A photographic journal of images from O'ahu by Dana, Jamie and Kala! =)
Pictures are all taken during the course of my activities such as paddling, surfing, hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling, kayaking, stand-up paddling, rock climbing, archery, skeet shooting, and soon diving - due to my schedule, some postings are done in advanced and posted automatically by blogger on the dates specified. If you have any suggestions, comments, etc for photos you would like me to take, do not hesitate to let me know - enjoy and thanks for stoppin by - Live, Love, Laugh and share the ALOHA!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Sunrise at the Beach
These photos were taken this (Friday) morning at ~5:45 AM at two locations. During the summer months, the sun rises about an hour earlier than the winter months but for the most part, throughout the year, we experience 12 hours of sunlight.
I wasn't sure how to take sunrise photos since the sun's brightness affects the image exposure but here they are - before and after the Sun's break from the Horizon.
Hope you all have a great weekend and many more days of beautiful sunrises to start your day!
When the waves get small on the north shore people either go diving or pull out their longboards (like this fellow). This photo was taken near the famous Pipeline Beach.
Just seeing this pictures makes me want to jump in the water and paddle around.
... free movie on a large screen and live entertainment on the sands of Queen's Beach in Waikiki. This event takes place on Saturday and Sunday from 4 PM to 9 PM every other weekend - I think. Anyway, the next one is on July 1st and 2nd - so maybe its every week - hmmm. This photo was taken this past Sunday at 7:45 PM. [ View an image gallery of 22 photos here ]
I’m taking a break from the scenic landscapes to give you a peak at Hawaii culture.
This man is preparing coconut's to sell as drinks by cutting down the outside husk and cutting off the top. When he cuts off the top he cuts through the actual coconut inside. If you take a close look in the bottom left corner, you'll see an example. It's the only coconut that has a straw sticking out of it.
The man's knife was really sharp, and he was really fast. I wasn't timing him, but I think that he could finish one in less than 30 seconds.
This picture was taken at a swap meet (flea market) in Pearl City/Aiea that caters primarily to locals.
This picture was taken at yesterdays canoe race in Nalo country at the same beach I posted earlier.
Dreams as dreams will go as far as the eyes can see, where the edge of the sky meets the edge of the sea. One day, I will paddle out to the horizon where my dreams will meet me. Look into the horizon, and dream as far as you can see. Each day that goes by is a day closer to your dreams! Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams =)
This post is dedicated to the charismatic and beautiful photographer(s) I met yesterday!
Once you make it past the bamboo forest ... you reach Manoa Falls. Don’t miss the girl in the bottom right hand corner; I wanted to get the entire water fall with the girl to give some perspective as to the amazing height.
Hi Everyone - This is Dana. Thanks for letting me join the blog.
My first contribution will be this photo of the bamboo forest that hikers pass through on the way to Manoa Falls. I took it today, while on a team building activity for work.
Manoa Falls is located at the deepest part of the Manoa valley in Honolulu, Hawaii (not far from the University of Hawaii). The waterfall is a 150 foot sheer cliff drop to a small shallow pool. To get there one must take a 1 1/2 mile (easy) hike through this bamboo forest and rain forest.
My camera is a Canon Rebel E0S which I recently received as a gradution gift from my parents.
Another perspective from the same beach - looking towards Makapu'u. The couple in yesterdays photo are not in view, but to the right of this photo. This beach is fairly long and a round trip walk along the length of the beach would probably take over an hour. This photo was taken at noon on Sunday.
Factoid: Hawai'i is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee
Louise of Wellington - Aotearoa (NZ) was the 1000th visitor contest winner and will receive the "gift of aloha" package. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the mailman to paddle his/her canoe across the Pacific to deliver the goods!
By plane, from Hawai'i to NZ, it takes ~12 hours direct flight to the North island.
As you may have noticed, this is not a sunrise pic - but I will take one as soon as my project is completed at weeks end! Stay tuned! In the mean time... I took this picture during the weekend in Nalo country (Waimanalo). In the back is Manana island (Rabbit Island) because it once had a rabbit population but is now a seabird santuary. Tomorrow, I'll show you this beach from another angle.
So, this is a little late but from reading Moonsoleil's blog, the 100th DP blogger has join the group. Every Friday, starting at 8:00 PM, the Hilton Hawaiian Hotel sponsors a short fireworks show to ring in the weekend. This photo was taken this past Friday evening at "The Wall."
I've also tried taking fireworks photos while in my canoe, but as you might imagine, those do not turn out too well on bobbing surfaces. Check out a video taken from this same area: Press Here
Located near Halona Blowhole (a natural lava tube formation) and not far from my previous post on Sandy Beach. The love scene in "From Here to Eternity" (1953) was filmed here.
Sorry for the delay but I've finally posted 21 pictures from the Canoe regatta [ View images here ]
An update for those interested - I am now very sure we will reach 1000 this week - in the mean time, you still have time to [ guess a number here ]
I'm quite surprised how many people wanted the dog foto - so here it is - Foxy boy - my neighbors dog hanging out with his buddies (me et al.), taking a break from his "chasing ball" game and guarding the ball likes its prime rib steak.
So here's a preview of future postings by request in the order I will post them:
I should be home in three hours - to whoever happens to pass by this post, plzzzz let me know what u think I should post - here's the possibilities from photos I took in the past week:
I'm finally home! After a 16 hour work day, I can thank the good St. Patrick above for guiding me home safely! :)
This is a 75 year old church I see every day on my way to work - taking a theme from [ Karine of Buenos Aires ]!
I was actually going to have you guess who this Saint is for a free round trip plane ticket but that would be boring for you so I'll just share with you this story ... the statue above belongs to St. Patricks church on Wai'alae Avenue and was initially made of some other fragile material that was vandalized and damaged so the church decided to make a second one of bronze material of St. Patrick - Bishop and Apostle to Ireland from 390 to 461.
University Lab Elementary Schools 67 year old building, that served the physical education, drama and music department for children ages 4 and up, went up in flames yesterday afternoon causing $6.5 million dollars in damages and leaving nothing left to recover. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured due in part to summer school ending at noon when the fire started at ~3:45 PM. The cause of the fire is being investigated. Fifty firemen were required to fight the fire. The school is located right across the street from the University.
IMHO, some of the most exquisite tattoos come from the intricate designs of polynesia and this ranks as one of my fav pic as it symbolises one of the oldest traditions of indigenous people.
JJ's beautiful tattoo is a mixture of tahitian and hawaiian design and took over three hours to complete. The Maori facial tattoo and Samoan chief tattoos are also equally impressive. The process of getting one done in the traditional manner can also be excruciatingly painful. For the pain fearing faint of heart who still enjoys body art, Henna is another option you may consider.
In gratitude to all who have taken the time to visit the site, I have decided to offer the 1000th visitor (since June 3rd) a "spirit of aloha" package from the islands containing the following:
One 7 oz. bag of Hawaiian gourmet Kona coffee
One box chocolate covered macadamia nuts
One box of 16 green tea bags
One Hawaiian music CD
One Hawaiian Hurricane popcorn
I estimate this "milestone" will be reached within seven to ten days. (Stat counts were started on June 3rd, 2006) To quote my friend Lisa, "countdown is on!" =D
I should mention, this concept is not new - check out Mae's blog of Jersey, Channel Islands:
The image on the left was taken at 6:30 PM yesterday and the image on the right was taken at 4:00 AM early this morn of the brilliant full moon casting its light over the Pacific Ocean. I don't know if you can see the rock on the bottom of the right image, but it was a great night/early morn to be out with waves crashing along the shore - we didn't get back until 6:30 AM for bed. I'll show you a day time pic of this cliff in a later post - its quite an amazing place to hang out.
This weekend was the King Kamehameha celebrations and this is a canoe regatta of about 30+ races (sprints) with kids from 11 and 12's all the way to adults 70+ y.o. participating in their respective age groups and skill level. The race distance is 1/2 mile to 2 miles depending on the age group. I paddle in the Open Mens division - a competitive division of experienced paddlers but this year I took off so that I may do my DP hobby hehe - I paddled with some of the guys in the above pic last year as well as coaching the women for this canoe club. The canoes have to meet hawaiian specifications - water line, design and weight. The paddles base material have to be made of wood although minimal carbon fiber synthetics are allowed. Thanks to Kris for her canoe pic ...
I'm curious - would you "men/women" be interested in viewing an image gallery of some 30+ pics I took on this day? If I can get about "20 show of hands" then I will put the gallery together, otherwise, I can post selected images in the coming days.
How many different water crafts do you see above? This is part of a canoe kayak team, a junior Olympic development program in the islands - the ages range from 8 years old to adults.
Threes, Pops, Rock Piles, Devils Rock, Bowls, Castles - the names of various surf spots around the island - the picture above is from a break called lighthouse because the surf break is outside of an actual lighthouse. While biking home, I stopped by the lookout and took this photo at approx. 5:30 PM.
If you have an image/post of a surf break, I'd like to provide a link to your image!
The above photo was actually taken by Greg Yamamoto from the Honolulu Advertiser at Kailua beach of a Hammerhead shark that was caught on a fishing net offshore and while giving birth to pups. The pups were released back into the ocean and the mom sadly died. If you click on the small image to the left, you will see a photo I took of a Monk Seal that Adri spotted some 100 feet from us during a recent expedition - the Monk Seal was basking in the Sun getting a tan and caught us by surprise when it popped its head out of the water. Initially, we thought it was not alive.
This is my friend Annie who has a natural gift of making people smile cheek to cheek with her outgoing personality. Trained in the school of massage, you can catch her and Koko (not shown) expressing their entrepreneurial spirit, giving massages to passing pedestrians on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki a couple of times a week. This photo was taken tonight at around 9:30 PM.
Blogger or my internet connection is not letting me see pictures from your blogs, so my apologies if I have not written any comments on your posts.
This vine type plant was first observed and named after Admiral Louis de Bougainvillea of France during his travel across the Pacific. First observed in Brazil in the mid 1700s, this plant can be seen in various colors around the island. I think this plant is pretty much ubiquitous around the world? The purple color is much richer in person than it is in this photo.
This photo was taken this evening at ~6:30 PM from my house. The white water craft on the left is the Navetek cruise ship on its sunset dinner cruise and in the horizon is a Matson barge, possibly heading to the western islands to deliver the goods. There are a bunch of dinner cruises with Star of Honolulu and the Navetek being two of the more popular ones. I've been on the Star but not the Navetek. My friend got motion sickness on the Star so if you're one of those prone to motion sickness but still desire to be on the water, perhaps a canoe is the best way to go!
This is a photograph of an artwork by H. Kawainui Kane thats posted at the Pali Lookout.
The battle at Nu'uanu, also known as "Kaleleka'anae", took place in the late 1700's at the "Pali Lookout". This battle, won by King Kamehameha I, united the hawaiian islands. An estimated 400 men died during this conflict. About 14 Photographs were taken along the old Pali road that over looks the new Pali road and Pali tunnel. In the 1800's, horses and carriages were used to traverse this trecherous Ko'olau cliff that connected Honolulu to the Windward side. Today, the tunnel and paved roads allow for much easier passage. One superstition suggest bad luck will come to the driver that has pork in his/her car when traveling through this tunnel. In another, a woman in white can be see in the rear view mirror at night while driving through this area. During the construction of the road in the late 1800's a lot of bones and skulls from Kaleleka'anae (Nu'uanu Battle) were unearthed. The lookout is also known for its extremely strong winds. A California man who attempted suicide by jumping off this cliff was blown back to the scrubs along side the cliffs edge.
Adri and I were on the east side of the island when we stopped by the Valley of the Temples - a christian and buddhist cemetary that is home to a handful of temples. The bell above is part of the Byodo-In Temple - a replica of a 900 year old Byodo-In temple in Uji, Japan. According to the plaque, by ringing the bell, happiness can be attained.
This photo was taken today at noonish next to University Avenue and the "Church of the Crossroads" - United Church of Christ. The "Gold" tree, also known as Tabebuia donnell-smithii, Bignoniaceae, and prima vera originated from Mexico and Central America. Its flowers, a yellow tubular blossom replaces the leaves as it blooms. The wood from this tree is used for cabinet furnishings. Press on the two thumbnails for close-up and yellow carpet perspective respectively. Happy Good Friday!
Well, it seems the Windows update killed my laptops video driver. I managed to fix it tonight. So, here is a picture of the most heavily used pathway on the University called "the mall" where during the semester, it serves as a meeting place, and foot path to many buildings including the library. Since this is summer, theres very few people on campus. I've opted to stay with Blogger after testing WordPress. Thanks for your patience! Oops - I did not realize it was theme day until I came upon Moonsoleils DP blog. I guess it would not make a difference anyway because i would not know where to find these types of signs since most of my parking is bicycle and I park my car for free on the street.
These photos were taken this (Friday) morning at ~5:45 AM at two locations. During the summer months, the sun rises about an hour earlier than the winter months but for the most part, throughout the year, we experience 12 hours of sunlight.
