1: Bingo in Houston 2: A Funky Mexican Restaurant 3: Drummers Gather 4: Kate, the wine broker

Week 4: Galveston Island Texas

Wil Fernandez — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:26:09 +0000

After a few days (and some long nights) in Austin during South by SouthWest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference, I linked up with a few high school buddies. We drove to Houston for the Houston Rodeo championships – which was definitely an experience. I was expecting guys riding bulls and some cow calves getting lassoed. What I didn’t know about were events like chuck wagon races and bronco riding (which seems terrifyingly horrific for the rider). The most unexpected event, before moving on from the rodeo ramble, was “Mutton Busting”, better described as “little kids riding sheep”. (google it!)

While I was there, I learned that Galveston Island, which was at the tail end of a Spring Break influx, was only 45 minutes away. After my friends left Houston for their respective home-states, I headed out for Galveston – where I received a warm welcome from a few twitter-ers (tweeters? twits?). Specifically, RoShelle Gaskins with the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, who tweets as @galvestonisland and Christine Hopkins, who handles PR for the Hotel Galvez, The Tremont House and Harbor House Hotel.

I ate at quite a variety of restaurants Galveston, a town that is still in recovery from Hurricane Ike in 2008. I got a chance to meet Executive Chef Jerry Helminski from Bernardo’s (in the Hotel Galvez) before diving into an amazing Sunday brunch buffet. On a completely different end of the spectrum, I had fried pickles for the first time at The Spot, a biker-friendly shack overlooking the sea wall. (which was built after the hurricane of 1900 that devastated the area).

My initial intention was to spend a night or two on Galveston Island, but after a few days parked on the beach at Galveston Island State Park, I just couldn’t pull myself away. The entire island is very dog friendly, so Sid and I had a blast running on the beach several times a day. I wound up sticking around for almost an entire week!

My favorite photos from that week aren’t the most beautiful aspects of Galveston Island, but rather reminders of the devastation that hit the island two years ago. Many of the locals, including some of the State Park Rangers, explained to me that recovery from Hurricane Ike has been slow due to limited Federal aid.

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Week 3: Speeding Through New Mexico

Wil Fernandez — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:14:48 +0000

After discovering that there was snow on the ground in Flagstaff, I decided to change my route slightly and head south, along the Mexican border. A few extended stays at remote spots in the Arizona desert had me zipping through New Mexico a little quicker than I would have liked to. South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas was approaching quickly and I had plans to meet some childhood friends that were coming down from Pennsylvania.

I’ll definitely make my way back to New Mexico, but not this time around. Next stop – Houston.

Photo of the "Recycled Road Runner" at a rest stop in Las Cruces, New Mexico where I spent a night in the Winnebago. It was over 20ft tall and made of old shoes, bags and other trash.

Photographing Kaelen at the Pismo Dunes

Wil Fernandez — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:28:35 +0000

As I mentioned in a recent post on my Pismo Beach trip, I had an idea that I wanted to play around with in the sand dunes, but I needed a model. Luckily, a local student, Kaelen, was brave enough to venture out to the Pismo Dunes with only a loose concept and the promise of some head shots to add to her modeling portfolio, which she’s developing for fun. In situations like this, where my concept really wouldn’t help the model get exposure or build their portfolio, I will try to capture some additional shots for their book.

I asked Kaelen to bring a few items from her closet that she has hung on to, but never really worn. One of the things that she pulled out when we were deciding what to bring out to the dunes with us was an odd-looking knit top that was long enough to be a dress. I immediately saw potential and we tossed that in with my gear, along with some scarves that she had with her.

We knocked out the shots that I needed for my project (which is still in my photoshop queue) and started playing around with some images of Kaelen for her portfolio. The natural light out on the Pismo Dunes was amazing that day. And I was right about the knit top.

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Week 2: Las Vegas and Wickenburg, Arizona

Wil Fernandez — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:17:37 +0000

During my second week on the road, I stopped in Las Vegas to take care of some administrative fun, including registering my motorcycle and picking up my veteran license plates for the Winnebago. When I was in Las Vegas a few weeks prior, I discovered a great location to park an RV right on the strip, so I stayed there again. It’s a great feeling to go out in Vegas and have the cab bring me “home” at night.

After a friendly Apple employee heard about my trip, he hooked me up with a spare battery for my MacBook Pro. I left the Apple Store in Caesars Palace with money in my pocket, so I decided to sit down at the roulette table and proceeded to win $800 – a sure sign that it was time to leave Las Vegas!

I picked up the next morning and headed for Arizona. Las Vegas was…well…Las Vegas, so I was ready for some relaxation. I heard about a desolate place outside of Wickenburg, Arizona from a truck driver while I was getting gas and set off to explore. It had just rained in the desert, so the area was unusually green. Sid, my Jack Russell Terrier, loved the area – aside from the cactus spines – which he never seemed to be able to avoid. We stayed parked in the middle of nowhere for a few days and hiked out in a different direction every morning. I promised myself that I wouldn’t leave until I climbed Vulture Peak, which we finally got to on the 4th day.

One aspect about having an RV that I really like is that I can stock up on supplies and head into the wilderness for days or weeks at a time.

Here are a few shots of the area around Wickenburg, Arizona where I stayed for a few days – you can see the Winnebago in the background of both images with Sid in them and in the other image, the dirt road that I came in on. (click to expand images)

Photographing Jason Alexander as Donny Clay

Wil Fernandez — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:09:52 +0000

While I was heading east on my road trip, I spent a few days in Las Vegas and popped in to see Jason Alexander at Planet Hollywood, where he is performing a new show that spoofs on self-help gurus. A few months ago, in preparation for the “Donny Clay Experience”, I was involved in the production of some of the video segments that were filmed to support the show and character. Getting the chance to meet Jason Alexander, who also hails from New Jersey, was exciting. As many people who were alive in the 90′s, I’m a big fan of his work as George Costanza on the show Seinfeld.

The production that I was involved in also starred Don “Hollywood” Yates, who you may also know as “Wolf” from the show American Gladiators. In the skit, motivational speaker Donny Clay proves his commitment to commitment by staying connected to Yate’s testicles for several days. I included a few stills from the production, which can be seen as part of the Donny Clay Experience at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas for the next few weeks.