After the Rain

Outside my kitchen window, several palm trees (not sure of the variety) grow. I can see the green and yellow leaves against the blue sky, blowing in the breeze, or in the changing light of evening. I have also noticed, on several occasions, that when it rains, drops of water hang on the fronds, beckoning me to photograph them.
The other day, a Saturday, everything came together (it rained, then stopped, and I had some extra time in the morning and just happened to be in the kitchen) and I got some shots that I really like.
Below are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!


a baby palm frond, emerging slowly


I love the bright yellow against the green


going back to basics, messing around with depth of field


looking up through the ti leaves


another view of the baby


what drew me outside in the first place--rain drops lingering on a palm frond

Ka'ena Point Nature Reserve

For the longest time, my friend Marissa and I talked about going hiking. About a year passed, and each time we saw each other, we'd lament over the fact that we still had not ventured out together. Finally I said to Marissa, "let's set a date right now." We agreed on September 12, and it was as simple as that.
We decided to hike out to Ka'ena Point. I say "out to" because Ka'ena Point is the westernmost point on the island of O'ahu and when you finally finish hiking the 2.7 dusty miles into the reserve, you feel like you are at the tip of the world.
Once we were past the rutted road on the hike in, the land became completely different. Sand dunes with green, salt-loving plants growing all over them were abundant. The dunes were roped off because they are a nesting area for endangered birds. The water was a deep teal, blending into a dark cerulean blue with bright white waves crashing.
Had I not been so hot at the end of the hike, I would have loved the open solitude of the area. As it was, I really wanted some shade. If you decide to make this hike, start early, take water, and wear a hat and sunscreen.

Below are a handful of images I took that day. Hopefully they give a sense of the vastness of the area. Enjoy!














Riji hiked with us

The View from Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights is a neighborhood on Oahu just "up the mountain" from Downtown and Chinatown. I lived there for a year. The location was really convenient for commuting to work, even if the cottage I lived in was oddly situated on a street not designed for pedestrians. The best part of the little cottage, though, was the deck that had been built around two mango trees and provided an awesome view of Downtown and the ocean beyond.

On any given day, the sky would put on a glorious show over the city buildings. There were a few days in particular, though, that caught my attention. Below are a few of my favorites of these shots.

Enjoy!


I like this image because the glare from the sun on the ocean was so intense that the water looked white.


This view caught my attention because it was so monochromatic. I like the soft, dark grey.


And I like this image because of the shifts in the grey tones and the subtle pink on the clouds from the sunset.

Plants

It's been a little while since I've posted here. I've been deep in yoga teacher training and have not had time for much else. But we're on a break for the month of September, so I'm finally able to spend some time posting.

The images below were taken at different times. But they are all lovely, in my opinion, and representative of some of the unique flora to be found by the side of the road or in a backyard here in Hawaii.

I don't have names for any of these plants, but if you do, please let me know in the comments.

Enjoy!

Wow!

I just stopped by to see if anyone had left any comments for me and realized that I haven't posted anything new in over a month! I keep thinking about it and even know what I want to post, but I've been very busy lately and have been putting it off. Before I knew it, the days had ticked by and a month was gone...
I'm starting yoga teacher training tomorrow, so I don't know when I will have time to do the post that I want to do. But it's in my brain and eventually it will get done, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Check back in a bit!

Riji

Riji is a dear, close friend of mine. She's a yogini, an actress, a model, a fierce woman, and an open-hearted person.
Riji and I had the idea to photograph her in different yoga poses in beautiful spots around the island of Oahu. We got quite a few shots of the poses, and also a bunch of Riji simply looking beautiful, modeling different outfits or simply being herself.
Last year, Riji moved back home to NY to be closer to her family, so our shoots have been on hold, but I just found out this morning that she's planning a 3 week trip to Hawaii at the end of August. We have plans to collaborate again and I'll be sure to post images from that shoot.
Enjoy!


Riji in Wheel


Camel


In a My Evolution cap


Bob Marley bottlecap earrings by Sarah Herrington


in a dress imported from Thailand by a friend


From our first shoot together


So naturally beautiful...


beautiful




Like I said--fierce.


My favorite image of Riji...

Samantha

I met Samantha's mom, Dallys, through my friend Dawn in November of 2008. We were at Dawn's birthday party and eventually got to talking about me being a photographer. Dallys mentioned that she wanted to have some photos taken of her 10 year old daughter on the beach and we decided to make it happen.
We waited until after the New Year and then set a date and met on the beach between the surf breaks, "Cliffs" and "Mansions" near the Doris Duke mansion.
We started the shoot around 5:30pm, while the sun was still pretty high in the sky. The light was harsher than I had hoped for, but we got some sweet shots as the sun was going down.
The real magic happened, though, after the sun went below the horizon but before all the light was gone. The light had a soft, warm quality that just brought out the beauty in Samantha's young face.
Samantha was amazingly fun to work with! She wants to be a model one day and her dream is to participate on America's Next Top Model. As we were walking to the location, I let her know that if she had any ideas about the shoot, to please speak up. And she did! Her ideas were great and we worked really well together. I have to say that this shoot was probably the most fun I've had photographing people, ever.
Below are just a few of the 250 images I took of Samantha. These, in my opinion, have that certain something--the light is soft and lovely and by this point in the shoot, Samantha was relaxed and having fun in front of the camera. Enjoy!


Just before the sun set.


The sun had set and we were trying to get just a few more shots before all the light was gone.


This is my favorite photo of the shoot; Samantha was feeling relaxed and let her true, beautiful nature shine out.

The Living Earth

Presented by the Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre, The Living Earth is a performance featuring over twenty dancers as bodhisattvas, prophets, animals, constellations, and elements of nature and humanity. Attending the performance was a "journey through the Cosmic Circus of Realization to the Nine Gates of Earth Awareness".
My friend, Erzsi Palko, danced in the performance in a piece about Genocide.
I didn't get any shots inside the tents during the performances as photography was not allowed, but here are some shots from before the performance and during the interludes in the Cosmic Circus. Enjoy!


When I arrived at where the performance was to take place, I wandered around, taking a few snaps. (I might end up including this image in my Etsy shop--what do you think?)


This is where the show was to take place.


The scene, closer.


Moonrise?


One of the performance tents with a lantern rising.


The performance was about to begin--you can see some of the living statues standing under the Skygate sculpture by Isamu Noguchi.


A living statue with water shooting out of her fingertips.


The living statue, again.


Kali


Bubbles

Baby's First Photo Blog!

First off, I just want to thank whoever takes the time to come check out my blog. It means a lot to me. Second, I want to explain why I've decided to create a blog; for the longest time, I've thought to myself that I didn't need a blog as I've got my Etsy shop as a means to showcase my work. All of a sudden, though, I've had a real urge to share more of my images. I guess you could say that my intuition is telling me to put my stuff out there more. So here I am, with this brand new photo blog. My intention is to post images that I like but would not necessarily include as prints in my Etsy shop. My hope is that having this blog will have two effects; 1) to share more of my work with more people, and 2) to get me shooting more now that I have a "use" for all those images that have just been sitting on my hard drive. I really do have a lot of images that never get seen, so this is a way to share what I create separately from Etsy.
So, again, thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what you see here.