Munchies

What does a wedding couple and their bridal party munch on before the wedding?

I got this shot while photographing the in-room pre-ceremony session of Kirk & Merilyn's wedding a couple of years ago. I had arrived at their room at 7am, and this was on one of the tables.

Sunny Orchids

A bunch of my white orchids backlit from the sun ...

Civic

Front view of my Honda Civic ...

Last Boy Standing

At the Kāhala Hotel & Resort, there is a floating platform several yards off-shore, and these four boys were playing last man standing.

Bulbul

The red-vented bulbul appears to have caught a moth for lunch, and is perched on this emerging palm frond. I got this shot from our lanai one afternoon.

The bulbul can be a pest, as much as it is a bug eater. One of these birds cleaned half of a stem of orchid buds I had, and cleaned out a Hawaiian chili pepper plant my dad had several years ago ... picked it clean. Needless to say, neither of us were quite happy when we saw the work these birds did.

Gardenia

A gardenia from Kathy's mom's yard ...

Wedding Party

The members of this wedding party makes their way down the back part of the ‘Ihilani Resort to take photos with the couple near the rocks along O‘ahu's west coast.

Christmas In July

Well, sort of ...

Today's photo was taken last Christmas at Kathy's mom's house. We had gone over for breakfast and open presents ... I used a 4-point cross filter as one of the variations of this shot.

Summer Of '69

40 years ago, the Summer Of '69, was "The Summer Of Love" ... not just the title of the old Bryan Adams 80s song, but the real summer of 1969, which featured Apollo XI's landing on the moon, and Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin's walks; and the Woodstock Music & Art Fair.

Tie-dye was a new art form, as was the this peace symbol. Macy's is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the "The Summer Of Love" in their women's fashion departments. Today's photo was taken with my Alias2 mobile phone of a tank top while Kathy was looking around the store.

For the Summer of '69, I was just a mere 5.5 years old ... getting ready for first grade. What were you doing back then?

Night Fishing

Kathy & I went night fishing with her brother, mom, and aunt & uncle.

Kathy is helping Uncle Harry put the bait on the hook.

Looking Westward

The late afternoon sun shines through the clouds above the Wai‘anae Mountain Range, and the western part of O‘ahu. I got this from Kaka‘ako Park during a summer south swell.

Graduation Gourd

This ipu, or gourd, from the 2009 senior class from Hawai‘i Baptist Academy was on a table at Kathy's mom's place.

Shige's Saimin Stand

The town of Wahiawa has the best saimin (noodle soup) on O‘ahu, Shige's Saimin Stand. Kathy found out about Shige's from her assistant, and on one of our adventure through Wahiawa, we decided to seek this establishment out. We each had a small won ton mein and bbq burger deluxe ... OMG! Was it delicious! There aren't a lot seats, and it's worth the wait. In fact, we went there the other night for dinner ...

Dolphin Quest

One of two places on O‘ahu to find Dolphin Quest, is the Kahala Hotel & Resort, the other is Sea Life Park. This family spent several minutes in the Kahala's dolphin lagoon getting to interact with Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins.

Hali‘imaile Window

This etched glass rendition of the Hali‘imaile General Store sits above the bar.

It's one of the best places to eat on Maui!

Gridlock

I got stuck in gridlock while driving home one afternoon, a few weeks ago. It seems there was a traffic accident that took up two of the fives lanes on the Interstate H1 West, near Pearl City. On top of the congestion, most folks had to gawk at the scene of the accident, which was a three-car rear-ender.

I took this shot while at a standstill, and this was the view of the cars behind me ...

By the way, I did take this photo before the hands-free electronic device ordinance that the City & County of Honolulu imposed that encompasses electronic devices besides mobile phones.

Taking The Plunge

Two children jumped off of the Makai Pier and are just hitting the water as their friends look on.

Opening Blasts

The opening sequence of fireworks explodes during Wet 'n Wild Hawai‘i's Fourth of July fireworks show in Kapolei. We got this shot from the Kapolei Cinemas parking lot where there were quite a few people gathered to watch along with us.

Kahala Lavender

At one time, the planters outside Kahala Mall had lavenders in them.

Sunday Drive

Kathy takes her mom on a drive in Kathy's car around the neighborhood where her mom lives.

Hungry?

Ellie, Kisa Ann, Kathy, and Cobe make like they're going to eat the crab that Kisa Ann found ... ooh yummy! :-P

Pine Garden

On one end of Shark's Cove is a pine garden, that's right behind the Sunset Beach fire station.

Tide Pool

One of the smaller tide pools surrounding the main tide pool at Shark's Cove

Deadliest Catch?

Okay, it may not be the arctic Alaskan crab seen on the Discovery Channel TV series ...

Kathy's niece Kisa Ann shows off a dead crab she found on the rocks surrounding a tide pool.

Among The Rocks

Kathy's nephew Cobe and niece Ellie sit in a rock that had a huge hole in it, near a small tidal pool.

Warning!

One of the warning signs around Shark's Cove warns beach goers about the sharp rocks that form the huge tidal pool that many go snorkeling. "Reef walker" shoes are necessary if you choose to ignore the sign and navigate around the rocks.

Shark's Cove

This month's theme week is "A Day At The Beach". It features a day Kathy & I spent on the North Shore with her mom, brother, nieces and nephew, and aunt and uncle.

Today's photo is a wide shot looking toward the west, and the high tide during a spring northerly swell.

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Birthday to the greatest country in the world!

Happy Independence Day!

Carry Shot

One of the most popular poses for Japanese tourist wedding is the carry shot. Of the 5,000 Japanese weddings I have videotaped over the past 20 years, there have been some funny ones: a bride was dropped when he lost his grip, several brides were strong enough to carry their grooms, one groom lost his footing and his bride fell on top of him, and a few grooms walked a bit while carrying their brides occasionally spinning her around. Amazingly, I don't really see this pose at local wedding photo shoots.

This couple had a late afternoon wedding on the day I went to Kaka‘ako Park to shoot the surfing pix (there's more to come). The photographer brought the couple out to the park from a nearby wedding chapel to get shots of the lucky couple with the surf in the background. I was several yards away when I turned from the surfing photos to get this shot.

Royal Poinciana

Another ubiquitous flower in Hawai‘i is the royal poinciana ...

Canada Day Kickoff 2009

Today marks the kickoff to the 2009 Canadian Football League regular season! It's also Canada Day, their Independence Day, in the "Great White North". And it's also the beginning of the second half of 2009.

Today's photo features former Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Warren Moon. He was working for Westwood One Radio, as a sideline reporter during the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl. I thought it was pretty cool to get a photo with one of my favorite quarterbacks.

During his six year CFL career, Moon won five Grey Cups (all with the Eskimos), passed for over 21,000 yards with 144 touchdowns, and was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 2001. Moon continued his football career with four NFL teams in 17 seasons, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. Warren Moon still has one of the top career passing yards, over 70,500 yards, during his entire pro football career.

The Edmonton Eskimos begin their 2009 campaign hosting the Winnepeg Blue Bombers tomorrow, and my favourite team, the BC Lions travel to Regina to play the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday. One of tonight's games features a rematch of last season's Grey Cup with the 2008 Grey Cup champs Calgary Stampeders hosting the Montréal Alouettes. The second game of today's double-header features an all-Ontario match-up with the Toronto Argonauts visiting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.