Go Warriors!

It's not only New Year's Eve, but it's the eve of the 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl, where BCS 10th-ranked University of Hawai‘i Warriors will face the 5th-ranked University of Georgia Bulldogs at the Louisiana SuperDome in New Orleans, LA.

It marks the Warriors first appearance (of many) in a BCS bowl game. The Warriors are vying for their 13th consecutive victory this season, and aiming for an undefeated season.

Since the BCS announcement, there have been "Go Warriors" banners all over O‘ahu supporting the team, including a couple of churches with banners saying "God Bless The Warriors".

Go Warriors!

Palms In The Wind

A bunch of coconut trees sway to the easterly trade winds at the lookout point at the The Kahala Hotel & Resort.

Fence Flowers

These flowers extend over the fence of Foster Botanical Garden. I don't know the name of the flowers, but the flowers bloomed light green then turns white.

Missed Approach

"Aloha 481 declaring a missed approach for Eight Left ... going around", was what I heard over my scanner as we were making our final approach to HNL's Runway 8L. Upon making our turn abeam Ewa Beach to line up with 8L, I thought we were a bit high, but thought the pilot would descend quickly as we closed in. Nearing the Pearl Harbor channel, the pilot accelerated, and proceeded to turn right and climb out to give the landing another try.

HNL's "Reef Runway" (Runway 8R) can be seen right of the wing's leading edge, metro Honolulu and the Ko‘olau mountain range in the background.

Setting Sun

The sun prepares to end the daylight hours.

Hawai‘i Bowl 2007

A pre-game photo of yours truly from Sunday's Sheraton Hawai‘i Bowl featuring the Boise State University Broncos against the East Carolina University Pirates. Here I am at the graphics computer console for the game in the JumboTron control room. I had wanted to take more photos outside before the game started, but had too much to in preparing for the game.

The Pirates beat the 10.5-point favored Broncos 41-38 with a last-second field goal.

Mahalo Mike for taking this shot right before going live.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

The text in the photo is from the Gospel of John 1:14
"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Candlelight Service

A slightly blurry photo of my candle, taken during last year's Hope968 Christmas Eve service in a two-second exposure. I did have the camera on a tripod, but I should have tried a different exposure rate and ISO setting.

This is also the 365th post, capping off the first year of this photo blog.

Lauhala Sun

The sun peeks through the leaves of lauhala trees.

Mock Orange

Mock orange hedges are quite the ubiquitous plants around Hawai‘i. Every neighborhood in Honolulu seems to have at least several properties that have this type of hedge in their yard. The flowers resemble it's larger counterpart, and gives off a similar scent when in bloom. Funny, it seems that a large percentage of the hedges seem to bloom at the same time.

Diamond Sillouhette

Four US Navy Blue Angels F/A-18s fly the diamond formation silouhetted against a cloudy sky.

Yacht Harbor Reflections

Buildings in the Ala Moana district reflect off of the water's surface of the Ala Wai Marina.

Sunrise Clouds

Cirrus clouds between neighboring condo towers turn shades of orange and pink as the sun rises.

Yellow Orchids

A bunch of yellow orchids bask in the sun.

H1 East

Afternoon traffic builds up on the Wai‘alae Avenue viaduct of the eastbound lanes of the Interstate H1.

The end of the H1 is at the far right edge of the frame. From there it turns into the Kalanianaole Highway.

Okay ... those of you outside of Hawai‘i reading this post must be wondering ... an Interstate in Hawai‘i? To what state does it connect? The answer is that the H1, H2, and H3 connects all four major military bases, plus three smaller bases on O‘ahu; being that they are all federal installations.

Turning A New Leaf

A macro photo of a new leaf as it unfurls from the soil of one of my houseplants.

Streaky

Cirrus clouds appear like streaks off of a paintbrush.

Liquid Sunshine

The sun shines through a shower band later that same morning.

White Out

Heavy rain showers white out the downtown Honolulu skyline during a very recent rainstorm.

Red Red Sun

Combine a sunset with a layer of vog (volcanic haze), and we get red sunsets. When the winds blow from the south-southeast (Kona winds), vog gets blown up to O‘ahu from Hawai‘i (the Big Island) where there is an active, erupting volcano, Kīlauea, in the eastern part of the Big Island. Plus there is another active volcano, Mauna Loa, in the center of the island. The vog actually looks like smog seen in Los Angeles, Tokyo, or Beijing. Thankfully, the vog only happens when the Kona's blow, and the tradewinds blow them out to sea.

Lightning Flash

The bluish glow on the right side of the photo is lightning flash caught in the clouds, in a long exposure. The bolts were coming down further in the distance, and reflecting off of the clouds.

Harbor Rainbow

A rainbow rises over Honolulu Harbor and downtown, in a photo taken from Sand Island State Park.

7:30am Moonset

This month's theme week is weather ... I know it's usually the first full week of the month, but due to the football game last weekend, i pushed theme week back one.

Leading off theme week, are high cirrus clouds that frame a setting full moon over the downtown Honolulu skyline at 7:30am.

That's A Wrap!

The Broadway musical version of "The Lion King" ends its 12-week run at the Blaisdell Concert Hall tomorrow. Most of the performances were sold out, and the subject of many rave reviews. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to see the production, and this was the closest I got. Throughout its run, logo was lit up on each side of the concert hall.

World Tour

This Embraer 190 airliner, PP-XMB, paid a courtesy call to preview it for the folks at Aloha Airlines last year. The Brazilian-made jet was on a world tour demonstrating for potential customers after previewing at the Paris Air Show.

On the forward half of the fuselage, is a world map that contain the tail logos of the airlines that have acquired the Embraer E-Jets.

Aloha Airlines is looking for a replacement for its Boeing 737-200 inter-island fleet, and this aircraft is one of the candidates. Slightly smaller than the 737, the E190, is designed for the role that Aloha needs for its inter-island service.

Seed Pod

This seed pod looks rather eerie, like something out of a science fiction movie, or some kind of lethal weapon. I still have yet to find out what kind of plant (or tree) this belongs to, but these can be found around Honolulu.

Centerpiece

A table centerpiece from Josh & Sheri's wedding reception.

Dawn Moonset

A wintertime moonset as the sun rises around 6am.

Purple Silhouette

The Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park backlit by the afternoon sun.

Senior Walk

Saturday night's University of Hawai‘i Warriors football game against the University of Washington Huskies was the final regular season home game for 22 Warriors who are seniors. NFL-prospects Colt Brennan, Jason Rivers and Michael Lafaele were among the 22 players who took their last walk around Aloha Stadium as a UH Warrior.

With last night's 35-28 win over the Huskies, and a 12-0 regular season record, the Warriors await their bid for a Bowl Champioship (BCS) post-season bowl game in January 2008.

This was the scene after the festivities, where each of the 22 seniors were introduced to the crowd individually, as they made their final entrance to the Aloha Stadium Field Turf, and head coach June Jones plus other UH dignitaries presented each of the 22 seniors with a plaque, and many lei. Family and friends presented the players with even more lei, and fans sought autographs from the graduating seniors.

This has been a truly remarkable and memorable season for the Warriors, from the return of Colt Brennan to play his senior season, the oft-questioned game schedule, strong team unity with a faith in God, the WAC Championship, the perfect 12-0 season record, to a BCS bowl bid. The 2007 Warriors team were truly blessed from above.

As with last week's win over Boise State, it was a great feeling to be part of history working last night's game as part of the production crew for Aloha Stadium's JumboTron video screen.


Update 16:30: The Warriors finished with a #10 ranking in the BCS, and will face the #5 University of Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana SuperDome in New Orleans, LA on New Year's Day 2008.

Sprinklers

Water droplets from sprinklers caught in mid-air.

Au Revoir Ville De Anges!

Goodbye City of Angels!

This Air France Boeing 747-428, F-GITF, goes wheels-up bound for the Charles deGaulle International Airport in Paris, France. Air France Flight 69 departs from the Los Angeles International Airport in the late afternoon sun, off of Runway 25R. LAX's modern looking air traffic control tower can be seen in the background. Au revoir Ville De Anges!

This photo goes out to my friend Traci, who loves to jet off to France ...

Orchids On Black

These orchids are part of the orchid display at the Kahala Hotel & Resort. The sun lit the orchids so well, that the stone wall where they hang, forms its own black background.

Linear Ripples

Ripples form at the edge of a waterfall at Tamarind Park.

Longboard Chick

This surfer girl checks out the breaks at Kewalos before taking on the three-foot sets.

Footprints

A set of bird footprints in the raked sand of Fort deRussy beach in Waikiki, before the USAF Thunderbirds practice run back in Spetember.

Emergence

A new stalk emerges above the gravel of my orchid pot.

WAC Champions!

The University of Hawai‘i Warriors football team won its first outright Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship by knocking off the Boise State University Broncos, 39-27, before a sold-out crowd of 50,000 people. Upon the clock reaching 00:00, hundreds of fans rushed onto the field mobbing the Warriors players and coaches. The Warriors finished 8-0 in the WAC, and are 11-0 for the season.

Warriors head coach June Jones accepted the WAC trophy presented to him by league commissioner Karl Benson. Quarterback Colt Brennan was hoisted above shoulders by overjoyed fans. The Field Turf of Aloha Stadium turned into a huge mosh pit as fans celebrated with the players and coaches.

The Warriors close out their 2007 regular season against the University of Washington Huskies next Saturday at Aloha Stadium, and await an invitiation to a BCS Bowl game.

I was honored to be a part of this historic event, as one of the JumboTron videographers, and was positioned in the north end zone, where i got this shot from.

Happy Birthday!

Today's my birthday, and what a better way to spend it, but by working the University of Hawai‘i Warriors football game against the visiting Boise State Broncos. The 15th-ranked (BCS), 10-0, Warriors are seeking their first Western Athletic Conference championship today, and a shot at a BCS bowl game.

I had my photo taken with All-American candidate wide receiver Davone Bess (left) and Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Colt Brennan (right) at a Hope968 worship service last November. There's another photo of this lethal combo posted in September, at the beginning of their 2007 campaign.

Go Warriors!


Update 22:00 ... The Warriors beat the Broncos 39-27 to win the WAC championship! Warrior quarterback Colt Brennan set the a new career touchdown record of 126 (and counting), breaking the previous record held by Ty Detmer of BYU. What a birthday present & to be a part of history, as I was the end zone videographer for the Aloha Stadium JumboTron.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! May we be thankful for all we went through, and all the blessings we received in 2007.

Sanctuary

A low-angle perspective of Central Union Church's sanctuary taken before a wedding. It's one of Honolulu's oldest churches, and one of the most popular for weddings.

One of my favorite things about this church is the acoustics ... the sound just resonates here. Whether its an organ playing for a wedding, string quartet, vocal soloist, or a choral group ... it sounds awesome!

Central Union's popularity extends beyond the local wedding market, and it's one of the more popular churches for Japanese tourists who come on honeymoon packages that include a western/Christian-style wedding ceremony ... in fact, I took this before shooting a wedding video for a Japanese tourist couple.

Fireworks Departure

An airliner takes off from HNL's Runway 8L during this year's July Fourth fireworks show fronting Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Rainy Windshield

Stuck at the intersection of School Street and Pali Highway during one of our recent rainstorms.

I was on the way to Aloha Stadium to shoot a couple of high school football games. Ahh ... running up and down a football field with an 18lb videocamera in the rain ... it's all good!

Sunset On The Bay

The sun sets behind the Ko‘olau Mountain Range after the Blues On The Bay 2007 airshow. With close to 100,000 people attending the US Navy's Blue Angels performance at Marine Corps Air Field Kane‘ohe Bay, the bayside ramp was converted into a huge parking lot for cars. The base's main entry was the only way in or out, thus with everyone wanting to leave after the Blue Angels show, there was gridlock. There were cars stuck in one spot for over 30 minutes(!). I was not about to sit in my car for a couple of hours and burn gas ... especially at the prices the way they are. So I thought I'd spend some time waiting out the gridlock by joining others sitting on the rocks at the edge of the bay enjoying the sunset and the view of the Ko‘olau Mountains & Kane‘ohe Bay.

Water Lilies

A trio of blue water lilies in a pond at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Hawaiian Monk Seal

World-renown marine artist Wyland, adds detail to the Hawaiian monk seal that he painted near the main entry door of Aloha Airlines' N748AL, "Koholālele". The monk seal face was painted there to greet boarding passengers of this flying canvas.

Mosaic Tiles

I found this in a garden around town where these tiny mosaic tiles actually make up one big tile.

Tamarind Park

A night shot of Tamarind Park while shooting with Kekiinani during the Christmas lights season.

If you have ever seen the movie "Don Juan DeMarco", the opening scene was shot in this part of downtown Honolulu, pretending to be New York City. What was the giveaway? Those who live here will know ...

Rosemary Flowers

A extreme close-up of some rosemary flowers in bloom. I've seen white flowers, and this is the first time I've seen these blue ones.

60MPH Sunset

Caught this sunset driving home on Interstate H1 at 60mph.