142/365

Kids playing on the Beach

Dunedin, FL.  No other words needed.

My heart is grateful for:

Sunshine

22/365    

Trees at the Lake

Back in the day when film was transitioning to digital I was very resistant to the new "digital" stuff.  I loved negatives, actual prints and even the smell of developer and I didn't want to give that up.

I finally made the leap and during the following years began to appreciate the digital experience.

Today's field trip to a local state park reinforced that appreciation.  It's winter, so the trees are bare, bushes have no green leaves and everything looks dead. I went to the park mainly to get out of the house hoping  there would be something to photograph. 

Well...hummm, nope.  Not much to see & not much to photograph, but I was happy for  the time outdoors in the beautiful weather (even though cloudy) and the exercise.  I took 35 images.  I'll be trashing 33 of them.  And that's why I'm glad I have a digital camera now.  I can shoot with abandon even though I still  use discretion.  I don't have to worry about wasting film and paying for prints that will just go in the trash.

This is just about the best of the lot and I'm not super-impressed.

It was still a good day out.

Another Trip to Chinatown

8/365

My friend, Jackie, and I decided to make another trip to Chinatown today.  We got there pretty early while it was still cool and not too crowded.  We both did a lot of random shooting.  It surprises me that every time we go there, we manage to find something interesting to shoot, but I think that's pretty true of any street photography--things are different minute by minute and all you have to do is keep your eyes open and be aware of what's going on around you.  

We found a couple of very colorful doors.  We just stood on the street across from the doors and waited for people to walk by.  I've only posted a selection of the ones I took of this green doorway because I didn't want to overload you with such similar images.

After making our usual stop at our favorite Starbucks we drove over Magic Island just to see if there would be anything interesting.  Usually there isn't in the middle of the day, but we took a chance.  There were 4 different bride/groom couples having their photos taken.  This couple was really fun, but I think it was partly to do with the photographer--he kept giving them suggestions for fun things to do.  

Photo Shoot

9/365

It was supposed to be sunny and beautiful that day.  Even the weather announcer on the radio seemed a little surprised that the clouds weren't cooperating by going away.  I was relieved though.  

Clouds mean the lighting is even (sometimes a little too even to be a little flat). They mean there's no need to squint. They mean slightly cooler temps.  They mean the photos can be taken in any direction.  So even though the lighting is not as creative as when the sun is shining, it makes the session a little more pleasant.

It turned out pretty well and everyone seems happy with the results.

Beautiful Morning at the Beach

8/365

I decided to finally get going to a beach this morning.  I only have about 30 more mornings to do that before I head back to NY, where my toes will not touch sand for the next 9 months when/if I return to Hawaii next year.  Insert sad face.

My beach of choice was Ko Olina.  It's close, it's beautiful, and the weather there is usually wonderful even when it's pretty stinky elsewhere on the island.  I packed a book, my camera, a snack and a drink...

Ko Olina is home to Aulani--the Disney Resort.  After grabbing some rays and then walking around to get some photos, I took a walk through the grounds of Aulani.  It's one of my favorite places to be.  I know it's a tourist trap, I know it's crowded, I know it's not what you think of when you imagine Hawaii, but I love it anyway.  

It was designed with an Hawaiian cultural advisor on staff  and it's so NOT hokey.  I lucked out again and saw one of the characters, Stitch, wandering around looking for photo ops with the children.

I.   WANT.   TO.   WORK.   THERE!!

It will never happen, but it tugs at my heart every time I'm there.

Anyway, after several hours at the beach, I packed up, drove to the Y and swam my laps.

It was a really good day, praise God.

Waikiki in Black & White

5/365

The other day my friend and I went to Waikiki with the intention of doing some street photography only in black & white.  We both LOVE black & white and I remember back in the day when the only  way to shoot b&w was to insert an entire roll of b&w film into the camera.

If you decided you wanted to switch to color halfway through the roll, you either had to stick it out and finish the roll or remove it which was pretty tricky to do.

Now....with digital, it's just a matter of switching functions. 

But shooting b&w is a different animal than shooting color.  You have to "see" differently and anticipate what will look good and what won't.  Sometimes it's easier to shoot in color and then convert to b&w on the computer.  Part of me thinks that's cheating.  Part of me thinks that's cool.

Shooting in a b&w function forces you to be more discerning--you know that the image has to stand on the merits of composition and contrast without the impact of beautiful color to grab the viewer's attention.  Of course, the digital darkroom can really enhance any image, as did the wet darkroom, so some images can be salvaged.

So we set our cameras on b&w and began shooting.

After we finished at the beach, we headed over to our favorite Starbucks.  We did a little practice with panning and slow shutter speed.  I didn't have my tripod and I was just trying to teach my friend how to do these techniques, so I really didn't anticipate having any keepers.  Most of the images I shot were deleted, but these next three appealed to me.  

(Although the camera was hand-held, I was resting the camera on a newspaper box)

Waikiki Vignettes

1/365

It was a beautiful day in Waikiki today.  A little windy, but warm & sunny.  No big waves like the ones on the North Shore, but enough wave action for the beginning surfers.  I really admire the beautiful wave photos I see that are created by talented & dedicated surf photographers, but I seem to be continuously drawn to the action on the beach.  

There was, however, one surfer I couldn't resist photographing.  We watched her "catch" three or four waves and applauded her great efforts.  

We were ultimately rewarded with this great smile.  What a cutie!

Bellows Beach

An awesome couple from church (not that there's anyone from church that isn't awesome!) took me to Bellows Beach today. On the windward side of the island, it's a public/military beach which means that the first part of it, as you drive along the road, is open to the public (but only on weekends), and the second part of it is restricted to military. Because Britt is military, I was able to accompany them to this very beautiful beach for the first time ever.

When I see nature like this that looks so surreal, I wonder how evolutionists can explain the complex beauty. What accident could result in these wondrous sights?

It was cool, very windy and as you can see, somewhat hazy, but we marveled at the allure of the beach and we sat there for several hours enjoying each other's company and appreciating the blessing of just being there for the afternoon. We even saw a small wedding taking place.

I spent some time walking along the beach looking for tattoos and whatever else looked photogenic.

I finally found a tattoo. There weren't many in sight today, but the weather didn't encourage the crowds and bare arms that are normally at this beach, so I hear.

Posted at 9:45 on Saturday, March 28, 2009

Tuesday

I was on turtle duty today. The first time in a long time. When I got there, there were no turtles on the beach and the other volunteer said there hadn't been any all day.

There were, however, 5 of them playing in the surf, teasing all the tourists. They were coming in very close, frolicking, then turning back out to sea and swimming a little bit away. Then they happily repeated the scenario.

About 45 minutes after I got there, this one, lone turtle made his/her way up the beach. It's a juvenile, so the gender isn't determined.

As the sun got lower in the sky, I wanted to include the turtle with the stream of sun on the water. Problem: too contrasty, so I started playing around with exposure times. I wound up with this next image. Just a little high key, but I really, really liked it.

Posted at 8:30 on Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Back to Haleiwa

Okay, okay, so I'm in a rut. Haleiwa, turtles, turtles, Haleiwa. But they're irresistible. Yesterday Jackie and I went to Haleiwa, just for something to do. Then we headed up to the beach. Once again, no turtles for her to see, so we hung around for the sunset. It wasn't spectacular, but nice and it gave her something to practice on. Of course, just being on the beach at sunset was spectacular in itself!

Then, yep, you guessed it, back to Haleiwa for a light dinner. We decided to go to Cholo's--much more on that in my post for today. (this is my post for yesterday, Sunday) When we got our table outside, I decided to take a few shots to show Jackie the zooming technique. So I pointed my camera inside the restaurant and this is the result. The only one that I like, but I'm happy with it.

Then, instead of dessert, we went over to the Coffee Gallery and while Jackie was ordering, I started playing around with the different scenes in the store. It was dark by then, so the shutter speed was very slow, but I did manage to get a couple of images I like.

Another sign I love. I just might take Phil's suggestion and make a collage of all the funky signs I'm finding. I know a few people in NY who would probably love to have this sign in their house, or on their garage door. Fun!

So come back later. Cholo's will be the main topic. I'm headed out the door right now to drive up there. We got permission to go in before they open, so we can photograph with our tripods without interfering with their customers.

Posted on Mon. for Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009

Post for Friday (even though it's Sat)

I was on honu duty Friday afternoon. There were two turtles on the beach when I arrived. One had just had a satellite tracker attached to its shell. They expect that she may be getting ready to migrate.

Within a few minutes of being there, we saw a monk seal playing around in the shallow surf. She entertained us for a while, and then began her trek up the beach. Just so awesome!!

Posted on Sat, for Friday, Feb 27, 2009

More Haleiwa

Today Jackie and I got up before dawn to drive to Haleiwa, thinking that we could get some good images of the town before it got too crowded with people. Well, we were only about an hour early. To use up some time, we drove to the beach--no turtles--then drove back. After stopping at the harbor and then at a coffee shop for some breakfast, we began walking around town. I took way too many photos to post here, but these are two that I really like. MVPers, you'd be proud of me. After asking this guy permission to take his photo, I then returned and asked if he'd sign a model release!!! Hi Five!!! He said yes, and I'm now the proud owner of my first ever, model release from a stranger.

This bridge is very fun to look at and photograph. If any of you have seen "Blue Crush"--when the local girls are going to teach the football players to surf, this is the bridge they drive over to meet up with the guys. (I think it was probably cleaned up a little for the movie....)

Posted at 3 pm on Sat., Feb 21, 2009

Late Post for Friday, Jan 23
(9 am Sat)

So....here's my story and I'm stickin' to it. I borrowed my friend, Chelsea's, SLR. On the beach I was happily clicking away, but the "remaining image" count didn't seem to be correct. Then I finally realized that I was shooting in RAW. And of course, I couldn't figure out how to change the setting. I also knew that it takes for. ev. er. to download RAW onto my computer. Sigh.

Then, later in the afternoon I promised Kristine I'd take some photos of an event she was hosting at one of the schools.

We didn't get home until later in the evening and by the time I finally got the images on the computer and changed them to jpegs (it took hours), Kristine had turned off the internet and gone to bed. So no post last night.

Honest and true, I took these on FRIDAY.

That's a turtle in front of the lady with the red shirt.

Just some people on the beach.

Another turtle. There were only two on the beach yesterday.

Then we really had a treat. A monk seal came up to bask. We watched it (couldn't determine gender) come out of the surf and make its way up the beach. Once it reached where it wanted to bask, it was like watching grass grow--no activity at all. So I'm glad I was there when it first came out of the water, which was only about 15 minutes after I arrived--good timing!

PS. There's a slim chance that the same thing might happen today with my post. I'm going to an event this afternoon and I don't know when I'll get home, or if I'll have time to post before the internet gets turned off. I will not, however, be shooting in RAW--that is if I can understand the manual enough to change to jpeg.