Orchid On The Rocks

This orchid among river rocks was one of several that lined the aisle of the wedding that I got "What Was I Thinking?" photo.

Skinny Orchids

Got these unusual looking ones from the orchid wall at the Kahala Hotel & Resort.

Orchids For Sale ...

This month's theme week is "Orchids". I guess you may have noticed that orchids are the majority of the flowers I photograph. I do have several plants on my lanai, though most of this week's photos were taken elsewhere.

I was in downtown to meet a friend for lunch one day, and got this shot of these orchids, before I met up with him. These orchids were part of several plants for sale at an open market on Fort Street Mall.

Camera 2 - Soccer

During the Pan Pacific Championship Cup this past February, we had re-positioned our Camera 2 from the north end zone's upper concourse to the south end zone's lower concourse, to get a better angle of the soccer tournament.

Here's a view of the Aloha Stadium "pitch" from both the videocamera, and the outside. This was taken during warm-ups prior to the Los Angeles Galaxy vs Sydney FC match.

Cleared To Land

This Atlas Air Boeing 747-200F is seconds away from touching down on HNL's Runway 4R. Atlas operates contract cargo flights for Qantas, flying cargo from the mainland USA to Australia. These 747s make a fuel stop at HNL before continuing Down Under. Off in the heat haze, a Hawaiian Air Boeing 717-200 waits for its take-off clearance on Runway 8R. Before the 717 can depart, there has to be a short wait for the 747's wake vortex to dissipate, otherwise the 717 could encounter turbulence during its take off, which could be quite hazardous.

Pine Needles

Pine needles from this tree dangle in the wind ...

Little Fishies

A bunch of littles fishes feed upon the rocks near the boat ramp at the Hee‘ia Kea Boat Harbor.

SoCal Moonset

Speaking of southern California ... I took this photo during a trip to Long Beach for a business convention. I was staying at the Quality Inn at Carson, CA, when I walked from my room to the breakfast room, around 5:30am. This is the view of the moonset with the buildings and the swimming pool area in the foreground.

Scouting Trip

University of Southern California Trojans football Head Coach Pete Carroll was in town with two of his assistant coaches Brennan Carroll (tight ends & recruiting) and Ken Norton Jr (linebackers) to scout Punahou School's senior linebacker Manti Te‘o, among other potential prospects. Te‘o also happens to be the #1 high school linebacker in the entire country. The Punahou Scholl Buff-n-Blue hosted the Kamehameha Schools (Kapalama) Warriors this past Friday evening as the feature game (of an ILH double-header) at Aloha Stadium. The Buff-n-Blue beat the Warriors 28-6, before a crowd of over 4,000.

Coach Carroll and company arrived in Honolulu, after their 27-21 upset loss to the Oregon State Beavers, this past Thursday night. The trio watched Te‘o's stellar performance, who played offense (running back), defense (linebacker), and even special teams. Carroll's presence also attracted the media covering the game as well. Newspaper photographers and TV videographers got their shots of Carroll on the Punahou sidelines. Both Carroll and Norton signed autographs for the Punahou fans, who made their way down to the front railing. USC is one of five colleges who are vying for Te‘o's acceptance of a football scholarship. BYU, UCLA, Stanford and Notre Dame are the other four. In my five seasons on the Aloha Stadium Jumbotron crew, this was the first time I have seen a head coach from a major mainland college come to a Hawai‘i high school game to watch a prospect.

I got this photo of Pete Carroll and myself from a friend of Carroll, who was with the coaches. I was also the field level camera operator for this game.

Kewalo Park Pavillion

A wave crashes against the breakers fronting the pavillion at Kewalo Park, on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon.

Gold Tsuru

A gold tsuru origami (Japanese crane - paper art respectively) on the table at a wedding reception I videotaped.

Japanese tradition holds that 1,000 of these origami tsuru be folded for a wedding or milestone anniversary, to honor the couple.

Cargo Hold

What looks like a long tunnel, is actually the main cargo deck of a Douglas DC-8-71F freighter jet, that belongs to Murray Air (of Willow Run, MI). The cargo hold is about 140 feet long, and can even fit a few cars in it. A friend and I had gone over to take a look at this classic airliner, as it was parked near the hangar where he works. While he talked shop with the Murray Air crew, I walked around this classic bird snapping as many shots as I could. The guys from Murray Air even let me go inside, so I got this shot, and a shot of the flight deck.

The exterior shot, and history of this airliner can be found my HNLRareBirds blog. This the link to the photo of N872SJ.

In the early 80's, I had a chance to ride on a couple of DC-8-60 flights when Pacific East Air was in business. In the height of airline dergulation and expansion, Pacific East was formed to provide cheap ($99 one way) airfares between HNL and LAX and SFO, and they lasted only a few years. I remember the cabin being quite spacious, considering the seats were configured for maximum tourist seating (250+ seats ... no 1st Class). One feature of the DC-8, was the large windows. The highlight of the trip returning to HNL from LAX ... was winning the contest to guess the time to the midway point of the flight ... a bottle of champagne and a round-trip (for one) to the neighbor island of my choice. I guess my physics classes paid off after all.

East Maui

A view of the east side of Maui from several thousand feet up, as we made our way to the Kahului Airport.

Droplets

Water droplets, frozen in time, from the fountain at Kahala Mall.

Tall Trees

Some of the taller trees at Foster Botanical Garden done in black & white.

Dolphin

One of the few Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins at The Kahala Hotel & Resort's DolphinQuest program, retrieves a ring tossed to it by one of its trainers.

I was at the hotel to videotape a wedding, and got this shot (among others) after my duties were finished.

As far back as I can remember ... to the late' 60's, The then-Kahala Hilton had a special lagoon built to house dolphins. They were cared for, and trained by the dolphin staff at Sea Life Park. DolphinQuest took over a few years ago, and offer the hotel's guest an opportunity to interact with these intelligent mammals.

Happy Birthday Kat!

It's my hunny's b-day!

Kathy you da bes'! I'm so blessed that the LORD brought you into my life. You've made me extremely happy!

Happy Birthday Kathy!

Doin' The Wave

Fans doing the wave during the fourth quarter of the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl.

Hush Kit

This is the business end of a Pratt&Whitney JT8D-15 jet engine that belongs to an Aloha Airlines Cargo Boeing 737-200. The flutes converging toward the center is part of a hush kit, which is designed to reduce the amount of jet noise. These were installed in order to adhere to FAA regulations concerning noise emissions from jet-powered aircraft. What a hush kit does, is stream cooler air into the exhaust to produce the noise reduction.

This particular 737-200 had been previously owned by Alaska Airlines, before Aloha acquired it in 2007, and was one of a few "-200s" in Aloha's fleet to have hush kits installed.

I got this photo during the 2007 "Blues On The Bay" airshow, when Aloha Airlines had one of their cargo birds on static display.

Ala Moana Fountain

A two-second exposure of the fountain on the Diamond Head end of the Ala Moana Shopping Center, seen from the second level.

Who's Driving?

Kathy & I were going to our other church we worship and fellowship at, New Hope Leeward, one Saturday afternoon, when she pointed out this car in front of us. The driver is so short that we could not see their head. I just had to get a shot.

No Swimming

Sandy Beach is a famous body surfing, body boarding, and surfing site on O‘ahu's east coast, but best reserved for the experienced ones. When swells on the east side kick up, the ocean safety officers post signs warning folks to stay out.

The surfer in the background was someone we were videotaping for a Japanese TV variety show.

Ship In Vog

A few of the Kaka‘ako high-rises, and Kaka‘ako Park frames a container ship making its way to Honolulu Harbor through the vog. The thick volcanic smog returned Saturday with the southerly winds, and expected to last a couple of more days.

Orchid From Mom

One of the orchid flowers from a plant that Kathy's mom gave me.

Sepia Skyline

A night shot of the downtown skyline, then converted to sepia-tone.

Flying Into The OC

Making our final approach to the John Wayne Airport (SNA), in Santa Ana, CA, in a one-second exposure.

9-11 Memorial

The plaque on the right reads:
"Let this eternal flame unite our country in memory of those who lost their lives on Septenber 11, 2001, and honor the brave men and women who put themselves in harm's way to save others. The love and spirit of our grateful nation, and the hearts and prayers of our people will always be with them.

Dedicated on November 11, 2001, by the people of the City & County of Honolulu."


Several people with Hawai‘i ties perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center complex, and there are Hawai‘i based troops already deployed to the Middle East, with more headed there.


On this fateful day, the Christian rock band P.O.D. released their album Satellite. I remember walking into a KMart to buy the CD, and it was eerie, as the store was almost empty, and all the TVs were set on news coverage. It was such a sinking feeling to see a wall of TVs show all the death and destruction. I was working for a Japanese wedding video company, and in the days following the attacks, our industry saw the weddings plummet to zero, as did the Hawaiian tourist economy. It does not feel like seven years have passed, and the memory of the attacks seem to have faded from the minds and hearts of Americans, except for those who lost their loved ones. We must never forget.


To think Osama bin Laden is out there running free (or more like hiding), is just so wrong. I hope one day he is caught, and brought to justice for the evil he and his cronies plotted. Whoever the next president is, I hope they have the cajones, and are committed to capturing him. Letting bin Laden run, is asking for trouble again.

Fireworks

A four-second exposure of a fireworks blast, taken during the New Years 2007 fireworks show at Aloha Tower.

Approach Abeam Waikīkī

A few airliners make their final approach in front of Waikīkī, as the winds shifted southerly. Arriving flights from the mainland will begin their approach from Hawai‘i Kai (East O‘ahu), and fly the coastline about a mile off shore until it's quite close to HNL. Today's photo was taken at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach.

Thar She Blows!

This PT Cruiser knocked over a fire hydrant a little past midnight early yesterday morning, and the force of the water lifted the rear part of the car off the ground. We heard a crashing sound outside my apartment, and peeked outside to hear the sound of rushing water and the sight of the car above the geyser. It took Honolulu Fire Department and Board of Water Supply crews about a half-hour to shut the water down, while hundreds of gallons of water flowed down Ward Avenue and Prospect Street. We're not sure what happened to the driver or occupants, but I'm sure the car got soaked inside too.

Black & White Moonset

The subject of the theme week for September is night shots.

Leading off "Night Shots" is an early morning moonset I captured, and converted the moon and sky to black & white through a little Photoshop magic.

Grandparents Day

Grandparents Day is actually tomorrow, but I wanted to get a head start, since tomorrow begins a new theme week.

Today's photo has Kathy & I with my grandparents in a photo we took a few months ago. They both are going to be 96-years old(!) next month, and have been married over 75 years(!). Both are truly blessed, and have been truly special in my life!

Happy Grandparents Day!

Sweet Sixteen

My younger daughter Chelsie celebrates her 16th birthday today! It's hard to believe how fast time goes and kids grow up.

Though I don't get to see her that often, it's a wonder that each time I see her, how she's grown from a little five-year-old to a teenager.

Happy Birthday Chel! :-)

Love, Dad

Amfac Fountain

The fountain in the courtyard of the TOPA Towers (formerly known as the Amfac Building), in downtown Honolulu.

Contrasting Lilies

A big, yellow lily in the foreground, with small, blue lilies in the background.

Still Life ... Blurred Background

I caught this shot while waiting for the 2007 Fourth of July fireworks show at Magic Island. I saw this couple sitting and waiting for the show, and saw the kids in the water, and thought it if it was possible to get the kids blurred while keeping the couple still ... and I got it.

Steel & Glass

Welcome to September, and the last quarter of 2008!

This stainless steel and dichroic glass sculpture of kalo (or taro) leaves fronts the University of Hawai‘i's School of Medicine.

I posted another angle of it in April 2007.

Kahala Island

This is a man-made island off of the beach fronting the Kahala Hotel & Resort, that people can swim to.

Game One

Today is the first game for the University of Hawai‘i Warriors football team. This year, they are opening the season on the road against the fifth-ranked University of Florida Gators in Gainsville, FL.

Can the Warriors play David to the Goliath Gators? I'm hoping and praying so, despite the Warriors are 35-point underdogs.

The photo above was taken during warm-ups of last season's opener. This season's home opener is next Saturday.

Update 19:00 ... The Warriors got chomped 56-10 by the Gators.

Welcome!

An American Airlines Boeing 757 prepares to touchdown on HNL's "Reef Runway" during Kona Wind conditions. Diamond Head can be seen in the background. During these conditions which do not happen too often, arriving flights also pass in front of Waikiki, and downtown Honolulu, as it makes its final approach.

Trees

The trees in Lili‘uokalani gardens shot with a #5 soft filter.

Sun & Clouds

The late afternoon sun amongst thick clouds at Kaka‘ako Park.

Voggy Drive 2

Another perspective of the vog ... I took this while driving home from work one day during the vog attacks a few months ago. It's quite a sight to see the Honolulu skies greyed out by all that vog. I thought it was worse than a level three smog alert in Los Angeles, and thought if this was similar to the smog in Beijing which some athletes had complained about.

Paddleboarder

Stand-up paddleboarding is one of the latest and hottest water sports in Hawai‘i. Basically, it's a long surfboard with a canoe paddle. This paddleboarder is seen at Ala Moana Beach paddling the length of the bay. Advanced paddleboarders can surf with their paddles.

Talented Siblings

Anette and PJ are a couple of blessed and talented kids I've known for the past few years through Hope968. Their amazing voices have graced our church, community theatre, high school sporting activities, and seen above, singing the Star-Spangled Banner and Hawai‘i Pono‘i before the 2008 Hula Bowl.

Niniku

Niniku is the Japanese word for garlic. Today's photo is a small bunch of garlic flowers I came across in a public garden. Interesting that these cute flowers come from garlic.

Spinner Trio

One of my favorite shots I took during Wyland's painting of Aloha Airlines' N748AL, "Koholālele". We were over 25 feet above ground on a motorized scaffold as Wyland added details to the trio of Spinner Dolphins on the right side of the nose. The dolphins at the nose are symbolic of how a school of dolphins would swim lead in front of a ship.

It's been almost five months since Aloha Airlines shutdown, and it was a sad sight to see the Aloha terminal at HNL, empty. I was there to photograph parts of the airport for a magazine article due in a couple of months, and the Makai Pier resembled a ghost town. All the Aloha decorations and artwork were still up, almost like a memorial to the airline and its employees.

Concrete Jungle

Here's one of the views from Monday's post ... Waikiki and Leahi (Diamond Head) from the top of the Hawa‘iki Tower. In the lower left corner is the Ala Moana Shopping Center.

It was also 49 years ago today that Hawai‘i became the 50th State. My how times have changed ...

Fan Spray

One of the water fountains at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

Stay Safe & Stay Strong Colin!

Our friend and brother-in-Christ, Colin, is being deployed to Kuwait, as he is part of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a Hawai‘i Army National Guard unit. They will be away for about a year. Colin serves as one of the Hope968 children's church leaders.

In today's photo, Matthew and Malia pile on Uncle Colin at a recent Hope968 Sunny Service at Magic Island.

We pray that the LORD will keep Colin, and his unit safe during their deployment.

Thank you guys for serving our country!