Chinese Anthurium

This Chinese anthurium plant finally yielded a couple of flowers, since I got this plant last July at a high school alumni dinner.

Armed Forces Day

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman designated the third Saturday in May to be called Armed Forces Day, recognizing those who serve our country. In honor of our men and women fighting to protect our freedoms, today's photo is of a Hawai‘i Air National Guard F-15A "Eagle" from the 199th Fighter Squadron, taking off from HNL's Runway 22L. We thank you for your service and defending our freedoms.

Water In Sunlight

The afternoon sunlight cuts through a banyan tree, the fountain spray and sprinklers at Thomas Square.

Red Canoe

This red outrigger canoe sits under a coconut tree on the Hilton Hawaiian Village beach, with Leahi (Diamond Head) and Wāikiki in the background.

Kalo

Kalo (or taro) leaves after a morning rain.

Dusk Departure

An inter-island flight departs at dusk in a photo taken from Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park.

Bad Connection

Looks like this hose is not connected properly, or the gasket is shot. Even at 1/500th sec, the water is still streaky. At least the water being sprayed was falling on plants in the area, so it wasn't being wasted.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today's photo goes out to all the moms!

Ice Crystals On Glass

These ice crystals formed on the outside of the window of an airliner at 36,000 feet. It measured about three inches across. As the aircraft climbed in altitude, the crystal grew from about a eighth-inch drop of water to what's seen. It's said that the outside temperature at 36,000 feet is about -40°F! Add in the fact the plane's going over 450 kts, it's even colder than that.

Ipu Ornament

A Christmas tree ornament of an ipu, a Hawaiian percussion instrument used in chants for hula. I found this on a Norfolk Pine outside the Foster Botanical Garden entrance.

Flying Whale

World-renowned marine artist Wyland was commissioned to paint an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-700 airliner. The title of this piece of art is called "Koholālele", or Flying Whale. It took Wyland two days to paint this humpback whale, as well as other marine life on this 737. The aircraft was unveiled to the Aloha employees, media, and the general public in a ceremony yesterday. Wyland (right) is seen here with Aloha Airlines' Kenny Tolentino on the snorkel, as he adds to this part of the painting.

To see the entire aircraft, check out the HNL Rarebirds blog.

It was an awesome experience to watch and capture the entire painting process from the grease pencil sketchings to the hand-painted details. I was amazed how this 737 was transformed from a blank slate into a masterpiece. Wyland turned this "$100 miilion canvas" into a work of art that will be seen wherever Aloha flies, as the aircraft gets rotated around its bases. Throughout the painting process, heads turned to take a peek at Wyland's latest project from the inter-island terminal, even from passengers on other airliners taxiing by.

I would love to see this 737 parked next to Southwest Airlines' 737 "Shamu One" somewhere in California.

Finals Week

This one goes out to all those college students who are in the midst of finals week. This girl is trying a new method of learning, by seeing if she can absorb the information on her computer while taking a nap.

Fellow photographer Twain (see link on right), got this shot first, with me in the background. Sleeping people make easy targets for a funny photo.

Loulu

Fronds of loulu palm tree on a clear, sunny day. Looks like giant fans.

Arcs Of Water

Three arcs of water from a fountain display in downtown Honolulu.

Palm Tree?

A friend told me that the fireworks in this shot looks like a palm tree, and if I had planned this. Well, no, I was just shooting away as the fireworks went off as four second exposures. This shot was from the July 4th fireworks show at Magic Island, and taken from the Hilton Lagoon.

Fingerprints?

One of the things that intrigues me of God's creations is the uniqueness of everything He creates. One example is seen in today's photo ... in these leaves from part of my plants. If you look closely, it's almost like a fingerprint, each leaf has a similar pattern, but different at the same time. It shows God's awesomeness and infinteness.

Someone once told me, "We are all unique ... just like everybody else."

Really Big Bird

The Antonov An124-100 "Ruslan" is the largest cargo jet in production. This Ukranian-built behemoth hauls oversized cargo (up to 120 tons) around the world for Antonov Airlines. This aircraft type is a frequent visitor to Honolulu, also by Volga-Dnepr and Polet Flight (both based in Russia). This big bird is stopping here for a fuel stop before continuing onto Australia.

The An-124 is the Russian counterpart to the US-built Lockheed C-5 "Galaxy", operated by the US Air Force. Though the difference is that the "Ruslan" is built for both commercial and military purposes.

Steel Rings

These stainless steel rings are part of light pole fixtures along the walkway of Harbor Court in downtown. I thought they were interesting, and would make an artsy photograph ... The security guard didn't, but was nice to let me take a few shots.

Fire Clouds

Got these clouds during a sunset with a layer of vog to enhance the red and orange tones.

May Day Is Lei Day In Hawai‘i

May 1st in Hawai‘i is Lei Day! One of the days where florists and lei shops do brisk business, and lei sales skyrocket.

Today's photo was taken during the Aloha Airlines 60th Anniversary celebration in July 2006. Flight attendants Jodi (left, in the 1969 uniform) and Berni (right, in the 1976 uniform) sit in the intake of the "Funbird"'s Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine, complete with plumeria lei, in a rendition of a pose taken when Aloha initially received their Boeing 737 in 1969.

I was sure the airliner magazines would have used this photo in the articles they published about the 60th anniversary event, but I guess was wrong. Oh well ...

2 Halves

Two halves of the waterfall at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

Water Lily

I added radial blur to this shot of a water lily with a honeybee taking off from it.

Catch Of The Day

The "Maggie Joe" motors into the Kewalo Boat Harbor from a day of deep sea fishing, as the day ends. No fish flags were flying, so they may not have hooked anything. This time of the day was great for slowing down the shutter to get natural motion blurring.

The OC

Taking off from the John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Santa Ana (Orange County), CA is quite a rush. With only 5,700 feet of runway, airliners must get off the ground real quick, and climb out at a steeper angle. The reason for the steep climb out is for noise abatement, because of the residential areas surrounding SNA. In this departure routing, we flew toward the San Bernadino Mountains before making the 180° turn west to head home.

I was aboard an Aloha Airlines 737-7Q8W, N751AL "‘Aukele", when I got this shot several seconds after lifting off of Runway 1L, and shows the climb angle. Framed by the wing's leading edge slats and engine pylon, is the San Diego (I-405) and Newport (CA55) Freeways interchange, as well as the city of Santa Ana.

Unfurling Leaf

A new leaf begins to unfurl itself in one of my plants on my lanai.

This plant is one of three that is in the same container, and was the centerpiece from last year's high school alumni dinner.

Rocks Under Water

This photo is from the water ponds of the Hawai‘i Convention Center. I was on a video shoot, and caught this shot during a break we had while running through rehearsals.

It captures four elements ... sun, wind, earth and water ... all in the same shot. I thought it looked cool, the way the sunlight lit the water and rocks, as the winds kicked up.

Blue Ladder

When I originally took this photo, I knew it was going to be a black and white shot. However, throught the magic of Photoshop, I was playing around with some tint effects, and tried adding color to the ladder. Blue looked the best, since it looks the protective wrap some metal products have to prevent scratches.

Little Stars

These little white star-shaped flowers are in bloom all over the place. I've noticed that people put the vines it grows on, on the top of chainlink fences, which is where I found this bunch.

Stream

The Nu‘uanu Stream flows through the Queen Lili‘uokalani Gardens. This photo was taken several yards after the waterfall that's part of the garden. I slowed the shutter down just enough to create the motion blur in the water's flow.

Palm Trees At Dusk

Pink clouds, behind these coconut trees, fill the sky as the sun has sunk below the horizon, and night begins to fall.

Sparky Silhouette

A couple sits and watches others set off small fireworks. Got this silhouette shot on July 4th, while waiting for the Magic Island fireworks show to start. Kekiinani and I were at the Hilton Hawaiian Village lagoon to get our shots of the main event.

Sunset Wing

The sun is setting while we are somewhere over the Pacific Ocean headed to Portland, OR. I saw the aura around the sun, and had to get the shot. From where I was sitting, trying to keep the wing out of the shot was impossible, so I thought I'd make the wingtip look like it was eclipsing the sun. About an hour after this shot was taken, we flew into to some thick clouds, and some mild turbulence, before landing in light rain at PDX.

Ring Pillow

A Japanese tourist couple had this Mickey and Minnie Mouse ring pillow for their wedding ceremony at a chapel right outside of Waikiki.

Tunnel Vision

Here's a four-second exposure taken while driving through the Interstate H-3's north-bound tunnel. This photo was taken about one-half of the way into the main tunnel.

Weekday Afternoon

What a way to spend a weekday afternoon ... catching a tan while taking a nap and floating in a swimming pool. One of the perks of having a weekday off, she has the pool all to herself.

The one thing that drew me to take the shot was the shadow. I was hoping she would float toward the middle of the pool, but she floated to the side.

Whip Zoom

Tried my hand at using the radial blur in Photoshop to give a fast zoom out effect from the sun, combined with a slow shutter speed. This one turned out quite well after figuring out the right amount to make it look real.

Going To The Dogs

I know Golden Retrievers are smart dogs, but this is going a bit far! A seeing-eye dog for driving?!? I guess the dog would bark when the truck got too close to something. Talk about a "Kodak moment" I could not resist!

I was on a video shoot at Sandy Beach, when I saw this Golden Retriever hanging out the window, while its masters were watching the surf. The poor dog looks bored, and has the expresssion ... "I got out of the house for this?"

Friday Night Fireworks

The Hilton Hawaiian Village has a weekly fireworks show on Friday nights after sundown. I got this photo from Magic Island in Ala Moana Park. I was also trying to get the airliners as they passed by, but with a 4-second exposure I didn't get much movement.

Raindrops

I took this photo during the last year's 40 days of rain we had on O‘ahu. I thought the shutter speed was too slow, but I did manage to catch the splash of the raindrops as it hit the puddle.

Rare Bird

In a one second exposure, N9796N of Kamaka Air, sits at the opening of their hangar during a party celebrating the 49th anniversary of the breaking of the sound barrier by General Chuck Yeager (USAF-Ret). This 60-year old plus Super DC-3 is one of eight airworthy airframes in existence (out of 100 converted to the Super DC-3), and is truly a rarebird.

Giant Kalo Leaf

This stainless steel and dichroic glass sculpture of kalo leaves fronts the University of Hawai‘i's School of Medicine in Kaka‘ako.

Dichroic glass has two color sides, blue and orange. When light passes through the blue surface , as seen above, the light turns orange; and when light passes through the orange side, the light becomes blue. This type of glass is also used on some video production lights, when lights are used outdoors.

Cows Come Home

These cows make their way back to the herd in front of this wind-bent tree.

Happy Easter!

"But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for He is risen, as He said.”"

Matthew 28:6 (NKJV)



This Lily has become synonymous with Easter. I had the "perfect photo" for today's entry, but missed a second opportunity to get the shot I wanted. Oh well ... The main thing is we recognize and celebrate Christ's resurrection.

Easter Egg Hunt

Every year, Hope968 puts on an Easter Egg Hunt at Kuhio School on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.

This was from last year's hunt with one of the "golden eggs" in the bunch.

Good Friday

"And when Jesus had cried out in a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

"So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”"

Luke 23:46-47



"And being found in appearance of man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:8-11 (NKJV)

The Last Supper

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.“

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for the remission of sins“"

Matthew 26:26-28 (NKJV)



Today's photo is from Kirk & Merilyn's Communion during their wedding ceremony.

Morning Sun Reflection

The sun rises above Le‘ahi (Diamond Head) and a very calm Ke‘ehi Lagoon. I was there to photograph a Boeing 737 airliner before it was to continue on its delivery flight to China. On my way out, I saw how calm the lagoon was, that I had to stop and get some shots of the sun reflecting off the mirror-like surface. I was amazed how calm the waters were when there was no wind that morning.

Monochrome Fern

For the 100th photo of this blog, I chose this simple black and white photo of a fern. I thought this shot looked best in black and white, plus you can see the fibers along the spine of the fern.

Three's A Crowd

Three doves sit on a mooring rope of the Falls Of Clyde at Honolulu Harbor. The two doves facing right were calmly resting on the rope, when they were joined by the dove facing left.

Try this one ... three doves sitting on a rope, one decides to fly away, how many are left?

New Breed Of Plumeria

Horticulturalists and botanists have teamed up to develop a more colorful type of plumeria in which the the center of the flower can vary in color as seen here in a photo taken at a nursery somewhere in Hawai‘i. The ubiquitous flowers can now be genetically altered to produce a white flower with colors other than the typical yellow (Plumeria Alba). The team will also be working with other plumeria species to alter the colors of the yellow and pink varieties. Named the Plumeria Fotoshoppus, this new breed of plumeria will be available in small quantities from select nurseries.




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April Fool!