Sushi Closeups - 05/21/2013

Another birthday celebration brings us back at Sushi Bistro Shun. This time I tried to get in different angles while trying to take pics inconspicuously because it was rather crowded there at the sushi bar and I didn't want to bother the other patrons. I tried for extreme closeups this time, and again all of these were shot with the Panasonic Lumix ZS6 which I've had for over 2 years.

This was behind the glass right in front of me.

I can't believe I ate all that!!

We got to share the birthday cream puff with whipped cream dessert. The lightly sweet puff sure hits the spot. Yumm!

Quote and Photoshopping

I found this quote from the latest issue of Reader's Digest and I was looking thru my zoo pics and found one that matched it so well so I worked some Photoshopping skill. I was hesitant to post it since it looks kinda depressing..but I still like it and I found this very meaningful to me so here it is. And also, tonight, as I'm posting this I can hear helicopter and see the flashing lights of the police cars and I'm feeling sad realizing I'm missing the Special Olympics Torch run and the fun opportunity to shoot for the Summer Olympics. I remember the excitement waiting for the torch to come into the UH Baseball field and the fun of shooting the lighting ceremony and the dance afterwards. Next year.. I'll be sure to sign up early so I can join in the exciting event again.

Lion Cubs at Honolulu Zoo - 04/21/2013

I went w/ a few photo club members to the Honolulu Zoo. It was great timing because three cubs born recently at the zoo was finally released for public viewing. I wasn't expecting much since every time I've gone to see the lion, he was sleeping or out of view. I was told they were out until 3pm and I had arrived shortly after 1pm and I took my time heading to see them. I was surprised that there wasn't too much of a crowd and there they were!  I was so lucky the whole family was there and the cubs were really playful and the proud parents were so loving towards each other and their children. I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of the movie "The Lion King", but after seeing them I fell completely in love with them and want to go back to visit with them again real soon.

I waited and watched as the cubs would play in pairs and eventually came down their mound towards the water pool near the glass. It's tough shooting thru the thick greenish tinted glass so good thing for shooting in RAW, I was able to fix the colors in PSE.

I had my 80-200mm lens and shot mostly at max zoom and still had to crop to get a tighter shot.  I tried to keep the lens close to the glass to cut the glare.  It was overcast that afternoon so the lighting was ideal.

Some areas of the glass was also smudged from everyone pressing against it so some shots were not as sharp and I was also very excited to see them and I probably shook too but I did get some good shots of the love of the cubs for their dad.  I thought this would make a great Father's Day shot.

And Here's my Mother's Day shot.

What a beautiful family.

The cubs were really playful.. they look so cute and harmless.

Here's dad having had enough.. just like a real parent.

Every chance they have, a cub was always trying to get mom's or dad's attention.

More than a few shots were not as sharp so I used PSE posterize filter to get some sharp edges and turned the shot into a drawing.

A few times Dad stared back..as if telling the paparazzi photog that they want privacy.

This was the closest he got as if he looked directly at me hiding behind my big lens.. Hope I'll get a chance to visit again real soon because I miss them already.

Honolulu Festival Part 2 - 03/03/2013

I managed to beat the mad traffic jam on Kalakaua so I could stake out a good spot for the parade. There were people already staked out at all the good spots on the sidewalk when I got there so I was lucky I found a spot that I wouldn't be blocked by other enthusiastic photogs or the official festival camera people.  I'm also glad it didn't rain this year like it did last year and it turned out to be a perfect day for a parade and grand fireworks.

I can't believe Hilo Hattie has been around for 50 years old.  This is the world's largest aloha shirt.. wonder how large is the suitcase?

There were groups representing different countries...Samoa

It seems you can't have a parade in Hawaii without the traditional Chinese Lion Dance.

The Philippines...

This character representing Taiwan looked like he was staring and smiling into my camera.

I think there must've been more than a hundred girls in this group.  They managed to take a quick break before starting up their performance.

I missed Sugaren in the morning performance at the Convention center, but I managed to catch them at the parade.

They are one of the liveliest groups I am glad to see each year at the Honolulu Festival.

After the sun set, the lit up floats start to come down the parade.

Bummer, this year, I think they must've run out of fireworks by the time they reached us.. last year, there were huge fireworks.

At the convention center, they had displays of the firework bulbs that would be used for the grand Nagaoka firework finale at 8:30pm.

I managed to find an open spot on the beach to set up my tripod for the fireworks and hoped I was well aligned with the firework bursts.  It was so dark and I could hardly see what i was shooting.  I was surprised I got people in my shots..but in retrospect, I think it worked out well having something in the foreground.

This firework show is different from the July 4th one in that usually they shoot out lots of fireworks at the end.  In the entire 10 minute show, they were shooting out lots of fireworks at the same time so I had to cover my lens to avoid overexposing the fireworks and I got a lot of overlapping fireworks .

One of the signature design of the Nagaoka firework is the weeping willow design.

I lost count how long I kept my shutter open.. There so many blossoms I didn't know when to release and take the shot.

This looks like something you can do w/ duplicating images in photoshop, but this was how it really looked.  In 10 minutes, it was all done....until next year!!

Honolulu Festival Part 1 - 03/03/2013

I was able to go to the 2nd day of the Honolulu Festival at the Convention center to see the performances. There were 2 stages with different entertainment throughout the day.  I had lots of exercise going from the outside stage to the inside stage, but it was very challenging having to change my camera setting from outside lighting to indoor lighting.  This year, I tried to frame my shots a little differently by doing mostly landscape shots.  I had a great time enjoying the entertainment and taking photos.

There were different lively groups performing taiko.

In the indoor stage, there was a group from Japan performing the Hula.

Then on the outside stage, this lively group of young rock and roll performers doing songs from the 80's. These were the most talented youngsters I've seen. 

I stayed for this jazz group from the Joint Forces at Hickam.  I enjoyed their performance as much as they enjoyed performing together.

For the finale on the Indoor stage, the Yosakoi Team Tokiwa.  I've seen a lot of the performers from previous year but I still enjoy seeing them again year after year.

During some breaks in performances I was able to take some shots of the art work displays.

I saw this mask on the news and I was glad to be able to catch a shot of it as well as the master carver.

There was a floral group who displayed different bouquets. I really couldn't tell if these were real or fake flowers.