Since the article for the New York Times was published on Sunday, I can post a few here.
I was pretty smitten with this photo but what really makes the entire job is actually the couple. They were a blast. They were completely unaware of me and that’s what made the photos. I caught moments unguarded.
I’ve done a handful of wedding in my career. Mainly friends, actually almost all friends. One or two were actually paid gigs by clients but its never been part of my business plan. I don’t really care to do wedding but I’m finding I’m pretty darn good at capturing moments.
The New York Times hired me to shoot their Vows sections…which is actually their society wedding page…and shot a couple from the East Coast on Kauai on Secret Beach. Its online here.
The Times editor emailed me today and stated “…LOTS of compliments for the photos.” I guess I did the right thing.
The above photo is of tonight’s spectacular voggy sunset. Everyone was out at Magic Island and I watched a Japanese wedding photographer (package deals where a wedding company books the entire lot into a set where they get dress, hair/makeup/church, flowers, and photographer for said amount) snapping photos of a Japanese couple’s dream wedding. They seemed young and pretty happy to have such a great sunset although I am not sure if they realized what they were doing as the photographer had them posing in all sorts of cheesy wedding poses. Flashing shakas, putting their hands together to form a heart…very cookie cutter images. Blah…just not my thing. Either way, the couple will go home with a nice photo book of memories that will get dusty over time.
I’ve never been to Baghdad. I’ve never been to a war zone.
I cant’ really say…but the cracks and booms out in the distance (and some very close by) make me feel I’m not too far away from one.
Honolulu suffers from legal and mostly illegal fireworks on NYE. Windows rattle, car alarms are endless, and haze binds the night sky.
Ah…the end of the year.
Each New Years, I’ve put out a best of what has made the year my year. Well…I don’t know. I didn’t go under. I didn’t go broke. I shot. I purchased gear. I paid the mortgage. I paid off debt. I got into debt. I paid that off and yet, I got more debt. I got a great desk. I got long hair (again.) I got strong. I got weak. I lost weight then found it again. I shot a few covers. I shot a bit of nothing. I came and I went.
What more is there?
Well there are a few images…loads more but its late. Here are a few…
Its a coffee ad
A walk on the beach
99 luftballons…
A silent smile
and
the best one of all!
Please note…I hadn’t opened that bottle. I tried with my teeth but no no avail.
Walked around the beach the other day and found the above. An eternal early winter sunset in Hawaii.
Audrey and I went to Kauai a few weeks to work on a story about Friday night football games and how an endangered species of birds has threatened a traditional and community way of life.
The story appeared all over the country and you can read it here or from here. The New York Times ran it on their web page but you have to sign up to see the story.
I won’t repeat what Audrey wrote about but I will mention something she did not. In my opinion, much of the community in Kauai seems split on how outsiders, namely mainlanders and haoles, have come to the Islands pushing their (righteous) ideas of what is good for the state with little regard to what the citizens of the state want. Yet, we surely can’t allow the peoples to just get whatever the majority wants. The birds are endangered and do need some protection from us; however, how far will environmentalist go to ensure we protect the earth from ourselves? Many would advocate such radical policies that we’d go back to the stone age so there has to be a balance. All in all, the County dropped the ball on not placing proper lighting into the existing stadium (the County can’t get a guarantee that the lights will be a solid solution so why spend the money on what might not work–and still be responsible for dead birds) but the county disregarded the feelings of the community.
You sometimes have to wonder who has the smaller brains, us or the birds…
VOTE.