Pan Pacific Festival Parade - 6/9/2013

The Pan Pacific Parade commences the festival each year. This year, the parade was shorter than the previous years but it still had many lively and colorful costumed performers from different countries. This year, I wanted to travel light so I used my lightest lens, the 50mm. Although it has the F1.4 for low light later, on the other hand, since it didn't have zoom, so what I see is what I got.  Thus, I got the chance to practice trying to frame the shots.  We found a good spot w/o anyone blocking us, but as the sun was setting, I got a lot of flare from the sunlight which really threw off the metering.  I tried my best to rescue the signage shot in PSE.

I practiced being patient by waiting until the people came into my frame and that's pretty tough.

I think the most predominant color of this parade was red.

And.. Purple..

OK... I didn't know Texas was part of the Pan Pacific, but it's nice they were able to come to Hawaii to participate in a parade and they were dressed in Aloha attire too.

Sometimes I got lucky when they stop to perform in front of us so I got several shots.

As the sun was gettng lower, the trees blocked the direct light and I got better lighting.  These guys were great and they posed for me.

This shot came out really cool as the light came thru the trees at just the right time.

And the finale, the giant float.. these guys looked exhausted..

I caught the back of the giant float.  I did have to crop to get a better closeup.

On the walk back, I spotted this Mango tree, can you imagine, in the middle of Waikiki..full of mangoes so I had to take a shot.

Colombian Naval Tall Ship - 06/10/2013

I saw photos in the Star Advertiser of the Colombian Naval Tall Ship ARC Gloria's arrival to Honolulu Harbor, but unfortunately, I am now back to work so I couldn't go and visit. Luckily my good friend was in the area and took pics to show me so that I could be there via osmosis. These photos were shared with me by "Aunty" Shirley and she graciously gave me permission to post them. These are those times that it really doesn't matter what you shoot with but it's the photos that tell the story. She took these w/ her iphone 4S and sent to me via email. I just adjusted the coloration a little in photoshop to bring out the colors.

She went on Monday to the pier at Aloha Tower and was able to go on board for a free tour of the ship. 

She found info and went to check it out again on Tuesday when the ship was preparing to leave for the next port.  This was what I was wanting to see.

And as amazing as their arrival looked, the sailing crew got on the sails.

Then they sailed off.. what a beautiful day and a beautiful sight.  I'm glad I got to see it, even if it was only in picture thru someone else's lens.  I hope they come back next year.  I'll be sure then to take off and see them with my own lens. :-)

Recuperating with the South Shore Big Surf - 6/5/2013

I've been home most of the past week but felt it would be good to go out for a short walk. Being that there would be the rare big surf on the south shores today, I had to take my camera with me. I took my trusty Lumix since I'd need quite a zoom and walking w/ a large lens on the beach makes me feel weird. When I got to the beach, I saw other guys w/ long lens trying to capture surf, etc. 
It seemed like it was high tide so the waves looked even larger to me.  Lots of people were out and I decided to go closer to the water at the Groin at the end of Kapahulu Ave .   

The waves were so high, even the walkway was wet.. I was hesitant to go to the end since I had no intention of getting wet.

There were mostly body boarders but I could see a few surfers out there. I was out around 3pm and the sun was still beaming so it's difficult for the camera to meter correctly and most of my surfers/body boarders came out dark.

This was the best shot I got of a body boarder.

Kids love to jump off as the waves roll in and I waited and waited for him to take the leap.. 

The jet ski was out for rescuing.  With so many out there and the large waves, I don't see how they can see those in trouble. The news paper said there were 126 rescues today..wow..

I was watching this group sitting on the edge catching the large waves as it crashed all the way up to the walkway.  I tried not to get wet as I was taking the shot.  I saw others photogs trying for the same shot.

Some people came right in front of me.. then I realize she's w/ the Star Advertiser!  To my surprise, she was going after the same shot I was.. I heard her say something about the water got really blown out.  It's so cool to know that even real Professionals have the same problems too..I've been checking the site to see if I can see her final pics..

I was trying to get the surfer, but my shutter press is a little delayed so I got a wipeout instead..I thought it was pretty cool anyways.  As I was standing around, I got a wipe out of sorts when a large wave hit the walkway.  I got all wet and so did my camera.. I quickly wiped it w/ my shirt and was happy that it still works.

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.