I Shot With My Camera, A Gang Member Shot His Gun. JUST 100 YARDS AWAY.
The word "shot" takes on an entirely different meaning when you're a photographer.
Instead of shooting messages to your friends, shooting a nerf gun, or even shooting down an idea, you're shooting people with your camera!
I'm a photographer who does a handful of portrait shoots each week for clients in my area of Southern California.
This past week, I had one of the most enjoyable photo sessions I had ever done!
It was for a senior from Valley Center High school who had a passion for surfing, football, and baseball. He was such a fun and dynamic guy, it was easy to get some killer shots of him. As I told him during our shoot, work doesn't feel like work when you're playing on the beach with cool people.
Here are a few of the fun shots I captured while we were at the Oceanside Pier:
I thought these photos turned out great, and this client was so great to work with.
But while we were under the pier, we heard what sounded like gunshots.
We stopped for a second, and looked over to where we heard the noise come from, but were too far away to notice anything significant happening.
However, when we were finished shooting our photos, and as we walked back to our cars, we noticed several police cars with their sirens on just 100 yards from the pier, where we were taking our photos.
Then we heard some of the homeless men running by saying that someone had been shot.
What a scary feeling!
We were so close to the shooting, I've never really experienced anything like that before.
Sure enough, when I googled what had happened, there was a man who had been shot 5 times and killed by gang members due to a gang related issue. I heard from my brother that he was shot right in front of his pregnant girlfriend.
Here is a link to see more information about the murder:
I know this murder was gang related, and that these were probably not the best of people, but I can only imagine seeing my husband shot right in front of me. I would be completely shattered to pieces.
Because of this experience, I have spent a little more time thinking about the longevity of life and to value every single day, because we truly don't know how long we have. I'm sure that this pregnant woman expected her boyfriend to meet their child in the near future, but now that's out of the question in this life.
I encourage you all to hug a little tighter, smile a little longer, and tell your loved ones that you love them because we never know how much time we have left with them.
Xoxo,
That's sad to read about the murder.
I heard from my brother that he was shot right in front of his pregnant girlfriend.
That's real upsetting!
Your photos are beautiful!
Good job on that!
Upvoted!
Thats so sad.. What a life aultering day!
Sketchy, you must be livin' on the edge in Oceanside...
https://discordapp.com/channels/319885228464406528/319885228464406528
Sarah, you need to join this!
Wow, glad your both fine! Great story! will resteem!
It was a little bit of a shocker!
Oh I BET!
Your shots are stunning! And that's a sad story with a nice reflection. Take care!
Thank you so much for your upvote! I appreciate your kind words. I haven't been able to put as much time as I'd like to into Steemit yet, but I really enjoy creating high quality content. I look forward to learning the platform better so that my content can be better recognized. Cheers!
@sarahjanele Great story. Upvoted and Resteemed <3
Thanks so much for the upvote & resteem! I appreciate it :)
Anytime <3 Followed for more beautifully captured drama :') <3
That's quite a story, and some good ole' beach life photography too! Resteemed, followed and upped. Good, thought provoking, interesting read.
Thank you so much for the upvote and your compliments! You're too kind.
My pleasure. See you in the steem!
Its things like that that makes me nervous when I'm out shooting, especially at night.
YES, I totally agree! I am so over-paranoid about things like this. Always looking behind my back, ready to strike if anyone jumps out of a dark corner!!
Seriously. If I was out shooting at night, I wouldn't want any cameras on me either! ;)
I was in San Francisco a few months back out side my hotel taking some photos at night of these cool key shaped post along the road. As I was shooting, these three kids came running by towards the hotel parking garage. I was like weird but what ever. About 30 secs later some lady and guy came running by. I was like this isn't good. Long story short, the lady was waiting on an Uber ride and these kids grabbed her phone out of her hand and ran! They caught one guy but the ones with the phone got away. So ya, you just never know whats going to happens. I'm just glad the OP wasn't injured.
Sometimes we have those moments where we appreciate life a little bit stronger.. I did a photo shoot in Berlin with two amazing girls... in one of our locations we notice gun shots holes in the wall that we were just standing next to it. To this day I don't know how old they were but I know one thing.. if someone would shot to us in that exact moment when we were standing there all of them would hit us... it scary to think how faith sometimes keeps us safe. Danger is not really so far away from us.. we just like to lie to ourselves that we keep ourselves enough save to avoid it. Stay save brother and can't wait for another cool shots! :)
Wow, thanks for sharing! That's definitely an experience that puts things into perspective. Wise words too!
Where is that gang member that everybody is talking about?
Apparently the gang member from my story got away and has not been found...
Dammit I thought finally some action lol
Well here's something interesting for ya...
My mom was walking towards where I was on the pier just after the shooting happened, and as she was walking towards the pier (where the shooting happened) 3 scary looking guys were walking swiftly towards her on the sidewalk, away from the scene. She had to actually get off the sidewalk to avoid getting run over by them. It turns out, the suspects of the murder include 3 gang members.... just like the ones my mom walked past! So we like to think that could have been them! Scary!
He is probably sitting next to me at the burger king!
I sleep with one eye open ;)