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.

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!!