Aaron Hoops Photography

Nature and Knowledge

2010-12-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

This project is pretty special to me. I tried to show how we have so much knowledge about the natural world, but everything we learn only leads to more questions. We have libraries full of books to explain what nature does every day. Books go on and on but nature isn't bound by language. It does things that takes scientists generations to put into language. It is so easy as a scientist to get caught up in charts and graphs and publications, but an overwhelming awe of the beauty and complexity of nature is what drove our quest for knowledge of the natural world in the first place.

Life cycle of a leaf

Leaf to Flower to Fruit

These flowers belong to the family that these books discuss. Emphasizes my point

Sort of an idea I had about a library of nature. Instead of checking out a book to learn something you go and check out something alive and learn about it by looking at it. Get out of the lab and remember why you like biology

The little details are what people spend their lives on. But there is so much more than that

Caught up in graphs

You may not be into it. You may not get it. But its important to me. Thanks for looking and much love.

I Don't Recommend This

2010-11-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

So last night, on my way back to Riverside after being in my hometown for my lovely friend Kelli Mayer's birthday party, I decided it might be fun to hydroplane in my car and crash. In retrospect, I really don't recommend doing it.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life. It was pouring rain and I wasn't driving over the speed limit, but I just hit a patch of water in the road and since my car is so light, lost control. Everyone always says how they see their life flash before their eyes. I didn't see that at all. I remember the moment that I knew I had started to hydroplane and lost control and was really hoping I could just go straight and eventually my tires would catch and I'd be fine. But, thats not what happened. I have no vision or memory at all of what I saw while I was spinning. I remember realizing that I was spinning and trying to correct the spin and standing on the brake pedal. But I don't remember seeing headlights, or the wall that I hit, or other cars, or anything. I remember feeling everything. I felt the spin of the car and definitely felt hitting the guard rail (thank god the center divide was the metal rail and not the cement divider which I'm sure would have flipped my car over), I remember feeling my head bump the side of my car but not hard, and I remember the song that was playing (I don't need to know by City and Colour...pretty good song to crash to). But no visions. Nothing flashed before my eyes. When I finally came to a stop, after 1.5 or 2.5 spins I don't remember which, I checked my surroundings. Realized that, thankfully, I came to a rest on the shoulder in the center divide well in the mud out of the way of traffic. This is good because I found out later that my front tires were looking at each other (intersecting planes...exactly the opposite position that tires should be in). I couldn't have moved my car if I wanted to. LUCK OUT #1. I then immediately checked myself out. Remembering that I bumped my head, I felt my head for a gash or blood because I knew with the adrenaline pumping through me, I could probably pick up my car and move it and definitely wouldn't be able to feel a tiny cut. After some inspection, I was totally fine. LUCK OUT #2.

As soon as I could form a coherent thought, I realized that the growler (64 oz refillable bottle) of beer I got from Green Flash Brewery in Vista, was still in the front seat (not broken, LUCK OUT #3?). I knew that the CHP would be on the scene soon and there is no way they would believe I hadn't had a drop of alcohol for 10 hours if I had a half-gallon sitting in the front seat of a crashed car. I immediately grabbed the bottle by its handle and flung it into the trunk of my car as if they were walking up to me. At this point I had been crashed for maybe 30 seconds. Right after being afraid of beer in my car after a crash, I reflected for a minute. I laughed a bit to myself at how crazy it was and how lucky I was to be alive let alone totally unscathed and that I didn't hurt anyone else. Then I kind of chuckled about nothing flashing before my eyes and I kind of felt a little cheated by not getting that.

So after hanging out for a bit, I realized I couldn't sit there all night. I grabbed my phone, which was surprisingly still in my cars door handle where I always put it. And of course, no service...emergency call only. BUMMER #1. So after about 3 minutes of swearing at AT&T, I decide to dial 911. I couldn't even dial out to 911. That emergency call service is a total LIE! So I get out of my car and stand in the pouring monsoon and flash my lights at oncoming traffic and wave my arms to try and flag someone down. Eventually someone stopped. I got excited and as I turned to jog down to their car to talk to them, I dropped my phone and, of course, it landed in the gutter of the freeway. I literally watched my phone float down in a tiny river of water like a little foil boat kids make to sail in the gutter. BUMMER #2. I snatched it up and tried to dry it off. After I got down there, they were able to call 911 and had a tow truck on its way.

When I was sitting waiting for the tow truck, it all kind of hit me. I got a wave come over me of tons of emotion. Everything happened so fast I didn't really stop to think how close I was to dying. I could have easily had my car roll and tumbled down the freeway. I could have easily, instead of spinning to the left and into the guard rail/shoulder of the road and mud (LUCK OUT #4), spun to the right into traffic and hit someone. Aside from that, I kept thinking about what it would be like if I died. I had 2 dollars in my wallet, my grandma's glazed carrots recipe in my back pocket (Thanksgiving!), and bevy of random items in the trunk of my car (tent, camp axe, broken tennis racquet, headphones, tripod, etc.). What would my family and friends interpret from the items left in my car? Would they assume I was drunk because I had beer in the car? What would they tell their friends? It was a pretty surreal experience.

The tow truck arrived pretty quickly. Loaded up my car. Then we were off like a prom dress. I called my brother to pick me up and he came and took me back to my parents house to sleep off the adrenaline. I crashed a little bit after 12 AM and got home by about 1:45. I didn't sleep until 3 I was so wired.

You learn a lot about yourself when you are in a crash. I am not going to be one of those people that now assumes every day is a gift. Acting like every day is a gift is really just calling everyone else shallow for not appreciating life and getting bogged down with problems. But I will say that I learned several things. You know how on an airplane they say, "In the event of a water landing, your seat cushion doubles as a floatation device." I learned that a stock feature on the '09 Honda Fit is that in the event of spinning out of the freeway, the seat cushion doubles as a toilet. But honestly, I have never been more happy to hug my family in my life. It centers your life. As soon as I came to a stop I wasn't thinking about the jobs I have applied to, the papers I've published, the photos I've taken, the cool places I've been, or the pretty girls I've flirted with. My only thought was about my family and how scared I would be if anything happened to them. I have to say though, I'd be pissed if I died. I just spent 6 years and close to $150,000 getting 2 degrees I am not using...but I at least want to live long enough to not use them.

I have always joked about dying around this age. I always say how I am reaching my peak dying potential. Like I had died in this crash, people might have said, "He was so young!" "He had such a bright future ahead!" "He had so much potential with the education he had!" But if I am 50 and haven't really done anything people might say "Well he was still a little young but, I mean, he he didn't do anything with his last 50 years."

After going through that I am just glad I lived to fight another day (and that I didn't spill my beer!). My father was a cat. So I was born with 4 and a half lives. I guess I'm down to 3 and a half.

VROOM!

Soccer

2010-09-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

UCR had a soccer game last night and I hadn't taken a photo in a million years. So I decided it would be a good idea to go take some pictures. I realized shortly after getting there that soccer is super hard to photograph. It moves really fast and is really unpredictable and they are either 100 miles down field or right in front of you. Either way, here it is.

Postsecret

2010-08-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you read Postsecret.com but you should. It's a pretty cool project that I have been following since 2003. Every week people mail in secrets on postcards and some of them get posted on a blog every Sunday. I came across this series of polaroids sent in as secret. It really made me stop and think. Anytime you take a photo, you are telling a story. Whether that story is, "BUY THIS" or "THESE PEOPLE LOVE EACH OTHER" or "THIS SUNSET IS BEAUTIFUL" or whatever it may be. Some stories are simple, some stories are sad, some stories are long, and some stories are funny. But what happens when there are things you just can't put into a photograph? What if its a thing that takes you 1001 words to describe? There are some things that the best photographer in the world couldn't portray in a still image. But then I remembered that the story is yours to create. That's the beauty of art...whatever you can take from it is what you are supposed to get out of it. If that person saw a photo of their grandfather, they would remember his laugh, his smile, his smell, his hug. That is the power of art. It makes your brain connect things that you wouldn't before, or sometimes, tried to forget. I just thought it was fun to stop and think, "what are some stories I've told?" "what story am I not telling that I should?" "what things just can't be photographed?" I'd like to think anything can be photographed...but there are certain things in this world that shouldn't be disgraced by being reduced to a photo.

Much love kids.

Lindy & Drew

2010-07-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Lindy and Drew are two awesome people who have been and will be together forever. Shooting with them was so much fun and they were such cooperative clients! We had a great time shooting around the UCR campus and botanic gardens.

Much love kids

Scott and Chelsie Slideshow

2010-06-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

So at the wedding I just did, my second shooter, Josh Rodstein, took some video of the groom, Scott, seeing the bride, Chelsie, for the first time in her dress and other wedding regalia. We decided it would be cool to make a slideshow with video clips mixed in. So I threw this together last night on iMovie. Never used the program before but it's pretty fun. I might do more of this. Enjoy!

Scott and Chelsie from Aaron Hoops on Vimeo.

Chelsie and Scott

2010-06-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

Chelsie and Scott are such a fun couple. Their wedding perfectly displayed how a simple backyard wedding can be elegant and fun. They were such easy going people it made for a really stress-free day. I loved shooting them and their son, who is adorable! My good buddy Josh Rodstein joined me as a second shooter at this wedding and he NAILED IT! I tried to get a ring shot of their son, Mason, holding the rings but since he is a just a little tyke everything in his hands goes instantly into his mouth...so you get an even cuter shot than you had originally planned! Thank you Chelsie and Scott for having me and being such awesome clients!

Much Love Kiddos!

Kenny+Jessica+Little Frogs=Great Day!

2010-06-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Man, some days you just never expect. I feel like I have done a goodly amount of weddings and kind of have a groove and a rhythm. But its life's little surprises that makes it all worth while. I showed up at this wedding thinking it would be normal. But I forgot that I was shooting with the great Dylan Mayer. He always keeps me on my toes and I learn sooooooo much from him. The thing that was crazy was that Dylan decided it would be a good idea to catch the little frogs that were around the lake. "Get me like 5 frogs." I kind of just laughed and went on shooting. "You got those frogs yet?" Dylan says. "Are you serious?" I couldn't believe my job that day would be to catch frogs. "Yeah man just get me like 5. It'll make a dope ring shot." I sort of took a deep breath and grabbed a cup. As I am bent over trying to catch frogs I had a rather humorous inner monologue. "I have a Masters degree in plant biology. I am a decently smart fellow. I am on my hands and knees at a wedding catching frogs." I sort of laughed to myself and realized that anytime Dylan has sent me to do a crazy adventure like this...the photos turn out amazing. The wedding was super fun and I had a great time hanging out with Dylan and getting back in the groove of shooting. My frog shot didn't turn out super great...mostly because I was doing the frog placement and Dylan was doing the shooting. Check his blog HERE for the true awesomeness. Enjoy!

Gualala

2010-06-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Every year on Memorial Day weekend my uncle Eric goes camping in Gualala, CA. I try every year to join him. It's such a beautiful place and provides the sanctuary and solace that my soul needs every so often in order to keep me from straying any deeper into insanity. I had such a great time kicking back with my family, playing some guitar around the campfire, and enjoying the outdoors, I didn't want the weekend to come to a close. But, I find myself back here in Riverside. Somehow I am more functional than I was when I left. Sometimes with all the craziness of life you forget what its like to just let your soul breathe. I was able to snap some photos while I was out on some walks and such although that really wasn't the aim of the trip in any way. I considered even leaving my camera at home but with countryside as beautiful as it was, I am fairly certain I would go insane if I wasn't able to take a few pictures.

Uncle playing cards.

Brother and Cousin.

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

2010-05-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

UCR baseball games are really fun. And the light that hits the field during the evening games is pretty spectacular. Either way it was a good excuse for me to get out of the house, enjoy some beautiful Saturday evening weather, take in a bit of the national pass-time, and play with my camera. Sounds like a pretty damn good combo!

Don't Be Afraid, Be Still

2010-05-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

I snapped this picture a couple days ago while taking some pics in downtown Riverside. I happened into this little bead shop (weird, I know) and this radio was on the floor blasting Guns n Roses. I put the camera on the floor and snapped one and moved on. When I looked later I absolutely loved it. Something about it is really calming and kind of reminds me of older, simpler times. I am almost positive this radio is a reproduction and not actually old but just something about the warmth of the photo and the stillness of it just really made me love this picture. Anyway, I hope you kids enjoy as much as I am....and if not, Alt+F4 {or command+Q for my fellow applets :) }

PADRES!

2010-05-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

I just got back from an amazing day at Petco Park watching the Padres wipe the floor with the Brewers. Snapped a cell phone pic from my seat. We had amazing tickets thanks to my good friend Heather Schneider. It was my first baseball game of the season and reminded me why I love baseball so much. As always San Diego weather never disappoints but it was actually a little chilly in the shade. Damn! Those ocean breezes ruin everything. Being downtown reminded me of what a great place SD is. Maybe I should look for work down there...

Anyway, enjoy what's left of your weekend kids.

UCR Botanic Gardens

2010-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Anytime I get the chance to get out and go to the botanic gardens it pretty much makes my day. Anytime I get the chance to get out and go take pictures it pretty much makes my day. When I combine the two, and add in the company of my good buddy and fellow photographer Josh Rodstein, my day is definitely made. Here is a couple shots I grabbed today.

Blake-O

2010-03-28T10:59:00.001-07:00

My cousin Blake Kueny needed some senior pictures done. I can't believe this kid is graduating. I remember when he was born! I am old. Hopefully he likes the pictures, otherwise I am fired from cousinship.

Borrego

2010-03-14T19:13:00.001-07:00

Just got back from an amazing weekend in Borrego Springs. Wildflowers were unbelievable and it was just good to get out of Riverside for a bit. Heres a couple fun ones for ya

Tennis

2010-03-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

I decided a want to shoot some more sports. It seems fun. UCR had a tennis match and I love tennis so I decided to shoot it with my good buddy Josh Rodstein.

Softball

2010-03-03T17:45:00.001-08:00

Don't let the name fool you....these girls play hard. Was walking around campus and stumbled onto the game and decided to take some pictures.

UCR

2010-02-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

I needed to take some pictures since I hadn't in many moons. So I shot a little bit around UCR. These are the results.

Good Day in the Life of Aaron

2010-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

Today is a great day. First off I filed my tax returns and am getting back a lot more than I thought I was going to. So that's always nice. On top of that my BUSINESS CARDS came today! They turned out as decent as I could have asked for doing it online. Check out the pics!

That's the back

And the front

Super stoked. You shall be receiving some shortly!

Holiday Recap/New Year

2010-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

This is the first blog of 2010!

I went to Vegas for the new year and had fun with friends. Before that I had xmas down in San Diego and got cool camera gear from santa! Also my good friend Dylan Mayer and his wonderful wife Kelli took me to see Sherlock Holmes which was awesome!!! 2009 was pretty decent. Got moving on this whole photography thing, finished my first year of grad school, and spent some good times with some good people. I'll throw in a pic of vegas just to make this blog post a little more interesting. Cheers kids and happy new year!

water show--2.5 second exposures are hard with no tripod...but I am just that good!

An Editorial Review

2009-12-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

I wanted to put a collection of some of my favorite editorial style shots in one place. Just as a break from wedding stuff. Hope you all enjoy!

Matt and Sarah

2009-12-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Two of my friends got engaged and are totally retarded for each other so I offered to do some engagement shots for them. Super fun day! Hopefully Sarah's mom approves of the photos :-)

Matt and Sarah sneaker peeker

2009-12-14T13:42:00.001-08:00

Matt and Sarah rocked it even though they felt awkward...more to come later today...stay tuned!

Wheat

2009-12-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

So this is my real job. Took a couple photos for the UCR botany department photo competition. So much fun to be had with a tripod and a remote.

Cocktail Party

2009-12-06T14:07:00.001-08:00

Every year the lovely ladies of Celeste throw a classy cocktail party. It gets a little wild. Good times.

Part-ay

2009-11-21T22:41:00.000-08:00

One of my good friend's step-dad turned 50 and they had a HUGE bash. It was super fun and hopefully they like the pics!

Fire Time...

Birthday Boy

ME AND KRISTEN!!! finally we have a picture together...

Kristen dipping into the moose piss.

Getting wild...

Grandma was tearing it up on the dance floor!!

Moose Piss...consisted of about 3 gallons of alcohol and 2 gallons of various mixers...went through 2 batches...

Pretty sweet B-day present!

Matt and Cara

2009-11-16T17:33:00.001-08:00

Matt and Cara had such a fun wedding out in Palm Springs. I am stoked that I got to hang out and shoot and enjoy great food. No one fell in the pool that was in the middle of the venue...which from a photographic standpoint was pretty disappointing, but I am sure all the guests were glad they were dry.

Big Bear

2009-11-01T19:52:00.001-08:00

Every year my family goes up to Big Bear Lake and hangs out and fishes and relaxes. This year I brought my camera and snapped a couple shots when I wasn't pulling in trout!

Sneak Peek

2009-10-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hey kids! I totally stole this sneak peek idea from the great Dylan Mayer, but since I have to wait to blog the whole set up pictures I will just throw up one to keep you all interested. So here is a sneak peek of the wedding I shot yesterday with Mike Lewis. It was in Palm Springs at a really nice place and the bride and groom were a photographers dream. They gave us almost 2 hours to do the pics...super sweet!

More to come soon. Check back in a week or so.

New Flash

2009-10-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

Tonight I am gonna buy this beauty. I am pretty excited about it....not really excited about the price tag. Anyway, look for cool photos of me playing with my flash to be posted soon!

NEW WEBSITE!!!!!!

2009-10-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I am incredibly excited right now because I just made my very own website. I think it turned out pretty well. Obviously I will be making changes to it from now until the internet blows up but as it stands right now I am really happy. Please go check it out and let me know what you think.

Much Love

-Aaron

http://aaronhoops.com <--------CHECK IT OUT!!!!

Josh & Whitney

2009-10-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

This wedding was tons of fun. I got to shoot and hang out with two of my best friends Dylan Mayer and his wonderful wife Kelli Marie.

There are the Mayers dancing the night away! They are goofballs...

Jordan & Ayla

2009-09-28T11:05:00.001-07:00

Jordan and Ayla had a really fun simple wedding with more friends and family there than you can shake a stick at. And they had delicious mexican food! This makes for a happy Aaron...

Josh & Rachel

2009-09-26T22:16:00.001-07:00

Josh and Rachel had a really fun down home country wedding. It was pretty hot, but I battled through it.

Paint

2009-09-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have a friend. Said friend has a brother. Said brother is an artist. Said artist had an exhibition.

Travis & Lindsay

2009-08-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Went to the bay area with Dylan Mayer. Shot a really fun wedding. Unfortunately it was about 100 degrees outside and somehow I decided it would be a good idea to wear all black.

Bay Trip

2009-08-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Because I have such awesome friends, I was able to head up to the bay area this weekend and second shoot a wedding for Dylan Mayer. Our fellow travelers, Josh Newton and Montana Dennis, also have a wedding in the bay area. So far it has been an awesome time. Here are a couple shots.

Smokey

2009-08-23T01:01:00.001-07:00

My friends found a kitten. They are trying to find it a home. But until then...I'll take pictures.

Washington Trip

2009-08-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the great state of Washington.

Nick and Adrianna

2009-08-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Second shot for a new friend Tim Bearden (Wedding By Photo) . Good food, Good fun, Decent pictures.

Amanda & Steve

2009-08-02T23:40:00.001-07:00

Had the opportunity to shoot with my good friend and photography mentor Dylan Mayer (www.alamood.com) and we had an awesome time! Check Dylan's blog for his pics. Here are a few that I got that I liked.

Jon's Triathlon

2009-07-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

My brother did a triathlon in San Diego this weekend. 400 meter swim, 9 mile bike, 5k run. He finished and did pretty well.

Ponto Surf Sesh

2009-07-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ponto was pretty big so I went with my cousin Blake and shot some of his friends, Brent Reilly and Gabe Garcia. Got some ok shots considering I have never shot surfing before.

A Chronicle...

2009-07-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

A few favorites over the past 6 months or so. Not really great...just some pics I like

Pamela

2009-07-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Pamela was one of the nicest people I have met in this industry. Super fun girl and we ended getting amazing shots!

Raquel

2009-07-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Raquel was really fun and we got some good shots even though it was a thousand degrees. She was a trooper when I made her crawl through bushes and walk around in the heat.

Bethany and Caitlin

2009-07-13T00:14:00.001-07:00

Shot in downtown Encinitas area. I had a really fun time and snagged a couple winner shots.

Christy & Kenny

2009-07-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

My other mom got married. So I wanted to take some pics as part of my gift to her.

Caitlin Shoot

2009-07-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Caitlin was nice enough to let me and Dylan (alamood.com) shoot her and her friend Rory. Had tons of fun and got a couple decent shots