Chinatown Kitty

This feline is the guardian cat for one of the shops in Chinatown ... okay, more like the attention getter for people to shop there. I was taking a walk around the district hoping ot get some interesting photos, and this cat was one of them. The owner said the cat hangs out at the entrance of her store, and it desires to receive attention from shoppers.

Plumeria & Palm

A bunch of plumeria flowers with a coconut palm in the background, with a soft focus filter, at Kawai‘ahao Church.

Seven Seven Seven

What could be more appropriate? A 777 on 07-07-07.

This Boeing 777-268ER, HZ-AKF, from Saudi Arabian Airlines takes a break at HNL, as its passengers enjoy our tropical paradise. According to sources, this 777 was not the one which members of the royal Saudi family uses. They said that the cabin had a normal passenger interior. The one the royal family uses has been converted to a super-sized private jet. Looks like HZ-AKF could use a fresh coat of paint, as the current looks to be somewhat flat due to sand and sun exposure.

In the background, a FedEx McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) MD-11F is seconds from touching down on Runway 4R.

Tomorrow is the roll-out of Boeing's newest airliner, the 787 (on 07-08-07!). Wish I could have been there to see it in person.

Southeast O‘ahu From Above

The southeastern tip of O‘ahu as seen from Island Air's Dash8-Q400, N539DS, as it climbs to a cruising altitude of 13,000 feet. This was the preview flight Island Air held for the media, Island Air executives, and partners. "Airliners" magazine ran the articles and photos I put together in their July/August 2006 issue (#100).

Today's photo was taken from seat 5A, and the propeller blades of the left side Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprop engine frames the land and ocean down below. I tried this shot at 1/1000 sec, hoping to freeze the prop blades, but the shutter speed was not fast enough.

Alakai

The Hawai‘i Superferry "Alakai" has arrived from the manufacturer in Mobile, AL via the Panama Canal and Los Angeles, CA. It's seen here moored at Pier 19 in Honolulu Harbor, being prepped to enter service in the fall.

Wonder how much traffic this big boat will take away from inter-island air travel?

Independence Day

Celebrating our nation's 231st birthday! Freedom, liberty, justice for all! Thank you to our founding fathers, who had the guts to stand up in the face of death for all of us. Thank you to all the patriots for defending our land. God Bless America!

Today's photo was taken last night at the Aloha Tower Independence Day fireworks display.

What Was I Thinking?

Good question. I asked myself the same question after taking it, but I thought it had an artsy feel to for some strange, unanswerable reason.

I got this shot while waiting for the principal videographer to get his shots of the whole set-up. I was there doing the second angle videography, and thought I'd bring along my still camera for shots of my own.

Field Of Gold

Looks like this field of flowers could go on for miles in some country field ...

Taggers?

In a twist of irony during an anti-graffiti paint out, these painters from Hope968 decided to leave their own mark. Yes, they did paint it over their "tag" after this photo was taken. Through the magic of Photoshop and some creative license, I manipulated the colors from the original grey paint they were using.

Thus begins the second half of 2007 ... will it go as fast as the first half? We shall see ...

Pretty Bird

This macaw actually posed for this photo on cue as I pointed my camera at it. What a ham! And it stayed like that for another minute, trying to get me to take more photos of it. This is one of the several parrots the Hilton Hawaiian Village has on display around the resort.

Oh, by the way, do not adjust your monitor, the colors you are seeing are real. The flash highlighted the colors of the macaw.

Pretty bird ... pretty bird ... squaw-aw-aw-awk!

Well ... we have reached the end of the first half of 2007 ... already(!). Has it gone by that quickly??? That was fast!

Yacht Harbor Sunset

The sun sets amidst the boats of the Ala Wai Marina.

Freaky Tree

I shot this tree which was lit only by street lights, and monochromed it. I wanted only the night sky as the background, to add to the contrast.

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! ...

It's definitely not Superman. I don't recall what type of plane she was pointing at. This couple was one of many admiring a winter sunset from Kaka‘ako Park.

Agave

I saw this plant while on a video shoot, and thought it sure looked like agave. Those I was with thought it wasn't. I did some research on Wikipedia, and sure enough, this is an Agave Deserti plant. Agave in Hawai‘i? Yes! Right here, in the photo above.

Mostly used for medicinal purposes, this variety of agave can also be used to make ... yep, you guessed it ... tequila! Hey, here's a new one for the marketers ... Hawaiian Tequila.

Sand

There aren't too many beaches on O‘ahu where the sand is untouched for long periods of time ... I found one.

Sun Rays

One of my favorite types of shots ... the sun's rays extending from the clouds. This reminds me of God's glory.

Shooter Ready

The title says it all ...

Bronze Reflections

The sun reflects off of bronze-tinted glass onto the water ponds at Tamarind Park in downtown Honolulu.

Boys Of Summer

Today is the Summer Solstice ... the first official day of summer ... and what defines summer? America's national pasttime ... baseball.

In today's photo taken from my parents' place, two high school summer league teams face-off at the ‘Iolani baseball field.

Watercolor Plumerias

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, I turned this photo of these plumeria into a watercolor painting.

360° View

This chandelier offers a 360 degree view of the room in which it hangs.

Now ... That's A Classic!

This has got to be the all-time best looking hood ornament ever ... from a 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air.

The design of this hood ornament reminds me of the US Navy's Chance Vought F7U "Cutlass", also from the 1950s.

Got this shot from the Classic Car Show atop the Kahala Mall parking structure.

Happy Father's Day!

This one's for all the dads out there.

White Mountain

Well, maybe not a mountain, but a huge mound of crushed coral from an empty lot that was being excavated to lay the foundation of a new building.

"D No Gekijyo In Hawaii"

A segment of the Fuji Television variety show, "D No Gekijyo", was videotaped in Hawai‘i this week. The segment featured onnagata actor Saotome Taichi. An onnagata is young man who portrays women in Japanese Kabuki theatre. Taichi-san has gained popularity for his roles in his family's theatre troupe, though he also does male roles as well. Fuji Television documented Taichi's trip and perfomances which were the first outside Japan.

In today's photo, "D No Gekijyo" segment hosts and enka singers Mikawa Ken (left) and Ken Naoko (right) interview Taichi-san aboard the Star of Honolulu dinner cruise ship. This segment is scheduled to air at the end of July on Fuji TV in Japan.

Taichi-san and fellow onnagata Tachibana Daigoro made an appearance at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the media, and drew quite a bit of attention from hotel guests and beach goers. Many of them not knowing the two in kimono were men. In many other cultures, men and boys played womens roles in their performing arts ... ancient Greeks, Shakespearean era, ancient Hawaiian hula and Japanese Kabuki. I would have got a shot of Taichi-san in costume, but was too busy running sound for one of the documentary teams.

Puakenikeni

These Puakenikeni flowers bloom white, then change to this yellow-orange color after a few days.

Moonrise Departure

A mainland bound flight crosses the frame as the moon rises above the horizon. The spotlight from the lower left corner is from a house shining out into the ocean from Black Point. I took this photo during the last full moon phase from the Diamond Head Lookout.

Clear Falls

The little waterfall in the back of the University of Hawai‘i School of Medicine. I was there doing a photo shoot, and got this shot during one of the breaks.

Kamehameha Day

June 11th is Kamehameha Day in Hawai‘i, and is one of our state holidays that honors Kamehameha I, who unified the Hawaiian Islands under one rule, which became the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1810. Also known as Kamehameha The Great, he reigned until his death in 1819. This holiday was established by Kamehameha V in 1871, and continues on today.

This statue of Kamehameha I stands in front of Ali‘iolani Hale, which currently houses the state Supreme Court. It is decorated with floral lei the night before a floral parade that honors Hawai‘i's first king.

One Year Ago ...

One year ago today, Marcus and Brenda were married in a beachside sunrise ceremony. Pastor Joel of Hope968 presided over the wedding. This photo was actually from their rehearsal, the morning before their big day. I actually did their wedding video, and used the stills to check the lighting at that time of the morning. God blessed their wedding day with clear skies, and an awesome sunrise.

In the almost 20 years I have been shooting wedding videos, this was the first time I had shot a sunrise wedding. I guess there are still firsts for someone who has shot over 5,000 wedding videos.

Marcus & Brenda, Happy 1st Anniversary! May you have many more anniversaries to celebrate!

Cooling Off

NFC offensive linemen cool off under a Big Fog misting fan during the fourth quarter of the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl. Seated (L-R) are Guard Larry Allen (San Francisco 49ers), Center Andre Gurode (Dallas Cowboys), Tackle Flozell Adams (Dallas Cowboys), and Tackle Walter Jones (Seattle Seahawks); standing is Guard Steve Hutchinson (Minnesota Vikings).

This one's for all those football fans jonzing for some football.

The Audience Is Watching

These two small planes in the foreground watch as this Hawaiian Air Boeing 717-22A, N475HA "I‘iwi", is about to touchdown on HNL's Runway 26R. Looks like the little birds are watching (and scoring) the bigger bird's landing.

Gerbera Daisies

One of the more popular flowers found at a florist ... and one of my favorite ones to photograph, though I found these in a garden.

Downtown Dawn

The downtown skyline in the early morning, as the sun rises and turns the sky these vivid colors.

Royal Blast

The Royal Cosmetics Company celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a bash in Hawai‘i, that included a 15-minute fireworks show that lit up Waikiki last night. The launch barge was placed abeam the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

At first, I thought thie fireworks show had to with the Moana Hotel's anniversary, but my source there said it was not.

I was at my folks for dinner, but the only camera I had was my little CoolPix L3, but it does have a "fireworks" setting. I was without my tripod, so I had to use the railing ledge to try & keep still. Had I known about the display, I would have brought my good camera with me. Oh well ...

High Tide

High tide at the Turtle Bay Resort on a winter morning.

Ripples

Water drops from the fountain at Kawai‘ahao Church make ripples in the pool below.

I took this photo with a 1/1000 sec shutter speed to catch as many circles as possible. A few seconds later, I shot video of this same spot, with the same shutter speed, I could really see the ripples develop, especially in slow motion.

Blue Moon

A blue moon is when there are two full moon cycles in the same month. May was one of those months with a full moon on the 1st and the 31st. It's not common occurrence. The last time it happened was three years ago, and the next one will happen on New Year's Eve 2009. I got this shot from my front balcony late Thursday evening.

Penguins

With all the films starring penguins ... I thought it should be my turn to jump on the bandwagon. I got this photo while at the Hilton Hawaiian Village ... black and white bird, black and white photo.

Ko‘olau

Clouds hover over the tops of the Ko‘olau Mountain Range. I took this photo in a valley at the Ku‘uloa Ranch, where the movies "Jurassic Park", "Pearl Harbor", "George Of The Jungle", and "50 First Dates" among many more were filmed. I was there for a Japanese TV shoot that got rained out that day.

Fountain At Night

The fountain at Kapi‘olani Park at night.

Lahaina Noon

There's a solar phenomena called "Lahaina Noon", when the sun comes directly overhead, and will barely cast a shadow. I was on the Lantern Floating shoot, when one of my friends told me about it, and it was to happen at 1230 on Sunday. During the set-up for the shoot we came across this bottle, that was nearly shadowless. Thanks Mike!

Memorial Day

On this day, we honor those brave and valiant men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country (in the past, and the current) from evil tyrants bent on destroying the freedoms given to us by God and our founding fathers.

This photo is from the 2004 Blues On The Bay Airshow, and shows three US Marine Corps F/A-18Ds from the VMFA-533 "Hawks" (MCAS Beaufort, SC) as they rest on the MCAF Kane‘ohe Bay ramp, late in the afternoon.

Flower In Rain

A single Shaving Brush flower sits in the light rain.

Watching Surfers

Watching surfers while sitting on the breakers fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village's beach.

End Zone Pylon

This extreme close-up shot is one of the pylons that mark the end zone on a football field at Aloha Stadium for the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl. I took this a few hours before kick-off, as we were setting the field level video camera, and the cables to feed the stadium's JumboTron.

Different View Of Leahi

More commonly known as Diamond Head, this view of Leahi, is the last one that many passengers will have as their flight climbs away from the southern and eastern coasts of O‘ahu.

Smokin!

This truck spews out some serious smoke, as it's owner tries to fix it.

Liquid Night

One of the short waterfalls at Tamarind Park at night.

Maui Stopover

On my return trip from the mainland, I stopped over on Maui, which saved me $50 in airfare. With three hours to wait until returning home, I walked around the Kahului Airport (OGG) getting airliner photos. I wanted get to head-on shot of an arriving airliner taxiing to its gate, and got my wish answered with this United Airlines Boeing 777-222 from Chicago. I lined up with the guideline, and snapped a series of photos as this big Boeing taxied in.

On a clear day, awaiting passengers can get a clear view of Mount Haleakalā, which towers over OGG. The clouds on this day hampered my view of the tallest peak on Maui.