Waikiki, 11/11/11 and APEC Part 2 - 11/11/2011

In the late afternoons over the 3-day weekend, I ventured out to take more photos of the sunset. Nature was cooperating and the sunset was beautiful. I went walking around the Ala Wai to see paddlers then down Kapahulu Ave. to watch the sunset.

I found a lifeguard station I've never seen before and I've always wanted a shot of it in the sunset...what luck...but I was a little early.

Then I thought I'd take one of the sunset at the Waikiki Groin.  It was still too early..

I got a cool shot of the pattern in the lattice roof.  I've been there numerous times, but  I never took notice of it.

As I wait for the sun to set, I was watching the wave break on this reef block and thought how cool it looked as the white waves crash against the reddish colors of the block.  I took numerous shots and finally got the one I was looking for.

I tested the zoom on the Lumix and found it was pretty decent and I can even see the fencing they had put up on the beach for security during the Saturday Leaders meeting at Hale Koa Hotel.

It was pretty hazy, but I could see the coast guard that had gone out to man the ocean front.

As the sunset hit the cloudy sky, the sky looked awesome.

I found a front row spot as the sun was setting.  I shot these w/ max zoom. It was a good thing there were surfers in the foreground.

I changed to sunset scene mode and everything looked really red.  I also took a portrait shot to get a different perspective.

Just as the sun was about to set, the two sail boats made it close enough to fit into my frame!

I cropped this shot taken at the widest focal length to look like a panoramic shot. 

I remember from the talks given by Mike Wiley about visiting the same place over and over again to get different shots, so I went back again to get another shot at the sunset from the lifeguard station. I thought it would be perfect to have a sunset w/ the surfboard and the lifeguard station.

I was looking at my photos in my camera and when I looked up and the life guard was closing down and then the surf board was gone! bummers!  So I settled w/ this shot.

Mike had also talked about trying Portrait shot instead of landscape to get a different perspective.

I don't think I could've planned for a guy to sit in my shot..but I think it worked out really well.

As I was walking away, I found another person admiring the sunset creating a cool silhouette.

I was REALLY close to capturing the green flash!

Waikiki, 11/11/11 and APEC Part 1- 11/11/2011

It was Veteran's day and also happens to be 11/11/11 and I have a day off.  Unfortunately, due to the APEC security measures, it wasn't really worthwhile to be stuck in traffic so I used the best mode of transportation to get around.. walking.  I didn't want to take my Canon because I wanted to feel like a tourist so I took the Panasonic Lumix and got quite a bit of mileage out of it.  I took a bunch of photos w/ the banners they had put up for the APEC all along Kalakaua Ave.

I was at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and noticed how cool that the lily pond made the pink hotel become like a water color.  This shot is actually flipped upside down.

A lot of barriers had gone up in preparation for the meetings w/ the world leaders.  It was like a military zone.

This ugly fence became a traffic nightmare as it prevented traffic from getting onto Kalakaua Ave. during the day of the meeting.

I can't believe they moved all these cement blocks just over night.

The fence ran all along the road to Hale Koa Hotel.

The road blocks prevented the normal traffic and turned the place into a near ghost town.

Thought it was cool that each cement block was embossed.

I was crossing the street and when I looked down, I found these Hawaiian words embossed on the newly paved sidewalks in Waikiki.  I found around 10 different words on my walk..here are a couple of them.

Some of the words I didn't even know the meaning of until I saw it.

In the morning of Veteran's day, I heard the rumbling of the fighter planes doing a fly-by for the ceremony at Punchbowl cemetary and ran out onto my lanai w/ my 70-200mm lens...I was lucky to get two shots before it was gone.

Splendor of China - 10/30/2011

After missing this event last year, I finally made it to the Splendor of China on Sunday. It wasn't too crowded so we found good vantage point in the back to shoot the performers with our long lens. This year there were musical performances with Chinese Singers. There was also a display with Chinese symbols like these red bun which I think either represent longevity or good luck.

There was the Narcissus Court from last year.

Also the contestants from this year. After practicing my shooting of all the contestants, I think I finally discovered the proper breathing pattern to ensuring a sharp shot. This was a great opportunity for practicing. Now if I can figure out when to click before they blink. :-(

Here are more Chinese ornaments for the Year of the Rabbit.

They had a sample Dragon Boat. 

I didn't realize this was a lantern until I took a closer look and saw the detailed work.

Ala Moana Center Fire - 11/3/2011

I've been bringing my Panasonic Lumix with me since it's light, handy and have great zoom. In daylight, it is super sharp. So when I saw the fire at the Ala Moana Shopping Center this morning, I grabbed my camera and zoomed in and took some shots. There were lots of black smoke and looked really bad. Fortunately, according to the news, it wasn't too bad and was started w/ oil in a wok at Panda Express.

I saw these orange objects in the black smoke and thought it was fire..turns out to be two guys on the roof. 

I think within 1/2 hour, the fire was mostly out and there was left with only white smoke.