Photos

Posts with photos of Kaleb Nation and family, and photos taken by Kaleb Nation.

Don’t Trust Anyone: Photos From Arleta

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Arleta, California, is where the #SecretKalebBook takes place.

Last week, Ilana Zackon and I drove to Arleta so we could snap some photos in the tiny city. This was my second trip, but last year I didn’t get any photos of me actually in the place where my book is set. Coincidentally, I now live a mere 10 minutes away from the city I’ve been writing about for almost two years.

Everything is almost exactly the way I pictured it when I wrote the book. The entire city is deeply entrenched in the 1980’s, with old cars lining the sides of every street and most of the houses built before I was born. The newest part appears to be the Arleta High School, so modern and in contrast to its surroundings that it’s like a space ship landed in the middle of a desert (I didn’t get a photo of the high school… because that would have been MONSTROUSLY CREEPY).

There are thick metal fences with sharp points surrounding the houses. Every yard is guarded like a fortress, though the walls are lined with flowers.

From my 2010 trip

It’s eerie how absolutely silent the streets in the real Arleta can get, when it’s only a short drive away from the center of the mega city of Los Angeles. Some streets are entirely dead even in the middle of the day. Arleta is saturated by normalcy, and yet this very feeling of being ordinary only seems to be a thin disguise for something else hiding inside.

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From a Nationeer. Can’t wait for all of you to read the #SecretKalebBook!

Photos from my 2010 trip to Arleta are here.

 

My Night At The Breaking Dawn Movie Premiere

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Stephenie Meyer and Me

Earlier this week, I was invited to be on the red carpet of the Breaking Dawn movie premiere in Los Angeles. It’s impossible to put into words how thrilling (and caffeine-filled) my night was while spending time in one of the biggest film franchises in the world.

For those few who don’t know, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn is one of the most anticipated films of the year. As the first of the two-part final installment in the $2.5-ish billion franchise, the fans know they’re up to their final chance to be a part of the phenomenon. Over 600 people camped out for 5 days, braving the cold and rain in the hopes that they’d be placed near the red carpet when the event finally started, to see their favorite film stars as they would arrive.

A film premiere is a little different on the other side of the barricades. When you’re there as press, you are there for the stars too, but you have a job. Your purpose is to CAPTURE them, to find ways to take the stars from the carpet and send them to their fans all over the world with photos and videos and as many tweets as you can possibly type while simultaneously holding microphones, cameras, lenses and your notes. As press, your job is to be the eyes and ears of the millions of fans who could not be on the red carpet with you. They need your interviews like food.

I remember the moment the limos and sedans started to pull up, and you could hear the shouts of the crowds that lined the streets, people held back by walls and bodyguards. You can really tell who is getting out of the car based on the decibel level of the crowd noise.

 

The Source Of The Screams

The door will crack open, people will shout, quickly silence — it’s just a Kardashian. The doors of another will part, people will scream for twenty seconds — it’s Peter Facinelli. Like the Pope, the star will sometimes spread his arms open to the crowd, and the shouts will continue dutifully until his hands are finally lowered.

It’s easy to think that’s the loudest it gets when star after star arrives to similar receiving sounds. Jennifer Love Hewitt. Cody Simpson. Some guy who was famous in the 80’s that you can’t remember the name of.

But then Taylor Lautner appears. Oh the screaming. The screaming. The SCREAMING. Imagine a wall of screams and running straight in to that wall. It is like the roar of a high-pitched tsunami sweeping over a city of eagles.

The Target Of The Screams

Then the crowd is really going, the shutters on the cameras are snapping, the press people are calling for attention. Then the premiere has really started. Then you really feel like you’re in the middle of one of the biggest Hollywood events of the year.

Because honestly, there are few things more exhilarating than film premieres where actual honest-to-goodness famous people show up. Red-carpet-goers are constantly surrounded by hoards of publicists who (for reasons that fly entirely over my head) do everything in their power to block their entrusted stars from any and all possible publicity generators (AKA, me). It’s almost a game to get stars’ attention, to convince them to step over and answer YOUR question. You lean over the metal fencing and shout in hopes you’ll get an answer. Sometimes the loudest wins. It’s worth the work: thirty seconds with Kristen Stewart is about 2 million views.

I had a wonderful night with the people of the Twilight franchise.  The producers of KALEB’S NATION were also there and we got to spend time together at the afterparty. I sat in the theater a few rows from the lead star of the film, five seats from a Kardashian, one row back from the producer. I saw many of the friends I only see once a year at these events. And I slept very well that night when the caffeine crash finally hit.

See you next year, Twilight fans. — KALEB

I Am Not In Any Of My Vacation Photos

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I’m finally home from one of my rare long vacations! This time I went to Canada, then southwards to visit my family for the first time in over a year. It was a much needed break after all that non-stop, up-to-4-AM work on the Secret Project!

Of course, I’m that person who vacations for 10 days, and doesn’t end up with a single photo of himself. My friends want proof I actually took a break for all that time, because THE VACATION COULD BE FALSIFIED. Will photos of chickens do?

Phoenix Sunrise

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I was awoken in the early AM by loud garbage trucks. I got to see my first Phoenix sunrise. Now I’m not mad at the garbage trucks anymore.

A Visit To Arleta

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Recently, I was struck by a new story idea which takes place in Southern California. I’m not exactly sure if this idea will go anywhere, but writing it has given me a thrill that only comes about when I have delved into something fresh and waiting to be explored.

The story takes place in a small town called Arleta, CA. I chose this place because it is in the San Fernando Valley, near the hills, and happened to be the only town in the Valley that had a name that seemed to fit. I was visiting California over Thanksgiving and decided to take a short road trip down to where the story takes place. What followed were hours of me driving in circles, creeping houses with my camera, being followed by unsavory-looking characters, losing said characters near some train tracks, discovering that Arleta has an airport (something I hadn’t known in my mental image of the place) and ignoring the endless scolding from my GPS system. It is a rare thing for a writer to visit the town where an idea is set, and then to find that it is almost exactly as I imagined it.

I took an endless folder of photos but these seem to tell the story of Arleta from the outside — quiet, unimposing, ready to hold some secrets behind its name. After visiting, I took a short trip down to Los Angeles and the beach in Santa Monica, as this is in the story also. Then, I ventured up a dangerously winding road to the top of the canyon so I could get a glimpse of what my character sees from there. It’s odd, but a part of me could almost feel the characters there, as I wandered this place amongst a story that as of now, only I know.

The Charleston Flower

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After my quick vacation to Montreal, I flew to Charleston, South Carolina to spend some time filming a documentary with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, authors of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness. I snapped loads of photos while I was there but I’ve been so busy since I got home with editing the videos together, I haven’t had a chance to post the pictures. So here’s my favorite one so far, as proof of my travels.

I never photograph flowers, because photographing flowers is cliche and cheap and tawdry as the moon. But this one stood out enough to merit breaking my rule. The rest of the photos will be on my Facebook soon.

Salt Lake City with friends

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I was in Salt Lake City, Utah, on my book tour. I had a free day, and my friends were in town and wanted some photos of their kids. Luckily, my brand-new fancy Canon T2i is permanently attached to my side.

I had lots of fun on this year’s book tour. Can’t wait for my next chance to meet all of you Nationeers. You never know — next year, I might manage to make it to some other countries 🙂

Fun With Water

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I was recently in Los Angeles, CA, for my Bran Hambric: The Specter Key book tour, and I managed to get one free day to explore my old home city / recharge my batteries before I took these 3 remaining flights. It was rainy and still wet outside, which is actually great for some fun photos. Armed with my new Canon T2i, I snapped these shots of watery things.

Photos From Santa Monica

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I was in Santa Monica, CA, earlier and took some photos of the beach as the sun set! I had some fun playing around with them after. Enjoy 😀

Photos from Vidcon 2010!

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I just posted all my photos from Vidcon 2010 onto my Facebook page! The weekend was crazy amazing. I have video of it all but as it’s late and I’m very sleepy, I’ll edit it tomorrow.