Official LaMonica Pictures Website

Watch for monthly additions to the Merchandise Collections   Music gear for sale can be seen at the link to the right /gear   

Visit my YouTube Channel for sample music and video previews    https://www.youtube.com/user/lamonicapictures

I spend 90+% of my time working to help other people achieve their goals and dreams. This leaves about 10% or less of my time to focus on music or photography projects. Thank you for your patience.

Here's a basic rundown of "about" going back to the early years to give you a better understanding of where I am now. 

Growing up in the 1960's and 1970's, I was fortunate to be part of the last free range kids that had freedom. I always had an interest in music and photography and creating all kinds of interesting things. 

*Music began with a kid drum set, transitioned to a Bass in high school which was far too much shaking in the house for my dad, so I started playing guitar. During this whole time, I customized several Basses and experimented with the electronics. Music in that respect ended around 1982. It wasn't until the digital era of cameras took a foothold by 2005, that I slowly started to slip back into making basic backing tracks for digital video projects and started doing custom electronics and builds. In 2021 I took the plunge to get some tunes out, starting with 3 rally songs instead of previously written songs. I felt the Rally songs were more important to let people know where I stand in this ~ WAR ~

*Photography began when I was old enough to use a camera. I took a lot of pictures in elementary school and all the way into my late-20's. Those days were the film era and I slowed up on photography until 1999 when digital was making its way to abolish film. I stood on film ground until 2006 and I can honestly say digital was a revolving door of buy-upgrade-sell until I jumped ship in 2010 and stopped letting the client tell me what to use. I'm now free to use what I want. 

*Cars - Not everyone has a love of classics, but I do. Growing up working on those engines with Carburetors and simple engineering was so much better than some of the vehicles I've worked on that are computer controlled with a dozen plus sensors. I'm thankful I have the knowledge to do my own repairs, because the cost of having your car worked on today will cost you a weeks pay or more. 

*Houses - Here's another go broke if you can't fix it yourself area. Now in 2022, the cost of labor has tripled in many trades with some even more. Thanks to the deep state, cost of construction materials has done the same. I was lucky to have learned all aspects of construction and built several houses and restored many pre-1900 homes. 

*Computers - Yeah, I'm not a fan of electronics, but in today's world, they are the main means of creating and distributing content. I made a point to learn about how to build and maintain them. The same is true for when I made my first web site in 1999 with the first computer I got specifically for scanning slides into digital files for submitting to end users. 

*Knowledge is power - If you can live simple and have even basic knowledge of how to save money during life's many challenges, you'll find you are living in a less stressful situation. I don't know everything and I certainly don't go around pretending to either. I've learned so much in the last 50+ years and I'm still learning. It takes money to live, but I don't live for money. I saved other people and myself millions of dollars in expenses during my journey in life and because I took time to learn how to be as self sufficient as possible, I'm able to live a simple low debt lifestyle. Thank you to my parents for all the life lessons to survive.

My personal lifestyle is in sync with old school culture. I use modern technology if needed, but prefer to keep it simple. I am not a big cell phone person. If I get a couple of text messages and calls a week, that’s a lot. Threw my TV out back in 2000 and don’t miss it. I grow my own vegetables in raised beds organically, I can/freeze many of these vegetables, make jams and even made maple syrup. I stay active, put in a lot of hours doing property maintenance, mowing, gardening, working on equipment, vehicles and any other unexpected situation that may arise. I’m a Humanitarian at heart and have spent most of my life helping others achieve their goals and dreams. If you ask anyone who knows me, they will probably tell you I’m a one of a kind person who is caring and willing to give my time to assist others in need. Many life experiences that have made me the person I am today and looking back at the road I have traveled, I can only say that you can never have enough knowledge. Everything I learned along the way has helped myself and others to avoid unnecessary expenses.

The 2 vehicles I have are a 2001 Honda CRV and 1974 Dodge D100 pickup. - *Some of the 2001 Honda CR-V 2.0L projects - Top end head replacement clean intake while I was at it, complete exhaust, axles, struts, alternator, brakes, tires, fuel pump, distributor, fuel line, tune ups, timing belt and so on. Some of my 1974 Dodge D100 projects – Pull out dash and spray interior, remove and install seat seat belts visors arm rests, pull trans new clutch, pan, shocks, brakes, tune ups, replace carburetor, new distributor, alternator, starter, exhaust, tires and so on. I also was able to rebuild a weed whacker motor that seized up by cross referencing the bearing number. That bearing was $7 in Amazon. I’m keeping everything up and running from the small equipment to the vehicles. Visit my web site to see pictures of some of those projects at the link below this. The biggest challenge for me now is the excessive salt they put on the roads that eats everything. Since 2003 I’ve had the opportunity to spend a lot of time at a location where they restored Vintage aircraft. I did a lot of their photography, was able get a good feel for the entire process from frame to flight. I even restored my 1923 Crane pedestal tub there. It never got off the ground higher than being put into my pickup to take back home, but it was the brunt of a lot of “It will never fly jokes”. Another guy I met doing the Ski Jumps works on race cars and fabricates a lot of parts there. The late Ed Geyer who I knew specialized in vintage car interiors. He did my Dodge seat, arm rests and visors.