A Leica, yet a broken Leica

I am heartbroken as my Leica M6 turned out to be a lemon. Yet I was able to sneak a peek at Ala Moana Park for about an hour before it fell apart.

Please don't be offended as oddness is just what it is...Things just happen in front of me.

Nordstrom Fashion Show

I photographed two fashion shows during the Nordstrom grand opening in Honolulu a few weeks back. Long legged girls in the newest fashions slinked down the catwalk to a slick production with hip disco and flashing colored strobes transporting the audience to Paris, Milan, or New York. Amazing to see a bunch of sandal wearing locals in awe of the big city glitter.

I never thought shooting a fashion show was be that strenuous but I shot close to 12 gigabytes on my Canons burning through two full batteries within an hour. I couldn't believe how much I shot and how quickly everything took place. But I kept up and did a great job.

Both shows were identical and I opted to shoot straight down the runway for the first show and focus on creativity during the second show.

I posted the second show images as they show a bit of a different side of what I expected from myself.

Waikiki Sunset

Sunsets in Hawaii can be overwhelming...

Just in time!

I got caught by fellow shutterbug Hugh via his video cam of me almost missing a critical shot at the opening of Nordstrom in Honolulu. The man counting down is the store manager and the shot of him counting down to the opening of the store was on my shot list.

Luckily I got there in time but now without Hugh making a good laugh at me and my predicament.



Here is the lucky shot!

Beckham and Co.

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This week Hawaii was blessed with futbol...yes...futbol, football, or what Americans call soccer. I prefer futbol as it brings back warm memories of flipping through tv as a kid and landing on a Spanish network broadcasting a match taking place down south in Mexico or some other Latin nation. The passion of the announcer, taunts of the fans, the tackles, passes, headers, and the dives from the players, the long locks of hair bouncing off the shoulders of a far away star. And yes, the cries of "gooooooooooooooooooooo1!" sent shivers down my spine!

But those days pushed the curiosity into a passion and now I follow football regularly. I have been known to stay up late nights obsessed with the World Cup action and now that we have the Fox Soccer Channel, Saturday and Sunday mornings are filled with Torres and Ronaldo smoothing their way down the pitch for Liverpool and Manchester United.

You can only image the joy when I learned David Beckham would play soccer in our dumpy Aloha Stadium. Becks, along with the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Houston Dynamos, Sydney FC, and Gamba Osaka played in the Pan Pacific Championship, a two day international tournament held here in Honolulu.

As I am a terribly addicted football nut, I couldn't help but to be excited about having someone like Beckham play here...and me being the photographer extrodinare, I couldn't wait to work the tournament.

The Associated Press had me on for the entire Beckham week and it started with great fan fair with Becks and the Galaxy arriving at the airport. The PR guys for the MLS set up the media just outside the terminal giving us full access to Beckham arriving and getting the traditional Hawaiian flower lei.

From there the soccer circus had several community events including a kid skills camp with Becks and other playing around with the kids. So many kids got the treat of their life as they got to kick the ball around with him...it makes me wonder if any of those young soccer players really knew who Beckham is or what history he created.

I think so many Americans only think of him as Mr. Posh Spice.

The tourney itself was not something I would call amazing soccer but play was decent and games spotted with great action. As Beckham is not close to retiring from international play, his role in the MLS is interesting if not controversial. His departure from the top leagues in European football to the MLS slightly mars his image as the MLS isn't known for their amazing players or teams. Many critics stated Beckham was done and would not make another international for England and worse, he might start seeing play as a substitute for his then club Real Madrid. As any athlete knows, youth will always replace age.

The top MLS teams might only rank in 2nd or 3rd tiers of England and Europe. Yet there are great players and some games are quiet amazing. Sadly, many feel the MLS is the retirement league for European and Latin American stars.

Beckham's play stood quiet still at times as he was not played the ball much and when he did get his foot on the ball it was only for his specialized crosses and set pieces. Sure, that is his specialty yet his lack of full on action made me wonder if either the Galaxy is a bad team and doesn't know how to utilize him or the organzation keeps him safe from bad form players and injury. The Galaxy wouldn't fare well if their multi-million dollar baby was done in with a knee injury or a Eduardo-style ankle break. Brutal that injury the poor Brazillian suffered the wee start of Aresnal's game against Birmingham.

Watching Becks through my 400mm allowed me secret access to moods, emotions, frustrations, and quirkiness. I viewed him quiet frustrated as his beautiful curved kicks sailed to strikers who in my opinion, lacked the skills of a Rooney, Owen, or Lampard. Yet his decisions to move to the MLS seems more a decision based on a new Hollywood lifestyle he and his wife embraced rather than a man willing to play at the top leagues. I do imagine that $50 million a year contract does smooth things over yet watching him play in this lower tiered tournament brings frustration to me and obviously to him. I am certain many people who watched him in the glory days probably have similar feelings.

The tournament played out well and the star of the tournament was Gamba Osaka's Bare. His four goal game against Houston in the final hopefully put him in the minds of the European leagues. The J-league is great but what great striker wouldn't take a chance to play in the big leagues. Hopefully Gamba will reap a big windfall if Bare is taken by another team.

As far as Galaxy's final game, Becks was full of emotions. Many smiles and frowns along with better play from him and his team. They defeated Sydney FC 2-1 and both goals came off of Beckham assists. It was a good time by all...maybe not as good as the Manchester United games he once played but good times.

After all, sports are an evolved form of entertainment. Sure Beckham was a bit of show as screams echoed throughout the stadium anytime he touched the ball...but what fan wouldn't scream when The Edge plays a rift, or Bono hits a high note.

Its all just fun.

Gamba Osaka won the tournament whipping the Houston Dynamos 6-1. Bare was a bear. He was great to see...pure top form.

One of the funny highlights of the end of the Galaxy games was Becks pulling off his top and strutting around the field, tattoos and all. His presence is rock star like.

I will not hold my breath for another full on pro soccer tournament but maybe this will push me to travel and shoot a game or two elsewhere.

Enjoy.

Beckham

Futbol has finally arrived in Hawaii.

Hawaii Four O

Big waves this week crashed onto the North Shore.

Nice stuff.

Mom

Last year I walked around Waikiki working on a personal project and I encountered a very attractive young woman swimming on the beach with her two kids. I asked her if I could snap a photo of her and her kids. I cropped it oddly as I found power in the image from a different point of view.

Leica

I been away from the blog recently but I promise to return with new images and stuff.

I recently purchased a Leica only to challenge myself visual with a tool that I am not very familiar with as rangefinders are typically not the easiest cameras to use.

However, a mystery surrounds the Leica and the user. It can be described as a culture. Sweaty jungles, civil wars, the streets of New York, dictators, whiskey, cigarettes, affairs, Paris, Africa, etc...romance, love, and death. It is something pretty amazing and unique to get caught up in but oddly, most of the owners are usually doctors and collectors who never take them out of their safes or worse, the Leica box or case.

Prices are extremely high for mint copies as they do have a myth.

Here is my first Leica photo.

Happy Holidays!

Hawaiian holidays are different.

32nd Floor

Shots from above.

Dallas Morning News

I got a December Dallas Morning News cover!





As a young budding photographer in San Antonio/Austin, there could be no better newspaper gig other than working at the Dallas Morning News. Dallas, with its pro sports teams, urban crime, big city lights, and its money, afforded a big world of photo opportunities. Dallas was up there with LA, Chicago, New York and Boston. At the time, I felt these were the papers that made all the difference. Before the crunch of the digital world and shrinking budgets, staff photographers at the big newspapers would jet around the world to big sporting events, shoot Presidents and Prime Ministers, and cover conflicts at home and abroad. I saw these photographers, many who won major prizes, as the ambassadors to the visual world. Nothing could top being staff at a major newspaper and the Dallas Morning News was it for me.

Life changes and I followed different paths and hoped around the world only to end up in Hawaii--a far cry from Dallas.

So...a few weeks ago, I get booked to shoot a gig for Dallas. Sallie Stratton's husband, Chuck, was shot down over Laos in 1971 and the POW/MIA group based in Hickham AFB found his crash site and remains. Sallie, who lives in Dallas, spent a good portion of her life wishing and hoping one day that phone would ring and her husband would return. After photographing her in the short time that I had with her here, you can just never understand what loss that woman had in her heart. Its unbelievable to think she held on that long but what else would you do?

S0...the MIA team found the crash site, dug through the wreckage and found the tiniest of bones.



Mrs. Stratton flew to Hawaii for the repatriation ceremony in which her husband finally came home.

It would not have been human for me not to shake as I shot some of those images. But as hard as it was for Mrs. Stratton, she survived as did all the memories of her lost hero killed in action.

Hard work and being in the zone helped me capture some of these unique images. I assume the eds in Dallas liked what I did as they gave me the cover on the first of three special issues of the paper. It was even the Sunday issue which most likely is the biggest issue of the week, not to mention the lead of the story.

My other issues ran on the third day of the series on the inside. I felt my photos and the David Tarrant's story did a great deal of justice shining a light on an individual who lost the most important person in her life.

Recent publishing.

Today's post concerns publishing! I sometimes forget to see where my photos end up. It can be a mystery at times as images are sent to editors on the mainland never to be seen again. The wireless age creates apathy as images are ftped to a far away place never to be seen again. I had two sports images end up in Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News this week. My hard won photos although not peak telling of the story action are stock images and clients and magazines do care for what I describe as "stock" images.

Peak sports images are most essential to any sporting event but since I live in a different market, Hawaii sporting events are usually off the radar of most people. Mainland writers will focus on stock images of sport stars and athletes and to me, many could clearly care less of any important impact plays. Clean sharp images are what counts.

I've showcased this images in a past blog but this image was used to illustrate UH's 12-0 season for SI. It ran on a page with two other images at about 2x3, hardly worth me paying for the mag at Borders.



The University of Hawaii football team performs a Maori "haka" or war dance before their football games at home and away. The controversial performance does make some upset (namely Maoris as Hawaiians are a different "tribe"---and a good portion of the players are not even Polynesians) but the dance does make for interesting photos. My image showcased on the back page of The Sporting News.

I borrowed Jamm Aquino's Canon 15mm lens for the shot and lined up the image just right. The 15mm is a tricky not an every day use lens which gives a fisheye effect. On a cropped Canon Mark II body, the fisheye is limited but there is very high distortion. The lens is a bit too distorted but it worked well for the shot.



The layouts below come from Modern Luxury's summer issue. I did a story on hip Chinatown spots in HNL. Margie the ed assigned me the job just days before I was to leave the country. I was my first story for the magazine and I had to work to impress. I worked tirelessly for two days straight going to different spots around Chinatown/downtown to get the right images. It was tough but I managed to pull it off. Margie liked the images and called me for more work.

It was tough but I made it happen. Its always fun to challenge myself visually...meaning when you see something day in and day out (I live just outside of Chinatown) you forget to "see." You get so used to looking at everyday life that it just becomes routine. Photographers get so excited thinking of making images far away from home but always forget their backyard has some of the best places to make pictures. We just have to open our eyes a bit wider!








Life is never routine.

Enjoy.

Pearl Harbor

Its been a year since I started my blog. I wrote last year about the faces I shot during the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I should list a picture I have of Zenji Abe. He was the only surviving Japanese pilot who bombed Pearl in 1941. I photographed him last year.

In April, Mr. Abe passed away. His daughter and I corresponded and I sent her this picture. It is now part of their shrine in Japan.

I am honored.

Beach shooting

Garry Winogrand had New York. Cartier Bresson had Paris. I have Waikiki Beach.

I ran down to Waikiki even though it was raining. I figured I would see something interesting. Sure enough, I stumbled upon a view.



I am not sure what captivates me with this image. Is it the disconnection? The emptiness between these two. Her rain poncho? His attention to the waves? They didn't seem related nor were they too happy. Rain has covered Hawaii for several days.

My psyche shot this picture. Not me. I don't remember it. It just happens sometimes. A reaction...I pull the camera to my eye and fire a burst or two. I can't explain it. I guess its like being someone else.

Its probably nothing. Just lighting.

Stormy Weather

A massive storm hit the Hawaiian Islands a few days ago causing chaos across the islands. Trees uprooted, roofs torn off, telephone poles toppled. Power outages, flooded roads, and slamming surf slapped the coastlines. Frightening indeed!

A went out the next day with camera on hand to capture the devastation. Lots took place on the other side of the island but I knew I could find something close by. Sure enough, a massive kiawe tree (mesquite) was uprooted in Kapiolani Park. Quite sad to see such a Herculean tree toppled by Zeus like winds...measuring close to 60 mph on some parts of Hawaii.

UPDATE--December 6: I got noted for APTOPIX. Top photo of the day for AP.

Menorah Lighting

The Chabbad House of Hawaii invited me to photograph their menorah lighting in Honolulu last night. I had never attended this type of ceremony and was curious to see how things would visually turn out...

Well it turned out well.

Tech...
Canon 1D Mark II
70-200mm 2.8
1/400 at 2.8
160 iso
shot raw

12-0!

The University of Hawaii football finished their regular season 12-0! A remarkable feat to say the least and many of those players will hopefully go on to play pro NFL football. Colt Brennan, a Heisman candidate, played a wondeful game. Its nice to see Hawaii get recognition but the hard part for anybody who lives in Hawaii is the distance teams have to travel to get to and from Hawaii. Many teams refused to travel to Hawaii to play for many reasons blaming the distance as a major factor although others have said some teams were afraid to play UH and be humiliated. I doubt Hawaii is that good but the Sugar Bowl matchup against Georgia will prove somebody right.

Hopefully better caliber teams will play UH and hand them some sobering reality to playing football on a grander scale.

Good job UH!

The 40-Year-Old Recruit

In late August 07, the Washington Post Magazine commissioned me to shoot a documentary on Clayton Beaver, a 40-year-old Waianae resident who was joining the Army. Last year, the army raised its age limit for new recruits allowing Beaver to join. Hardship and a sense of patriotism drove Beaver to follow this path the military attractively sold. Large bonuses and increased benefits also enticed Beaver, along with many others to consider the path of the military.

I covered the Hawaii side of the story examining Beaver, his background, and his family. Another photographer met Beaver at boot camp and covered his initial training. My documentation found what I describe as "Island hardships." Whether this term makes sense, I find it descriptive of how live in Hawaii can be so far away from the advertisements in the travel magazines and tourism boards present.

With a very high cost of living including sky rocketing real estate prices, below national average salaries don't allow for a comfortable living. Affordable housing costs can be found in Hawaii but sadly many of these neighborhoods are plagued with socials ills and bad schools. Hawaii is a trap for many...anchoring many locals here with family, friends, and as Michael Leahy described, aloha.

So many here are trapped by large families, low pay, and sadly, drugs. What most tourist encounter on the beaches of Waikiki and Maui are fantasies that a majority of local people will never afford.


Here is the link to the Honolulu Advertiser from November 23, 2007. The story was syndicated locally and is easily accessed.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/22/ln/hawaii711220356.html

The Advertiser published the powerful story along with my photos. The other photographer could not be reached by publication.

The Washington Post Magazine link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111401447.html

You have to register to see the original story and images from both myself and photographer Brett Flashnick.

Morgan Montana

I was at Kewalos today trying to shoot more of my surfer project when I was confronted by Morgan Montana. Morgan saw my camera (which he declared was worth over $50,000...how wrong he was) and wanted me to grace him with a photograph. Oh the power of a 4x5 camera.

Morgan, who aura wiffed of tall boys and Mickeys, recounted a story of history, celebrities and fame, which very few could be capable of obtaining.

As I spoke with Morgan, who I slowly found his real name was Lenny, I was told of a sailboat of great girth which entertained local prostitutes, Lost celebs, and the female undergarments which flew freely from the masts of his vessel. Morgan/Lenny spoke of engagements on the mainland with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow and others details too interesting not to believe.

He recalled a bar in Colorado where he slugged the Kid for mouthy behavior and watching Mt St. Helen's trumpet around his life.

He also spoke, with glassy eyes, about time spent in Vietnam (he did say he was 57 which actually makes him of proper age) and lives lost and taken. He described life as a tunnel rat, of women's screams and lives lost at his hands...of Agent Orange, of snakes, and friends who still remain hidden within the bush.

He told me of "gook" heads skewered on bamboo as warnings, of life taken with no regret. Of mothers holding their children and his M-16. He chattered about life and death with candor. As if nothing was worth but his eyes felt it was...

But back to those bars he so quickly returned to, his boat, his pose, and his scrap with Kid Rock.

Life for Morgan consisted of cheap drinks, long hair, and a history full of fun, death, sailing, and living. Is a far existence away from jungle rot, cans of MREs, and killing someone you don't know.



At the end of the afternoon, Morgan hit me up for some dough. I coughed up $5.00. I got a polaroid out of it.

You be the judge...was it worth it?