Jump In

Well ... today is leap year ... so I thought a shot of someone jumping would be somewhat appropriate.

This lad is taking a leap into the water with his surfboard to attack the waves off of the Kewalo channel.

Shower Of Sparks

One of the fireworks families were lighting along the shore of the Hilton Hawaiian Hotel's lagoon before the Magic Island July 4th fireworks show.

Decisions

A photo of the director's console before the first night of the Pan Pacific Championship Cup. The panel in the foreground is where I get to select what is shown on the Aloha Stadium JumboTron. The monitor on the left is what's on preview, and the monitor on the right is what's being shown live. The computer screen on the far right is our graphics computer monitor.

This was the first big project I had a chance at directing, instead of being on camera. It was a fun experience, even with the challenges and stresses of the event.



sorry for posting late ... i was under the weather ...

Tiny White Flowers

I found these flowers on a tree in the Ala Wai Community Garden.

Ko Olina

Kathy takes a stroll on the beach of a lagoon at the Ko Olina resort one late afternoon.

Pan Pacific Cup Winners

Gamba Osaka won the inaugural Pan Pacific Championship Cup by smoking the Houston Dynamo, 6-1, with forward Baré, scoring a sombrero (a four-goal game), before a crowd of over 23,000 fans from all over the world. Gamba Osaka also won the 2007 Nabisco Cup and 2007 Xerox Super Cup.

After the victory, the team gathered in the north end zone to bow to the Gamba fans, and after receiving the trophy, returned to show it to their adoring fans.


In the third place game, the Los Angeles Galaxy took third place by edging Sydney FC, 2-1.

Orchid Moonset

My "sweet sixteen" bunch of orchids frame a moonset early in the morning.

Vintage Bird

Kamaka Air's Douglas DC-3S (or "Super DC-3"), N9796N, sits on the tarmac at HNL under the Hawaiian sun doing an engine run-up before embarking on a test flight shortly after being restored in July 2004. The "Super" had undergone a complete overhaul by the Kamaka Air staff and volunteers from August 2003 to June 2004, and was the subject of an article I co-wrote, and co-photographed for "Airways" magazine that was published in the December 2006 issue.

I thought converting this photo to black and white, and the age of the aircraft, it would be a good match.

Pan Pacific Championship

Aloha Stadium is hosting the 2008 Pan Pacific Championship Cup, a two-night, four-team soccer tournament being held this week. The Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy both represents the USA's Major Soccer League (MLS), while Gamba Osaka represents Japan's J-League, and Sydney FC represents Australia's Hyundai A-League.

In the first semi-final game, Gamba Osaka beat the L.A. Galaxy, 1-0. The crowd made a ton of noise whenever midfielder David Beckham touched the ball. In the night cap, the Dynamo blanked Sydney, 3-0, with all three goals coming in the first half. Hale‘iwa's Brian Ching, a Dynamo forward, made his homecoming last night, had two assists and played over 70 minutes, to the applause of the 15,000+ attendees.

On Saturday, Gamba Osaka will face the Houston Dynamo for the 2008 Pan Pacific Championship Cup, and the Los Angeles Galaxy will face Sydney FC for the third place award.

Today's photo was taken shortly before the Houston-Sydney game, as the starters were waiting to enter the Aloha Stadium pitch. I was the field videographer for the night cap, and directed the early game.

Tiki Torches

Night falls as the flames of these tiki torches blow in the wind at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort.

I took this photo on the afternoon that Kathy and I spent watching the sunset there.

2008 Great Aloha Run

The 24th Great Aloha Run took place yesterday with the finish line at Aloha Stadium. As part of the JumboTron video crew, we captured those who made the eight-mile journey cross the finish line. In this year's event, close to 21,000 people partcipated in the run/walk.

In today's photo, several US military units ran in formation and cadence thoughout the entire run, called the Sounds of Freedom, and they even had their own finish line, while every other runner crossed the main finish line. Some of this year's participating units were on deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan last year, and held their own version of the Great Aloha Run at their bases.

Chinatown Market

I've always wanted to get photos around Honolulu's Chinatown, so I spent a couple of hours on a day-off traipsing around with my camera trying to find some cool images to capture. This is one of them ...

The one cool thing is that one can find locally-grown produce at some really low prices. The downside is trying to find parking ...

26L Night Finals

Five airliners make their final approach to HNL's "Reef Runway", or Runway 26 Left, on a night with the winds blowing from the northwest. When the winds blow from that direction, air traffic is re-routed to fly east to west.

This is one of a few 5-minute exposures I took from Kaka‘ako Park last year, during a peak arrival time for flights coming from the mainland, and neighbor islands.

Pride Of Hawai‘i

The Norwegian Cruise Lines' Pride Of Hawai‘i bid a fond aloha ‘oe as it was re-assigned by NCL to sail in Europe. The sister-ship Pride Of Aloha is scheduled to be re-assigned to Asia. The third sister-ship, Pride Of America, will remain in Hawai‘i to do the inter-island cruise runs.

Frolicking

Nobu and Mayu pose for the photographer as she took a bunch of amusing poses of them on the beach, after their ceremony.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kathy and I went to Ko Olina one afternoon to watch the sun set. We were at the lagoon closest to the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and the Ko Olina wedding chapel. Kathy wrote our names in the sand, and being the shutterbug that I am I had to capture this for posterity. The challenge was sticking the monopod in the wet sand deep enough that it would not topple over from the tide, triggering the self-timer, and getting next to Kathy in time. Well ... it worked!

Happy Valentine's Day Kathy!

Mini Orchids

From what I have seen in books on orchids, these mini-sized orchids grow wild in Hawai‘i, though I found this bunch in a community garden. The flowers are no larger than a nickel, and come in different colors.

Pro Bowl MVP

Minnesota Vikings rookie sensation running back Adrian Peterson was named the Dan McGuire Player Of The Game of the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl. The NFL's Offensive Rookie Of The Year had 16 carries for 129 yards, with the longest run being a 39-yard scamper during an NFC scoring drive. Peterson also scored two touchdowns in the game. His second TD sealed the NFC's 42-30 victory over the AFC. Peterson also won a Cadillac sedan for being named the 2008 Pro Bowl MVP.

I had the opportunity to be on camera during the first half, and personally videograph Adrian Peterson run the football. In the second half, I floor directed our field camera crew, and got to be a spectator ... I can see why he was voted MVP and Rookie Of The Year.

2008 NFL Pro Bowl

The National Football League played its 2008 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium for the 29th year with the National Football Conference beating the American Football Conference, 42-30.

In today's photo, the NFL Network's Rich Eisen interviews Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald of the NFC for both the NFL Network and the Aloha Stadium JumboTron. That's your's truly shooting the interview, and what I'm shooting is on the JumboTron in the background. Thanks Martin for taking this shot. We also did interviews with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh, and Baltimore Ravens defensive back Ed Reed.

In the first quarter, Fitzgerald caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to tie the game at 7-7, and he ended the day with three catches for 25 yards.

2008 Pro Bowl ‘Ohana Day

‘Ohana Day 2008 was the preview to the 2008 National Football League's Pro Bowl. It featured all-star cheerleaders (above), mascots, and of course, all-star players from the NFL. It also featured contests in which the fans got to particpate in football skills competitions on the Aloha Stadium Field Turf.

Both AFC and NFC teams had separate run throughs during the morning in front of a few thousand fans, before tomorrow's game.

Portland Dusk

It's early July in Portland, OR, and the sun sets around 8:45pm. Yes, the clock reads 9pm, and here's the last of daylight giving way to night. After my business conference finished on Sunday afternoon, I was on my way to meet up with partners and associates for dinner in downtown Portland when I took this photo.

If I remember correctly, this was taken on Broadway between Taylor and Morrison Streets.

Long Beach Sunrise

Dawn breaks at Long Beach, CA. I was there for a business conference, and had to get to the Long Beach Arena to attend the conference which began at 8am, and the seats were first-come, first-served. It was a balmy 59°F at 6am. Thankfully, I had my large coffee and suit to keep me warm.

One of the features of the Long Beach Arena is a mural by marine artist Wyland, which encircles the outside of the complex.

Tri-Met MAX

One of the best things about Portland, OR, is their public transportation system, called Tri-Met. The light rail MAX gets me around Portland when I'm there for business conferences. The last time I was there for business, my total MAX fare during the entire four-day trip was under $5.

This photo was taken on Yawhill Street in downtown Portland as I was getting ready to take this train to the Airport to return to Honolulu.

I-5 South

Today's photo was taken during a drive I took from Carson, CA to Anaheim, CA on Interstate 5 (I-5) South. I was in L.A. for business, but had the morning free, so I took a drive to Downtown Disney to do some shopping for folks back home, especially my daughters.

The traffic was quite clear, I took this shot a few miles from Anaheim at 70mph. Most of the heavy traffic was north-bound with thousands of cars and people commuting from Orange County into metro Los Angeles.

Sunset Over Portland

Making our way to the Portland International Airport aboard a Hawaiian Air flight from Honolulu, while the sun begins to set.

In-N-Out Burger

One of my favorite eating places in southern California is In-N-Out Burger. I know it's may be just a burger joint ... but not this particular store ... it sits on the approach path of the north runways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). As an airliner enthusiast and photographer, I can have a great lunch while watching (and photographing) planes arriving from points all over the world, land at LAX.

On this particular day in 2004, I watched (and photographed) airliners arrive from places like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Acapulco, and Moscow, as well as from around the country.

Mmm! A "Double-Double", a basket of fresh-cut fries, and Coke®! A sunny southern California day with arrivals almost every few minutes! That's my perfect day in L.A.!

Up Country Maui

This month's theme week is called "Off-Island", or photos I have taken while away from the island of O‘ahu.

Leading off the theme week is a photo of up-country Maui. That's the area of the lower slopes of Mount Hale‘akalā on the southern half of the island of Maui. It's comprised mostly of farm lands, plus small towns and neighborhoods, and it's a quiet and cool part of Maui. Unfortunately, some of up-country Maui is giving way to real estate developments.

I took this photo from about 6,000 feet as the Hawaiian Air flight that I was aboard, was making its approach to the Kahului Airport (OGG) from Portland, OR (PDX). What was amusing, was that I saved $50 by returning to Honolulu via Kahului, with a three-hour layover on the "Valley Isle", and it happened two consecutive years. Go figure ... worked for me, as it gave me some great photo ops of Maui, and airliner shots at OGG.

Lucky Seven

These seven are the latest orchids to bloom in my orchid plant.

The Past And The Future

A FedEx MD-10-10F waits on a taxiway, while a Japan Airlines DC-10-40 passes by on its final approach to land on a crossing runway. The FedEx freighter is taxiing to depart for Los Angeles, from Runway 8R, while the JAL airliner arrives from a flight from Kona before returning to Tokyo.

The reason for the title is, that the Japan Airlines DC-10 could possibly be converted into a freighter jet after its retired from its passenger carrying days at JAL. The FedEx MD-10F was once a passenger carrying airliner (then callled a DC-10-10) before its freighter conversion. Instead of falling victim to scrappers torches and hatchets, some airliners find a second life as airliners for new airlines in developing countries, or as a freighter. In 2005, Japan Airlines retired their DC-10 fleet, relegating them to the deserts in California, until they can find new lives, though some have already been bought to fly cargo.

While doing research on some of the MD-10-10F airframes, many of these FedEx birds previously flew with either American Airlines or United Airlines. In fact, during the late-90s, Hawaiian Airlines leased several of American's DC-10-10s as the core of their wide-body trans-Pacific fleet. I would not doubt if most of these birds brought folks over to HNL during their passenger carrying days. I know I rode on a couple of those Hawaiian 10s in 1999.


Wow! Can you believe it's already February! Seems like New Year's Day was a few days ago. Time sure flies!