Category: Photography

A sort of wedding…

A sort of wedding...

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.

A wide view of the 18th

A wide view of the 18th

Every year I am hired to photograph the Sony Open.  I’ve made a bit of a name for myself shooting golf as I’ve done it for a few years and I learned from some of the very best shooters.  Stan showed me how to sit on the first tee and get great, clean tee shots, Chris showed me how to position myself for anticipation, Sammy showed me how to walk up and down the course, and Grayson showed me how to hustle.  I mean hustle.  So I know my golf or at least pretend to.

Do I like shooting golf?  Eh…  Its tough shooting round after round of golf for days on end and when we had more than one tournament here, it was super hard to get motivated to follow these super sensitive” golfers for hours on end.  By the end of any tournament, the last thing I want to do is be out in the sun, see grass, or anything to do with little white dimpled golf balls.  I usually stay sick for a few days after as all the sun, pollen, pesticides, and the weight of my cameras breaks me down.

Yet, I get a shot like this and it all feels worth it all.  Its not the best but it sure makes me feel I can really see the world happening around me.  Sure, its just a sports shot, and not a great one at that, but to know I walked up and down a course for four days in the rain, sun, and humidity carrying three cameras, a heavy 400mm lens while slathered in sunblock…and get a shot like this…makes me feel like I’ve come along way from time time I first walked into a club house.  Thank you, you men of golf, who taught me how to see golf…and thank you Steve Grayson…not a golf tourney goes by here in Hawaii without your memory recalled in laughter, professionalism, and fear.

Did anyone ever hear the chimp story between him and Sammy?  HA!

If many of you don’t or didn’t know Steve Grayson, he was a great GREAT man who knew his photography.  He once said he was one of the only photographers who was able to walk through South Central LA during the OJ riots with camera and taking pictures.  I mean, look at him!  Would you mess with that man?!?

Grayson sent me this shot of him and the hotties of the golf world.  I bet those women were more happy to be seen with him that him with them.

In January 2008, Grayson passed away.  Its been three years now and we still talk about that man of men, a giant among us who crawl through the grass to get that shot.  We will always remember your bad plaid shorts.

Out like a Baghdad night…

Out like a Baghdad night...

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.

The view from above.

The view from above.

Living atop a high rise is fun.  Daily I can look down at all the little people (literally…I live on the 32nd floor) and see all kinds of activity from a different point of view.

A few days ago, I glanced down at the third floor courtyard and garden and noticed a girl in the common area preparing to do something.  All of a sudden she started doing back flips and twists.  I quickly realized she was a cheerleader (or gymnast but I’m certain she was a student from HPU) and grabbed my newest toy, my Canon 1D Mark II (it beats the hell out of that tinny 5D!) and a 400mm lens.  At 10 frames a second, I rattled off a succession of images of the cheerleader jumping backwards.