2011 Pro Bowl

Yesterday, the National Football League's Pro Bowl returned to Aloha Stadium for the 2011 edition, after a one year hiatus. With a crowd of over 49,000 on hand, both the AFC and NFC All-Stars lit up the scoreboard for 96 total points! The NFC got out to a 42-0 lead, and held on to win 55-41.  Pictured above, is the NFC squad preparing to kick off after one of their seven touchdowns. I was one of the field-level video camera operators for the Aloha Stadium AlohaVision video board.

This is the blog's 1,500th post!

Sunlight Swirls

Sunlight swirls with the moving water in this stream. I slowed the shutter down as much as it would allow me in broad daylight, and converted it to black & white.

Before The Ceremony

A pre-ceremony shot of Owen and Belyn, whose wedding I shot at the First Circuit Courthouse. Today's photo was shot with a Tokina 10-17mm fish-eye, and de-saturated the background in Photoshop.

Push

The ground handling crew of Castle & Cooke Aviation reposition this OK Air Boeing 737-800 after it arrived from Boeing Field (Seattle), WA. The 737 taxied down a narrow taxiway to its parking spot for the night, then was turned around to face out before the flight crew disembarked.

Shore Fishing

A fisherman reels in his line as the tide rises.

Long Road Ahead

The long straightaway of Interstate 15 heading to Las Vegas, NV. The buildings in the distance are in Primm, NV, past the California and Nevada state line.

Surf's Up!

The winter surf season is in full effect along the north and west shores of O‘ahu! Wave faces can reach up to 30 feet! 

Sailboat

This sailboat moves slowly through Ke‘ehi Lagoon with its Zodiac in tow.

Ko‘olau Clouds

Clouds line the tops of the Ko‘olau Mountains on the Kāne‘ohe side of the Interstate H3.

"Kono Yubiwa Wa ..."

Japanese for "With this ring ..."

Kahu Bruce instructs Terafumi to place Minako's wedding ring on before he repeats his vows. I shot this photo with a Nikon 16mm fish-eye.

Full Afterburners

This Hawai‘i Air National Guard F-15C Eagle roars off of HNL's "Reef Runway" with its afterburners lit. It went on its last training sortie before its retirement. We were on an adjacent taxiway as two F-15Cs and an F-22A Raptor departed in full afterburner. Not only was it loud, but we could feel the roar as each fighter passed by. Members of the local news media and social media were invited by the Hawai‘i Air National Guard to attend this event.

‘Āweoweo Beach

Low tide at ‘Āweoweo Beach in Waialua. This is the view looking west toward Mokule‘ia, the Wai‘anae Mountain Range, and Ka‘ena Point (far right).

Beamers

At the 2010 Lantern Floating Hawai‘i, Keola (center with guitar) and Moani (facing Keola) Beamer performed an extra 20-minute set after the lanterns were set afloat and the ceremony ended. Joining them was new age musician R. Carlos Nakai (second from right). I shot this from my TV camera platform, while we recording this part for the satellite feed to Japan, though the local feed ended. When the broadcast was re-aired on New Year's Day, segments of this extra set was edited into the ending.

Light Dots

A slow-shutter speed pan of our LED Christmas lights we put up on our lanai. Unlike incandescent lights that will streak, LED have a high-frequency flicker, which cause the dots. These LEDs also had a strange color temperature which cast this golden tone.

Whistling Swan

The "Whistling Swan" motors toward the Ko ‘Olina  Marina, in the Kalaeloa Harbor.  The J.W. Marriott Ihilani Hotel  & Resort is in the background.

Candles

A few of the centerpiece candles at Kat's brother's house he put out for our New Year's dinner. I took this shot with my P100 and a four-point star filter.

Orchids ...

Some of the Udom Blue Angel orchids bask in the morning sunlight. These flowers have been in bloom since late November ...

Runway Sign

To designate where a pilot and their aircraft are at an airport, there are these signs near each intersection. I took this shot during the media flight of Hawaiian Air's Bellanca Pacemaker. The photo above shows us at the intersection of Taxiway F and Runway 4R/22L. The control tower instructed our pilot to hold short of Runway 4R. The workers in the background are from the US Air Force. They are doing maintenance on the barrier cable that runs across Runway 4R for fighter planes in distress.

Railroad Crossing

While quite common on the mainland, railroad crossings are very rare in Hawai‘i. I came across this crossing lights and barriers in Kapolei, where there is a set of tracks still in use, but not frequently, that's run by the local railway society.

Voggy Skyline

When southerly winds blow, it brings up the volcanic haze from the Big Island. This was taken during a vog attack in 2009 from the 7th Avenue overpass looking west toward downtown Honolulu. Sometimes, the vog is worse than a Stage 3 smog warning in Los Angeles.

Canoes

On the beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village, are outrigger canoes that are used by canoe clubs. I shot this with a Nikon 16mm fish-eye lens, with Diamond Head and the rest of Waikīkī on the bowed horizon.

Crash Scene

Back in July 2010, I posted a photo of this car accident on the Likelike Highway. A Honda Civic had lost control and flipped over. Today's photo is is a closer shot of the overturned Civic, with a Honolulu Police Department sergeant walking toward the wreckage.

Low Clouds Over Waialua

While we drove to O‘ahu's north shore, low rain clouds shrouded the tops of the Wai‘anae Mountain Range and the town of Waialua.

Chasing Ducks

These two toddlers chased the two ducks around the Lake Las Vegas "beach" fronting the Loews. The ducks sought shelter in the lake, but the kids decided to follow them in. They got up to their knees in the cold lake, before their parents took them out, and proceeded to dry them off. The temperature at the time was in the high-30s.

Lake Las Vegas Sunrise

The sun rises above Lake Las Vegas (Henderson, NV). We stayed at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. During this past Thanksgiving, it was the coldest in Vegas history, as the temperature dropped to 24°F at night.

Road Trip

We spent Thanksgiving with Kat's sister & family at Lake Las Vegas, in Henderson, Nevada. To get there, we took a road trip from San Dimas to Las Vegas on Interstate 15 East, which cut through the Mojave Desert. Pictured above, is the traffic headed west into California.

Disneyland

We celebrated my 47th birthday at the "Happiest Place On Earth".  This was the scene at the main entrance to Disneyland. Kat & I went with Kat's sister (& her family) and mom, and rode as many rides as we could.

LAX

On one of our days in Los Angeles County, Kat & I took a drive and spent a few hours at LAX. I wanted to spend some time there photographing airliners there. Today's photo shows the south side of LAX, along with the iconic Theme Building (right, with a Virgin America A320 passing behind it) and the Control Tower. 

Whitecaps

The peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, behind San Dimas, CA, are covered with snow as a late autumn cold front hit Southern California.

Rainy Roll-Out

Our first theme week for 2011 is "Thanksgiving Vacation". Kat & I spent a week this past November in San Dimas, CA and Las Vegas, NV.

To lead off the theme week, a photo of our flight into a rainy Ontario International Airport on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300. We are rolling out on a rain-soaked runway seconds after touching down.

In my many trips to Southern California, the rain we encountered was the heaviest I've been in. Fortunately, the rain cleared that night, and for the next few days.

Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a blessed and prosperous 2011!