I've visited the AvP Galaxy website since 2003.

Since I was quite young, these particular movie monsters have caught my eye. Be it though seeing a prop, a VHS cover at a video rental store of movies I was not old enough to watch, as part of a theme park ride, or action figures, I kept getting glances at a dark sci-fi world that intrigued me.


In my early teen years I would finally watch the Alien & Predator films, there were six of them at the time, now there are a whopping 16 and a TV series. Growing up in a suburban town, I didn't really know any peers or friends that shared my growing interest in these things to such an extent, so I turned to the internet to seek out websites and discussion forums with those who were also fans of these properties.


One site in particular became one I regularly visited since 2003, AvPGalaxy.Net. This became a resource for the PC Aliens vs. Predator video games I started playing back then, as well as a news source for the long-awaited AVP movie at the time. Little did I know just how much of an impact this website would have on my life and career over the years forward...

I became a member a dedicated member of the online community, chatting with others all over the world on these message boards. Before we knew it, another AVP film was on the way in late 2007. The hype surrounding that film continued to fuel the site's growth and my presence on it. In 2011 I was invited to join the moderation team for the site. In 2013, my role on the website staff expanded and I recorded my first podcast episode with the team. At the time the podcast was pretty new, and the 10th Episode was my first. Now we've just hit Episode 250 after recording for over 15 years.


Around this same time I was continuing my art studies at Utah Valley University. While I initially majored in illustration, it wasn't too long before that shifted to Photography, which I stuck with until eventually graduating. There was another member of the website at the time, Mike Monaghan, that I began to chat with online. Mike posted photography of Alien & Predator action figures on the forum, and seeing his creative ways of shooting these collectibles so that they looked life-like was one of the original sparks of my curiosity for photography.

As my photography studies continued, I utilized the skills I was learning to take pictures for the website. Increasingly we were receiving invites to press events related to new media in the franchises. In 2018 I covered the Toronto premiere of the 4th film in the Predator series: The Predator. In 2019, an exhibit opened at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.


This exhibit celebrated Alien's 40th Anniversary, and featured props, statues, production materials, and more from the entire franchise. After receiving an invitation to cover the event and interview the exhibition's curator, I flew to Los Angeles to see this incredible display for myself.


That evening I met my online friend Mike in person after many years of talking online. Mike had become an established photographer by this point and I was still in the midst of my studies. We both took lots of photos that night, and Mike helped me to see how he photographed. It was a significant photography exercise for my creative development, and it was interesting to see how each of us went about shooting the same subjects.

More events and invites kept happening, and some of these were visits I could've only dreamt of in my earlier years of fandom. I was able to visit the creature effects workshop of StudioADI, the special effects artisans who were responsible for bringing the Alien and Predator creatures to life on screen. The very people I had watched in behind the scenes materials on the DvDs of these films were now showing me around their studio.


During the isolated earlier times of the pandemic, I kept practiced in my photography by shooting various collectibles, like the ones I saw that helped spur that photography interest all those years ago. Putting together dioramas and lighting on a smaller scale further helped my photo experience. These shoots also helped prepare me for producing product reviews for the website.

Mike and I would meet back up on subsequent trips of mine to Los Angeles. Another exhibition, Icons of Darkness on Hollywood Boulevard also showcased a number of creature props from the films under dramatic lighting. Of course we both took plenty of photos. I visited a similar attraction in Las Vegas called The Movie Prop Experience which also had film-used costumes, props, and creature suits.


In more recent years, I traveled to activation events set up to promote the FX series Alien: Earth, the video game Alien: Rogue Incursion, and the film, Predator: Badlands. Each of these had impressive displays and immersive experiences that I covered with both photography and video.


Videography is another creative pursuit I'm exploring a bit more as of late. Before I was ever into still photography, I'd make home movies with my video camera and saw myself having a future in filmmaking. Video will be another topic for a future blog, but with these more recent activation events I not only captured still images, but video clips to utilize for our website and social media as well.

The newest member of our team, Hunter Goetz, has helped me capture media at these events. Like Mike, Hunter has become a good friend. An Arizona film industry professional and photographer himself, Hunter has helped me to dive a bit deeper into the video side of things, which I continue to explore.


It's hard to believe after 15 years I'm still helping to manage this long running online community. AvP Galaxy is something I'm proud and grateful to continue be a part of. The site had lead to numerous friendships, my romantic relationship of 14 years, and has been a core development of my career in photography. Taking my photography into the escapism of these sci-fi worlds remains some of my favorite creative pursuits.