It's been an absolutely pleasure working along side the amazing team of trainers and founder of GRIT BXNG this year in creating promotional material which showcases their badass trainers, gym and what they signify. View the rest of the gallery. 

"Sweats & Balances ("S&B") is a community that connects like-minded, career-driven women who are passionate about fitness and who strive to be their most healthy, balanced and successful selves" and recently they partnered with Callie for a rooftop event at The William Vale hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for an amazing sunset workout which I had the pleasure to photograph.There's never been a time where I've photographed a fitness event where I haven't walked away connecting with at least 2 people afterwards. Love it!

One of the challenges I’ve found in collaboration with personal trainers on shoots is the process of finding a schedule time that works for both of you. Their schedule alone is very demanding which fluctuates based on the amount of clients they may have on any given day anywhere which could be anywhere in the city.

Nevertheless, I absolutely love working with trainers because they inspire me through their profession to live a healthy and active lifestyle myself. I met Anastacia over a year a go at a fitness event in Union Square and since then our intentions to plan a shoot haven’t necessarily lined up until now.

View the full set of of our impromptu photo shoot. 

I don’t watch a lot of TV. In fact, I can’t recall a show I followed out of sheer entertainment with the exception of NBC’s The Voice a couple years ago. 

On any random season, at the beginning, there was no particular artist which stood out yet but the common theme that intrigued me more than the performances was this whole aspect of finding yourself as an artist.

 Out of thousands of contestants, none of them would have made it this far if they didn’t have the vocals, the charisma or natural born eagerness to want to be a singer. That’s already a given. What isn’t obvious is in seeing who each of the contestants were artistically yet. At that moment, they sung songs simply because that was the central theme of the show but I failed to see a great deal of uniqueness as far as their delivery.

 Regardless of what type of artist you are, personal style is essential if you want to succeed and avoid being labeled as “another performer” or “another” of anything.

Every week the contestants were given different songs to perform and very often it’s not so much about whether they sounded good because in reality they all have amazing distinct voices but the real differentiator came in seeing who was able to personalize something that wasn’t theirs to begin with.

I think we all have heroes and we often aspire perhaps too much to sing, draw, photograph or to do anything like them but that’s not how things work. If you’re serious about wanting to do more with your music or photography or anything, I think we should all be able to easily respond to the question of what specific type of work we genuinely want to create.

 It’s not enough to say you want to take photos or that you want to be on a stage. What’s the point of being on a high-rise platform if you’re unsure on what you hope to deliver? I get it. You may not know yet because it is a discovery process which takes time but it’s an ambition we should always have in mind.

 The ideal case would be having found your personal style, spend days, weeks or years polishing your craft so well to a point where there will be no one who can possibly create art the way you do. Even then, as a creative, we’re rarely satisfied with just settling with what we’re initially recognized for because there’s always that impetus inside of us to evolve.

 You can’t force yourself into working in a certain way. It has to come natural to you and in return, what you yield will be as high caliber as your delivery. As unconventional as Lady Gaga may have seemed at the beginning, she more than anyone knows who she is. Her style defines her and her music classifies her at being the best in her craft.

Nick Onken is a photographer, podcast host, and creative entrepreneur who's career I've admired and followed for the longest. In fact, it was through his work that I discovered myself what I enjoy photographing the most which is people.

Whether it's on his podcast, on Instagram or even through the written word, he's always been very transparent with the up and lows of his career and it's that honestly that's hooked me with paying attention to everything he chooses to share one of which is this video I came across where he mentions how "the creative industry really is a lonely place, especially as a photographer." My only gripe is that I wish it was longer.

Becoming a pro doesn't mean you're a workaholic. It means that you’re good at making time for what matters to you — especially when you don't feel like it — instead of playing the role of the victim and letting life happen to you.

Here's something I'll admit I don't do enough...socialize. Yes, I do realize the importance of it and I do what I can to place myself in situations that allow me to do so but in the end the entire concept of going out to party doesn't appeal to me. I never feel like I'm missing out on anything. Instead, I attempt to focus on things that matter to me so while it may seem like I'm always working I view more as a road that's leading me to something more meaningful rather than trivial things.

Whether they were born there or not, I've never come across a Colombian person who hasn't spoken highly of their country. After doing research, I quickly realized how close it to New York (5hr flight) and how such an ideal destination it would be to vacation with the family.

Colombia itself is a vast country, so eventually one has to decide on the type of vacation you want to embark on because that will determine the best region to visit. For us, we're beach addicts so Cartagena was a no-brainer. It's a Caribbean city brimming with culture, bright colors, delicious food and of course heat!

Feel free to explore the photographs from our vacation!

Drives me crazy in the most optimistic way how sometimes the most simple advise can offer such deep perspective in those moments when you need to hear it:

1. Never go more than 3 days without exercise 
2. Wake up early
3. Make time to read every day
4. Work harder than you did yesterday
5. Think less
6. Give more to people
7. Spend time with your family
8. Smile more

Fitness coach Chantha Thach based in New York and 6-days out before heading out to California for competition which she ended up winning 1st place! View full set here.

One of the difficult parts about being a photographer is that you can't fake what you do. One can fabricate ideas of what one hopes to photograph or how far we wish to travel to create the work we feel best illustrates our talent but if all we do is talk and write about it without having actions to coexist with our statements, then people will surely see through that.

Unlike a writer, there's only so much we can do as photographers with our laptops sitting pleasantly behind a desk. We spend this enormous amount of money on our camera equipment alone for a reason and it’s sure as heck shouldn't be for the purpose of bragging that we own it. There's no way around the fact that a photographer is identified by the work they produce out in the field and not what they daydream about in the comfort of their mind or in their office.

I've been victim of falling into this trap in the past. The value of an idea is not simply having purely conceptualized it. The face value of it lies in the ability to execute it regardless of what comes out on the other end other than knowing that you experimented with something you've been thinking about way too long.

Beginning anything is grueling. Saying that you haven't because you're absolutely busy is worst.

This is not to say I'm not pleased with anything I've photograph thus far but I've noticed that the more I read, the more people I meet the more I discover the type of work I'm drawn to and the more pressure I feel to dedicate time to produce work that's a direct result of my inspiration as oppose to daydreaming too much.