Gingerbread Villiage - 12/17/2010

Wow..I haven't blogged for a while since I haven't had a chance to go out to take photos. Here's a rare chance that I was able to dust off my camera and try to remember how to use it again. There is a HUGE gingerbread villiage in the lobby of the Princess Kaiulani Hotel just across the street from the Moana Hotel. It is complete w/ a 'real' moving train, merry-go-around, ski lift, etc.. very very cool..but very very difficult to shoot due to the very soft lighting..maybe because they don't want to melt the frosting of the gingerbread houses... here's one that looks like the Iolani Palace.
Here's my attempt to take the full shot stitching 4 photos together into a panorama.
We then checked out the King's Alley and another attempt again to shoot in the dark...

Colors of Waikiki

I've been taking a break from taking pics but decided to post these that I took recently using my cell phone cam. Hopefully, I'll have time to get back to using my 'real' camera again..
The morning color of PINK for the annual Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk. There was a sea of people in pink so early in the morning. It started w/ the bag pipe leading the walkers to the starting line. I felt like the rat in the story of the pied piper following the sound of the bag pipe.
The beautiful colors of the sunset over the Ala Wai at a recent photo planning meeting. I NEED to upgrade to a cell phone that has a better camera!!
The yellow and red colors of the sunset was just awesome. This photo does not do it justice.
Then finally, the Blue colored sky today at the beach. On a bright day like this, any camera can take a great photo.
This photo was actually a merged panorama.. It was hard to see from the glare of the cell phone screen but I managed to get two shots to make this shot wider.
I saw my shadow and couldn't resist..

Hawaii Fishing and Seafood Festival - 10/10/2010

It's 10-10-10... and it's also the 5th annual Hawaii Fishing and Seafood Festival. I went along w/ a few members of the photo group to check out this festival. We met early at 9am so there were plenty parking at HCC. We caught the shuttle bus that took us to Pier 38. I was surprised that even thought it was so early in the morning (for me atleast), there were LOTS of people.
There were lots of booths w/ fishing info and also fishing supplies like fishing lures. They were also giving out free bamboo poles to kids.
Inside the fish aution house, there were great displays of fishes w/ their names. I'm not sure why this fish is named after Joe Louis.
I know i've eaten these striped ones before. You can tell by the clear eyes that they are really fresh.
There was a table selling these cool Gyotaku T-shirts painted on the spot. Choose a fish, and he'll put it on a t-shirt for you.
Here's Mr. Naoki and his Gyotaku art.
We were able to go on a fishing boat. I have to say that I felt a bit light headed with the rocking of this boat even though it was docked! The HDR made the water look more transparent so you can even see the bottom of the boat thru the clear water.
This boat has really tight quarters. It was hard for me to get around inside w/ my camera pack.
I had to climb this tight stairway to get to the top of the steer. I nearly couldn't fit thru the doorway..
We also got a chance to go on board a coast guard ship. I tried another HDR.
The inside was kinda dark so it was a good chance to take HDR.. Luckily, it didn't turn out blurry even though I could feel the boat rocking.
There's no steering wheel here. The coast guard said that this boat is controlled by a joystick on the panel. I had wanted to take a shot of the bus when we first arrived but I didn't have time, so I took one while I was waiting for my shuttle to arrive. It was really orderly...someone said it was like the lines at Disneyland. It was fun and I am glad I got the chance to check this out.

Aloha Festival Parade - 9/25/2010

The Aloha Festival Parade is the final event in the Aloha week. People started to line Ala Moana Blvd early in the morning. This year we found a perfect spot under shaded area where we got a great vantage point of the oncoming groups without people blocking our view.
There were many riders that represented the different Hawaiian Islands. The leis the horses had were so colorful and beautiful.
It was cool that even the horses were dressed in costume.
Happy Trails.... That was the end of the parade.

Kapalama I Ka Po Mahina - 9/25/2010

Celia and I had the opportunity to meet Sunny to help shoot for the Kapalama I Ka Po Mahina event held at the Kamehmeha School campus. This was a fund raiser for the students of Kamehameha schools. The student performers were very professional and I was very lucky to be able to see their performance. Also, this was a great chance to learn how to deal with the different lighting situations from light to darkness.
When it was still bright, I tried to capture a lot of candid shots.
The teachers of this class performed the chants.
I tried to get shots from different areas.
During the brightness, I was able to use the 70-200mm long lens to zoom in on the performers from further back in the crowd.
I was also able to get great background blur with the long zoom lens. When it got darker, I hoped the flash doesn't wash out the beautiful color of the dresses of these dancers.
After a while, I tried to go flashless using the 50mm F1.4.
I was really lucky to get one good shot of the the group A Touch of Gold. They were awesome! People even went up and danced.
Celia and I tried to get a shot of the ticket...
I got this huge garlic chicken plate purchasing that green ticket.. Then the moon came out and I heard Sunny say 'take a picture of the moon'.... I think I must have taken a dozen shots and only a couple came out and this one was the best. I was surprised I was even able achieve that...