Mercenary For Hire

Have you visited my new site?

2010-07-03T16:27:00.001-10:00

New posts are being made at my new blog.

PLEASE VISIT!!!!

New blog site and website!

2010-06-03T21:50:00.004-10:00

Everyone...

I've switched blog formats from here to Word Press. I am not sure if I am happy with Word Press yet but my new site for now is

www.marcogarciaphotography.com/blog

you can also see my new edits and galleries at my new yet old site with a new address...

www.marcogarciaphotography.com

I'll keep up with this blog every so often just to keep readers aware that I've switched.

Thanks for reading and keep on with the new site!

Sorry to be gone so long...

2010-05-13T14:18:00.004-10:00

I've been working, been lazy, but I've been working on a new website and blog.

Updates and new addresses will be launched soon!

Check back in a week.

Obama on the Beach

2010-04-16T13:52:00.002-10:00

I got another spread in a magazine called Ode of Obama walking on the beach with his kids. I must stay I was very lucky with this shot.

The Transmission

2010-04-05T11:22:00.008-10:00

From my recent story shot for The New York Times, I spent behind the scenes time with Ryan and Jen Ozawa, creators of ABC's Lost podcast "The Transmission." Although not affiliated in anyway with ABC or Lost, the couple as spent the better part of every season (sans the first one) producing a weekly podcast for a legion of followers who download and comment on the Ozawa's post show discussions.

Story is here.

I preferred my selects over the newspaper's selections so I posted my outtakes. Jen and Ryan, two who couldn't be more visually different, were hard to place. I wasn't sure how to fit them into a frame and make sense of who they were and the environment. I mean this was a story about two podcasters, not the people standing in front of me.

We met way out in Waialua at Camp Erdman, aka, the Other's Village. Dusk sank quickly giving a strange glow to all around and the sickly yellow walls of the camp lent to that eerie Lost feeling.

What was hard about snapping the couple together is that they didn't say "Lost podcast." Jen has a motherly school teacher vibe while I felt Ryan was going to lecture on derivatives or something very cerebral. I think my problem was Jen showed up in a red dress that seemed out of place and I think she knew it. Ryan showed up in Hawaiian work attire...an aloha shirt. Funny, once we got back to their home, Jen put on a green tee shirt and jeans transformed into a totally different person. That red dress stopped her, and for that matter me.

However, I stopped doubting myself and moved forward working with my awkwardness and placed them in juxtapositions. In the fence shot, I was thinking of Grant Wood's American Gothic painting.

My awkwardness visually placed them into an interesting place.

I was very happy with the shot. Nothing says American Gothic...yet maybe it does. Sadly, the eds didn't see it as such but it gives me a moment to write about it for my blog.

The Ozawas pushed me to make a tough story into a really great shot, at least for me. I really appreciated working with them. They were amused...well maybe annoyed with me...using the word "interesting" as I posed them in different situations and poses. It wasn't so much they were making my job hard, I made it hard for them. I just couldn't find what it was to make the image work. But it did. I think they were one of the better jobs I've shot as it allowed me to think out of the box and do something slightly different than the usual shtick for a portrait job.

Striking to me is how the couple have grown a small home based project into an international sensation all from the den of their home. Two mics, headphones, a bit of software, and the solitude of nighttime help them create a very interesting show.
Sadly, I've never heard it. For that matter, I've never watch Lost. I don't know anything about the show other than I've photographed Lost red carpets events and cast members over the years.

I shot Daniel Dae Kim and restaurateur DK Kodama at the Counter Hamburger joint for Modern Luxury and

Michael Emerson for the cover of Hi Luxury Magazine. He loved the issue and images and signed a copy which I framed and am very proud of. I should have been watching the show. Thank goodness for reruns.

SPAMMED!

2010-03-29T14:12:00.003-10:00

This morning I was going to make a new post when I was surprised to find my blog site hijacked by a spam counter forwarding the site to random sites around the web.

Took me a bit to figure out why and how to fix it.

Sorry for any inconvenience but I'm now back in business.

Rainy Day

2010-03-17T22:50:00.002-10:00

It's rained a bit in Honolulu the past few days but it hasn't kept me from snapping a few images.

I found this girl walking with a bag over her head. I though it funny so...

Leica M6, 35mm Summilux, Fujicolor 100.

Parades

2010-03-17T10:11:00.004-10:00

Funny how this image seems like almost yesterday. Well, not really, but I do remember taking this shot. The date is a bit fuzzy but it was around 1992 plus or minus a year or so. The image is from a scene at the Battle of Flowers Parade during Fiesta Week in San Antonio, Texas. Fiesta Week, held the of last week of April, celebrates San Antonio's history and culture with fairs, parades, live concerts, and dances. Its all topped off with healthy doses of great food and copious amounts of alcohol.

Fiesta was a big part of my life as a kid and young adult as we'd try to go to all the events as they were the biggest social parties of the year. I actually saw one of Stevie Ray Vaughn's last live concerts at Fiesta back in 1990 before he died a few months later. He played a rocking show over at La Semana. My policeman brother was actually working on the stage that night and actually shook his hand. What memories.

For more on the event, see here.

I never really liked parades and I still don't. I didn't like being in those big crowds, the phony waving and the likes. It just bored me mostly but they were fun to explore with a camera and a few rolls of film. I am not sure why I was even taking photos back in 1992 of that above shot but I was exploring and learning what photography was about. In many ways, I still don't as photography and the art of seeing is a life long journey.

This past weekend in Honolulu, the Honolulu Festival was held and it celebrates the diversity of Hawaii and Pacific Rim nations. The weekend event is topped by a parade down Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki and I figured I'd go out and search out for an interesting photo or so. And as much as I don't care for parades, I had a bit of fun.

A group of Japanese hula dancers from Japan were preparing for their march down the street.

Two dancers await their cue while sitting on a marker of some sorts.

The blur of the camera along with the viewpoint, well, either love it or hate it.

I spent a majority of my time behind the scene as that is where my eyes pulled me. I am evolving and seeing slightly beyond the usual.

Enjoy.

Once again...well, why don't you guess...

2010-03-04T23:57:00.002-10:00

Another great story in the NYT.

See it here.

pdf of Star Bulletin

2010-03-03T08:24:00.004-10:00

Just a quick post to show the actual page that ran on Sunday along with the original file I sent to AP. Nice use of space and text with the image. The page designers used the empty space well and anchored the rest of the paper on the bottom in the sand.

Did I preconceive this shot before hand thinking of a layout or page use? Not really but I did have an idea of what I wanted to illustrate. As I said in my last post, I wanted to convey the idea of Hawaii getting back to normal after the tsunami warning was rescinded. The use of the empty space, the whitewash pointing at the surfer, the board shape, the shape of the surfer, the color of the sand...it all works. I would have never guessed this image worked the way it did however; harking back on that subconsciousness of photography, it worked well.

"We dodged a bullet..."

2010-02-28T21:15:00.003-10:00

Friday night in Hawaii turned out to be pretty intense. Well, more than intense. Around 10:30pm that evening, George called me to tell me of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled Chile. We quickly discussed a possible tsunami which turned out to be a reality and fears abounded. I started charging batteries and getting camera gear ready as I knew work would start quicker than I imagined.

Sure enough, around 12am, Jaymes, the local AP chief, sent out a text putting local AP staff and contractors on red alert as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center released a tsunami warning for the State of Hawaii based on the massive quake across the Pacific. I couldn't help but to think about the tragedy experienced in Banda Aceh in 2004 and feared, for good measure, the same might fall upon Hawaii.

The shot above is from my 2005 series of work from Banda Aceh a week after the Asian tsunami destroyed many coastal cities around the globe. Amazing the power of water and the destruction it can do.

Jaymes sent me out to shoot the PTWC and the operations monitoring the tsunami waves traveling across the Pacific. Before I went out to work, I made sure to fill up with gas, purchase bottled water and a few cans of soup as I knew once dawn broke, the citizens of the state would be on the go and would make a run on supplies. As expected, as I was entering Ewa, I saw how insane the lines were at the gas stations and how people were flooding the 24 hour grocery stores. Hundreds of cars lined the roads at gas stations stocking up on gas in the event a disaster hit.

I got to the PTWC, got my shots, transmitted, got confusing orders to get on a plane to Hilo but glad I didn't as the Hilo airport shut down around 6. Got back home, shot a few shoppers at the grocery store and waited for dawn. Heard the tsunami sirens blow at 6AM. I was shaken by hearing that wail break the silence of the dawn. I knew at from the sirens, as canny as this sounds, it was no drill. We were up for the real deal at this point.

I ran back out to the Waianae to shoot the homeless being pulled off the beach. That was tough. Many of those people have no where to go, no way to get there, and in most cases, faced loosing all they owned if a wave were to wash away their tent camping sights. Star Bulletin photographer Jamm was brought to tears after spending some time with a homeless guy on a wheelchair. The homeless man refused to leave the beach and his makeshift tent because he was afraid other homeless would come and steal his canned food and small possessions from his home on the beach. Jamm felt, by leaving this man, he was leaving this half blind, chair bound man to his fate on a beautiful beach in Makaha.

The homeless fascinated me as so many of them felt they were being pushed off the beach and wouldn't be allowed to return. Many ignored the sirens and bullhorns announced evacuations from the beach. Strangely one woman told me she didn't believe the state, and as she raised her hands to the heavens, she said if God wants to take me, I can't stop him. I'll leave when God wants me to. Fatalism echoed deeply in her words and it became apparent many of the homeless mirrored her feelings. Being homeless and owning nothing seems to makes one believe in nothing other than the hand of God. Another man and his family waved off the idea their tents would be lost if the waves came. He said, "what do we own? Nothing we can't replace." My materialism was questioned. Yet, having some sort of desire to live or better your situation might be a higher goal to achieve than waiting for the God to deal you a better hand.

After a bit of time in the Waianae, I rushed off to Ala Moana Beach park and captured empty beaches and quiet streets. I ran into into a lone Japanese family sunning on the beach and I tried to warn them of the danger but they couldn't speak a word of English. I said tsunami, pointed to the ocean, and declared "abunai!" meaning dangerous. They clearly got my message and started off for their hotels. I kinda thought they would have figured it out seeing all the police, hearing the sirens, and how empty the beach was.

As the zero hour approached, I rushed off to the balcony of the Illikai Hotel where I waited for something to happen. I planned ahead before I left the house as I put my bike in the back of the car to make sure I could get around if things got sticky. I parked on the second floor of Don Quixote grocery store and rode down to Waikiki. I surely feared for myself if waves really were to wash up as they did in Banda Aceh. I can only guess that I might not have been as safe as I thought exposed on that balcony if waves and debris has washed up that close...or for that matter, that high. I was only feet away from loads of boats in the Hobron harbor.

I linked a video put together of the Banda Aceh tsunami waves washing through the city. I feared we were destined to the same fate.

Video here.

I really feared a situation where all of the beach were to suck out and push in with me on a bike and the world lapping at my feet. I didn't take my situation lightly as I had to weigh what I was doing...am I a journalist or a citizen? Several professionals rushed out of the danger zones fearing the worst. No story is worth your life but as Mark Niesse said, as journalists its our job to be in the middle of it all. He rented a ocean front room in a top hotel and awaited the waves. He surprised me at his dedication and audacity to push it to the limits. Phone in hand, he was ready to report to the world all he saw. Well, its really not a surprise as he seems to always be at the ready.

At the last second before the waves hit, I got pulled out of the danger zone and was sent to the Civil Defense bunker at Diamond Head in the event of massive damage to the state. I was chosen to fly out with Governor Lingle on a Blackhawk helicopter as she would fly out to assess the damage. Luckily, it didn't happen.

Around 2pm, the state called off the warning signaling an all clear. We did experience some inundation of waves in some areas but there was no reported damage or loss of life. The TV news broadcast from Hilo showed water ebbing in and out of the harbor giving viewers a sinking feeling a rush of water was next...but it just didn't happen.

As much as we were in a complete danger zone, we, as a scientist from the PTWC stated, dodged a bullet. A bullet I am glad to see not hit us. The damage would have left scars for years to come.

I do have to note my joy in waking up on Sunday morning from a deep sleep (imagine, I worked roughly a 15 hour day with no sleep on Friday) and seeing my shot on the front page of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As luck has it with me and my camera, the surfer just so happen to be walking on the beach just below me from the Diamond Head lookout. I had just left the bunker after the all-clear was issued. I needed a shot to show life was back in order, at least life back in order, Hawaiian-style.

Seen on the corner of Alakea and Bishop...

2010-02-26T11:43:00.002-10:00

Can't help but to wonder what this statement meant. Interesting thought for the day.

Once again, the New York Times...

2010-02-23T11:19:00.002-10:00

The New York Times commissioned me to shoot Hotel Renew, a boutique hotel a block away from Waikiki. Its a bit on the small side but a very nice, friendly spot with smiling faces and nice peoples.

Article can be found here.

2010 McNugget update

2010-02-18T09:07:00.003-10:00

If you've been following my posts about my McDonald's Chicken McNugget found behind my TV back in May 09, you'll know I've been perplexed by my petrified (petrofried) pabulum.*

You can see my original post here.

I took the now cut in half McNugget and examined it close to a year later. At first touch, it still is slightly oily and obviously hard. The original batter still seems crispy but more of a hard crunch rather than a crisp. A faint smell of oil emits from the middle and the so called chicken still seems flaky and processed. No obvious signs of rot or mold exist at all. I am storing the McNugget in a small zip lock bag on my desk. Its not completely air tight in the sense that its not being preserved perfectly. I am hoping it will develop mold so as to convince myself its real food.

I guess McDonald's preservatives are fairly strong but I am not a nutritionist nor a lab scientist so I can't comment on how or why mold won't form nor whether the preservatives McDonald's uses are that bad. Anyone have any ideas? I am perplexed by this.

More so, I am surprised the chicken isn't rotten away. Since I did split the nugget in half, I think I will leave one piece out on the balcony (lanai) in a semi closed container and see if mold forms. Maybe the oil the McNuggets are fried in preserve it.

Hmmmm.....only time will tell and its told loads considering its been like ten months since I first found the McNugget behind the TV. You have to wonder, the food product was probably created in a factory at an unknown date, frozen, ocean shipped to Honolulu, sat in distribution until sent to the deep freeze at the McDonald's on Beretania until it hit the deep fryer and sat all warm and crispy waiting for my purchase. I could only guess the McNugget birthday was late 2008?

Yet I do wonder, will our digestive systems digest this type of food if nature cannot. I know our digestive track is strong but how strong? Can man outwit our own body in the name of profit?

*1 : food; especially : a suspension or solution of nutrients in a state suitable for absorption
(I learned that word in college--its the first time I used it though!)

New York Times, again...

2010-02-14T23:37:00.004-10:00

I shot a Chinatown story for the New York Times in Jan. and it just ran.

The story, written by Bonnie Tsui, noted how Honolulu's Chinatown is becoming hipper by the moment. Funny thing about the girl above, Monet, is that she is from HNL but living in New York...I assume the City, so I hope she opens the Travel section and sees herself chomping on an expensive piece of pie. Otto's cheesecake is not cheap.

Advice, check out the cheesecake at Eileen's on Cleavland St. in lower Manha'n.

That's some damn good cheesecake, son!

See the Times story here.

I was also lucky enough to shoot a wedding for the Times (look at me, the Times', as if I am somebody!) Vows section (the society page for those in the know.) I never shoot weddings so this was kinda fun. It was on Kauai. Nice couple, good vibe, and great haka! The couple worked for the UN in Africa of all places. The bride is the grand daughter of all people, Audra Lindley!

Anyone know who she is?

ITS MRS. ROPER!

I had to keep it together with this one. The mother, or daughter of Mrs. Roper, was, of course, present, and her mannerisms, tone of voice, and speaking pattern were so familiar. It was insane! OH STANLEY!

See that here.

The vog was a bit of a damper but love is love and little girls love to jump into pictures.

Either way, what a great wedding. Thanks to all around! Congratulations!

COVER SHOT

2010-02-11T08:32:00.002-10:00

The shot that made the cover...

If you recall my post from Jan. 18, 2010, I bragged about how I outshot the competition...

WELL...here is the fruit of my labor.

BAM!

Disgusting!

2010-02-09T16:19:00.003-10:00

I'm not a big on Spam. I mean I've eaten the spam musubi bit a few times and well, its ok. Its not my favorite but most cooked foods from 7/11 are not necessarily my favorite either...but its local food, whatada wanna do 'bout it. Eat and no complain.

Spam musubi...a slice of fried spam on a rectangle of rice wrapped in dried seaweed.

Today was where I drew the line. Like I said, Spam is one of those things we've had a few time but not much. Its processed and to me it taste faintly of dog food. I mean it actually smells like canned dog food to me. I don't know if I have tried dog food and I probably have knowning how nutty I was back in college and whatnot...well...I actually remember eating cat food once with Laura Ehrisman. I don't know why I did...I was at her house and one thing lead to another and we were eating, I should say, I was eating dried cat food. I don't recall it being that bad but, like I said, it was college, no wait, that was high school. EITHER WAY...it reminds me of cat food, errr...DOG food.

Spam spread in the Pacific during WWII as fresh meats were hard to come by. The military fed their soldiers Spam and the local communities adapted into their diets. Hawaii consumes the most Spam in the world.

But like I said, I found something very unique at the grocery store. SPAM flavored Macadamia nuts. Bleach...cough cough arf...blaahh...I gots to try it.

Got a can, popped it open. I found large macadamia nuts with a reddish power on them. They smelled like mac nuts and barely of Spam. To be quiet honest, they were not that bad. They tasted mostly of mac nuts and thats that. Very little Spam flavoring until the very end. And thats where it got me.

As of this writing, I had to go and rinse my mouth out, twice! The after taste was pretty nasty but its a slow kick a few minutes later. I am fairly disgusted some knucklehead came up with this flavor but loads of locals love it. Not me, I'll stick to the cat food.

The strange case of a man, a doll and a straw...

2010-01-31T21:52:00.003-10:00

I've been mulling over this image for about a week as I've at a loss as to best describe the image at hand. The oddity of this man, and the images unclear subject lacks my words as my thoughts are muddled.

Last week as I walked the beach in Waikiki I encountered a strange yet compelling subject(s)...

I found a small float like raft, anchored in in the man made tide pool roughly in front of the Hyatt.

The raft, which I thought belonged to a child, carried several dolls and small toys. A black doll, white doll, and a few figurines of different sizes and shapes. My initial thoughts were how cute..a young girl brought her toys out to the beach. But strangely enough, I see a older male of Japanese decent walking towards the raft. He wore a life preserver, a red swim cap, chin strap pulled tightly under his pudgy neck, a rash guard swim shirt and tight swim trunks. After living in Hawaii and spending loads of time in Japan, Japanese never seem to surprise me as odd behavior go hand in hand with many otaku and I figured this old guy was being Japanese.

He was sitting with a normal looking older Japanese lady wearing a nondescript suit but had a cheap green inflatable inner tube around her waist. I overheard her referring to him as Otosan which means father/dad in Japanese but also carries the same connotation of a husband/wife refering to each other as mom/dad.

They perched on a spot on the sand with towels, ice box, and what not so I knew they were out for the afternoon. I did keep scanning for their granddaughter or kids who were playing with that raft.

Oddly enough, Otosan waded into the water, went for a brief swim then walked over to the raft with the dolls and began to take each one out and wash them as if they were animate and were hot from sitting in the sun. He delicately took each doll out and cupped water into his hands and gently washed the dolls off. Hmmm...I though for sure he was autistic or had some type of mental condition. I was surprised to see him do this action yet he seemed to be functioning as he wandered around the water, spoke to other bathers on the beach (I didn't hear if he was speaking English but the bathers were clearly non-Japanese) so this again threw me off.

So after washing the dolls off, he walked back to his lady friend sat down and enjoyed a few moments drinking from a large Arizona tea can. I took a break from the sun and went and sat under a tree keeping my eyes open at this strange raft and whatnot.

After a bit, I noticed Otosan poured his drink into a mug with a straw and start to walk back into the ocean towards the raft and his dolls. I then knew what was coming.

I really was taken back by this. He took each individual doll and gave them all a sip from his straw. He lovingly took each figurine and gave them each a moment to drink from his mug so they might also enjoy themselves on the beach. Otosan was treating each figure as if they were real. I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing by firing away at this guy and I did feel a bit guilty as I was spying on someone. But as I am a photographer, I sometimes have to pry into peoples lives in order to understand what and who we are.

So after rattling off a few frame, Otosan, who never noticed me, but I think his lady friend did, wandered back to his spot, grabbed a tackle box and rod and went fishing off the rocks. Either he was completely functioning with some type of condition or he was nuts. I mean I could dive deep into an analysis about this guy (maybe kids died...etc...) but its too much. My wife did point out immediately that a pregnant bather wandered into the frame behind him. Did I see her? No...and my initial thoughts after editing my film were she messed up the shot as she walked into my frame. But the psychology of having her in there....well...it means something, don't it?

I got bored waiting for him to return so I kept wandering and found tidbits here and there but eventually wandered back to my spot with Otosan. I observed him wading back from the rocks and over to Okasan (Mom) and it seemed she ordered him to go change and they were leaving. Sadly my parking meter was almost up and it was taking him forever to return from the changing room so I had to leave the site leaving the mystery of the dolls to the wind.

I really have nothing more to say about Otosan and this image. I might re-write some of this at some point but I'll leave it at that.

A note about the film...Kodak's Ektar 100 held up nicely though I wasn't very happy how the reds were over saturated in the scan from my Nikon 8000 but I couldn't seem to control that either in the scanning software or Photoshop. I tried to pull down the saturation in both but all it would do would muddy up the color. I might get a drum scan of this image at some point.

GET LOST!

2010-01-30T23:32:00.004-10:00

Oh poor Yunjin Kim. Cute as you may be, you fell into my camera like a deer stuck in headlights. Don't fret. You are way too cute to worry about that. And I moved very pretty pictures of you.

Tonight was the premiere of the last season of ABC's Lost, a program I've never seen. Yet I had a small part on the show and was asked back for a multi day part.

I sadly had to turn the part down only because the pay was so low ($75/day or something like that) and a day could last 24 hours. Yo, thats not for me. In the above shot, I was a (of all things) a cameraman. HA!

Anyway, the red carpet took place in Waikiki and all the stars strutted down the catwalk, priming and posing all the way. It was a fun evening and in my line of work, its amazing I can show up in sandals.

Ah, life is way too fun.

a roll of film on Sunday, or was it two...?

2010-01-25T09:08:00.005-10:00

After a hard day of community gardening at Foster Botanical, (oregano, basil, jalapenos, and whatnot...) I took off to the beach with the Leica and shot a few rolls just to keep the mind sharp and the eye fresh.

I parked near the Ilikai Hotel* and walked down the sandy way and it didn't take but seconds to find something interesting to put down on film.

The surfer was looking out at the small break out in front of the Hilton as well as waiting for his buddies to come along. I was hoping he'd cross my path but nonetheless, I got a different view of what I initially had imagined.

Sadly, I found myself wishing for my pro body and high resolution...yet the limited resolution adds to the mystery of what I saw and what I didn't or wasn't able to record. The mistakes of film (resolution, silver, development) all equal character. This is what we forget in capturing imagining. I spent so many years in New York working with photographers and never realizing the reason so many looked the same is because there systems were the same...A Mamiya RZ with a 110mm or 140mm lens on Kodak 160 VS filmed pulled to 80 developed at Duggal at such and such temp...blah blah blah!

It all looked the same except for Steve McCurry...

Now, he looked different. His new book, The Unguarded Moment, is simply what I hope to achieve with my life. Alas, his life is photography. For the rest of us, its a bit different. Its not easy to sacrifice EVERYTHING for your work.

His book can be found here.

As I find, sometimes using a different tool will yet a different experience.

SO back to Hawaii...

Walking by the new lagoon at the Hilton, I stumbled upon a well dressed man with two dogs. I couldn't help but to snap one off. He was so interested in having me get his shoes. I am not sure why he had the duds on but he was very happy to pose and the dogs cooperated as well.

I'm not sure why I like this image of this woman at the Halekulani but it struck me as something I wanted to scan.

Anyway, its been about two months since I've wandered the beach. Might go back today.

*The Ilikai Hotel is the spot where Hawaii 5-0 filmed their famous spot with McGarrett on the rooftop. See it here around 16 seconds into the clip. I just realized Jack Lord played the original Felix in James Bond. He was in Dr. No! Book 'em, Jimmy! McGarrett is the BEST! Chee ho!

I think my father has shades like that.

Sony Open golf

2010-01-18T21:18:00.003-10:00

18 holes of golf is tough...its even tougher when you gotta play 18 holes over multiple days. Its even TOUGHER when you gotta shoot 18 holes of golf...over mulitple days...carrying multiple camera...and a hella heavy 400mm 2.8 lens. Oh and you can't forget remaining absolutely silent and still, and watch every frame you click as to avoid offending the concentration of super serious golf pros. What a pain and strain photo life can be when you got sun, green grass, and blue sky as your office.

HA!

But seriously, the sun sunburns, grass gives allergies, and the blue sky was at times filled with our lovely volcanic gas smog.

Oh and you can't forget that darn heavy camera equipment!

Either way, it was great fun running around with Sam, Stan...err...PACO...Chris, Hugh, and Tanner. And al the Japanese media. Great meals at the clubhouse, cute golf girls who follow the pros (no wonder Tiger got in trouble) and camaraderie all around.

Yet the most important aspect of the tournament is the last day. The winning shot. And from the image above, it seems I got it. As the last two players came down the 18th fairway, playoff looming, the media jostled for position and struggled to avoid shooting the Golf Channel cameraman who has all access and can jump into anyone's frame at anytime.

So as I chose my spot, freezing to the grass as we can't move once the players start to putt, I aimed, waited and fired. And I got it.

Its always so much fun to outshoot the competition!

Oh and that's not a thumbs up, its the Gig'em Aggies.

Postscript...

I do have to say, Gentry's theme music to Sabatini is great. Ask him next time you see the giant.

Big Island Travel

2010-01-15T12:55:00.002-10:00

Got a Big Island story in the New York Times travel section. Got to shoot a story on agro-tourism.

See and read it here.

chimping!

2010-01-05T21:49:00.002-10:00

I got caught not paying attention.

Oh well...i got a close up of Rush's shoes though.

2010-01-01T01:56:00.002-10:00

I got to shoot the Village People for New Years!

Hey, sadly, it wasn't the show I expected as disco was long ago.

2009, a wrap up...

2009-12-31T19:44:00.001-10:00

I survived! We survived. We did it and we did it with a mortgage.

I made as a photographer during the 2009 recession!

Things were tough mentally as a bit of income slipped away as certain clients stopped calling and the publishing industry had to readjust its self.

There were some tough moments...waking up in the morning to an empty email inbox and not hearing the phone ring for weeks at a time. But photographer Alex Brandon laid some of the best wisdom I will hear for a long time coming...

"Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield."

Thank you Alex...life can't be said any better.

Alas, our community lost some staff jobs and some good people this year and even last.

Goodbye Burly and Joaquin. Goodbye Ronen and aloha Lucy. Yet, we had to say hello Tanner several others looking to make a mark in the small money photo world of Hawaii. But we actually are doing much better than much of the photo market around the country. The Washington Times canned their entire photo staff and many staff members. The Advertiser and Star Bulletin had a round of lay offs. Everyone is feeling the pinch. Feels like photo is not the business to be in these days...but people keep snapping away making life much more interesting.

Irregardless...lets take a quick look back at 2009 from my eyes....

(funny, the years slip by but to go back and look at what I shot, its tough...just way too many images! I'll give it a shot!)

This year I had a pretty tough moment as my father had a heart attack which forced him to go under the knife for a quad bypass. Inside I felt he wasn't going to kick the bucket but it was tough to think it might be time to say goodbye.

I went down to Texas for a vacation to visit Mom and Dad and spent some time getting to know them, myself, and us a little better. Its best not to forget that time does slip by and its tough to get back to San Antonio being Hawaii is so far away.

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In San Antonio for that vacation, I had time to go through the old pictures and got to know a bit more about my history and family. Got to see family new and old and was taken back by a photo of my Mom's Dad...as it was taken at a bar. Go figure I'd pick up that trait...

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I got a non related nephew this year from Diane and Doug. Aloha Danny!

Got to shoot a very cute girl in her bikini...

Got to hang out with Gloria...

Busted my eye...

Got to see and old friend...

Got to see one sweat...

Saw a few things on the beach...

Another girl in a bikini...

Conjunto and my peoples...

and finally, Terminal 2 Narita...

There is so much to mention but there is not enough time. Its party time...New Years is around the corner for Hawaii that is...and its time to welcome something new.