Water Lily at the Macadamia Nut Farm on the windward side. OK.. I know this is not a mac nut.... :) :) :) Didn't bring out my trusty polarizer cause I was just to lazy to walk back to the car!! :) :) We didn't want to pay the $12.00 for Ali'i grand tour... So it is water lily's vs Mac... :) Nuts!! :) :)

Sunset this evening out at Ko'olina Resort.

Chinaman's Hat or Mokoli'i Island - This island off the coast at Kualoa Beach Park (Windward side of Oahu) is known as Chinaman's Hat because of its shape. It sits about 600 yards offshore and it is about 12.5 acres in size. It has a lovely little cove with a tiny sandy beach that is privately located on the opposite side from shore. The island has three small palm trees, is cone shaped but it is not a separate volcanic cone. It is part of the old Koolau volcano that was separated form the main mass by erosion and left standing as a tiny island or sea stack. It is approximately 37 acres in size and about 213 feet tall at its highest point.

Hawaiian legend tells a different story about the formation of Mokoli'i Island. Pele's younger sister Hiiaka encountered a lizard like dragon called a Moko when she was traveling on the windward coast of Oahu. She fought and killed the dragon. The flukes on the dragon's tail is suppose to have formed Mokoli'i Island. Info gathered form various web sites. :)

A Maui Sunset. If you look really really close you can just barely see the outline of Molokai on the horizon just below the sunset.. :) :) Wishing everyone a wonderful week.. Aloha, Renee :)

Lots of Blogs had red today so I found something red and decided to post it just for fun.!! Kind of weird I know!!!! :) :) I also noticed that today was Canada Day.... SO... Happy Canada Day!!!!!

Honolulu and the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. Taken from Punchbowl lookout. :)

The Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawaii - Manoa Campus.
The buildings that house the Center for Korean Studies were designed by two Korean architects, Chong In-guk and Na Sang-gi, with modifications and final blueprints by two Hawai'i architects, Jo Paul Rognstad and Vernon Kim. Ground was broken for the start of construction on July 1, 1974. The building was completed in December 1979. An extensive exterior renovation was carried out from 1998 to 2001. Above is some of the detail in the top portion of the building. The designs and colors are amazing.

Lanikai Beach looking out to the Mokes. I know.. I know the footprint is centered. But I thought it looked cool with the fisheye!!! :)

Waikiki just before sunset... A very nice evening out... :) :)

King Kamehameha Statue. Every year in honor of King Kamehameha the statue is draped in lei. It is amazing how long those lei are and how beautiful they look... This year again the sky was cloudy and overcast. Darn was hoping for some nice puffy clouds behind the Statue.. Oh well..It was still a beautiful site. Aloha, Renee :)

Graduation Hawaii Style. It was a fun evening on Monday nite at my daughter's graduation (middle of the front row). The last image is after the graduation ceremony when you receive lei from friends and family.... As you can see you can end with lots lots lots and lots of lei... Oh my gosh... They can really get heavy after awhile so we had to take them off her several times since they just kept piling up.. It was just tooooo funny...
AND...Thank you everyone for your well wishes and kind comments. It is nice to have a free moment to say HI and post again. Aloha, Renee :)

Hi everyone... I think that I have time now to post some of my recent images.. With traveling to Wisconsin for a last visit with my Grandmother before she passed away and then my daughter getting college stuffs done and graduation being last nite.. relatives coming to Hawaii arriving in Hawaii for graduation.. Oh and we can not forget about work... I think.. just maybe I will have a little time now. One can always hope.. :) :) :)
This is my DPC entry that ended today so I finally can post it to my blog. I wanted to post it last week but thought better of it.. :) The image is from the Lantern Festival at Ala Moana Beach Park. It is an amazing site. Hundreds of people release these paper lanterns with candles in them to float out in the ocean at sunset. Very touching and totally beautiful. It was a nice evening with little wind and a very nice sunset. The only difficult thing is to try to beat off all of the other hundreds of photographers that come out to this event. WOW.. I had no idea that there were that many people in Honolulu with Canon cameras/gear :) :) :)... It was fun but you had to be willing to get into the salt water with your camera, lens and monopod. Boy was I holding tight to everything.. :) :) Then of course there is the salt removal/clean up after you get home... Salt water does mean things to camera gear... ~Annie~ my mentor/shooting partner :) :) was off on a business trip on the mainland and kept calling me to enter the challenge.. I wasn"t going to enter but then figured OK OK ok ok ok Annie... I will send in an image.. :) :) :) Thanks.... Annie... glad you encouraged me since it is my highest scoring image to date!! :) :) Well,, tomorrow I will be posting a few images from my daughters graduation which took place last nite!! It was awesome.. :) :) Aloha, Renee :)

Rose :)

Playing around with Annie's new fisheye lens last Friday nite at Ala Moana Beach Park. Tons of fun... Thanks for sharing Annie :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Last night was Sr. Prom. Took some semi formal shots along with some not so formal ones!!!

An Afternoon Latte with a White Chocolate, berry, lemon cake. YUM.. :)

HAPPY EASTER
An ice cold cup of water Waikiki Style. With bunny ears of course :)

A golden California Sunrise. Quite different from our Hawaii Sunrise's... :) But still very spectacular :)

It is a real long ways down to the lake :)

Mainland Daffodils.. Wow they grow everywhere :)

Today at Kapiolani Park there was a Scottish Festival. Got a couple of shots of the mini battles. Since it was really overcast thought I would convert to B & W and blur out the background for a dreamy kind of sort a effect!!! :)

Driving around the mainland is quite fun. Never know what will appear. Thought that this small building with the reflection in the pond was cute. :) We are back home again but will post some images from the mainland until I get out and take some Hawaii shots.. :) :)

Above is with my 70/200 with Phil's 1x teleconverter.. and below.... same location but after the sunset with a 1000 lens.. Oh my :)

I had the pleasure of meeting an awesome photographer this evening in Waikiki at sunset. He allowed me to take a few shots with his 1000 lens. Yup!! 1000 with 2x teleconverter.. OH WOW.... :) :) It was awesome. My images didnt turn out super clear (cause of me not the lens) but it was really fun and so exciting. Thank you kindly Phil for sharing :)

Good Morning :)

The "gang" so my daughter calls them thought that a test photo shoot for senior pictures sounded good. Very last minute. They even made their own backdrop!!.. It was fun and they all enjoyed themselves just a tiny bit :) :)

A sunset Sail.

Never tried a panoramic shot so I figured I would give it a shot :) .. Stitched together in photoshop. It was a fun.. :) :) :)

Just a little sun light :)

A sunset with a bit of camera motion. :) :) Just playing around with the sunset at Ala Moana Beach Park. In other words... a blurry sunset :) :)

Tulip :)

Now what exactly did I have to do to get those beads???? This was my first beads .... but not my last of the evening!!! Nevada City, Mardi Gras :) :)

Golden Gate Bridge. A little rain and some clouds.. Yup Still cold!!! :) :) Hey Karen.. Maybe you are right it wouldn't be all that cold for you... :) :) But it is really cold.. :)

Little Squirrel on the University of California, Berkeley Campus..(Across the Bay from San Francisco) I am on the mainland for this week...It is rainy and cold :) :)

From Lanikai Beach looking out towards Mokolua Islands (The Mokes).

Today I went with my shooting partner and of course friend..Annie to do a wedding portriat shoot. She is the pro!! I just went to hold the reflector :) :) but did manage to get in a few shots here and there.. It was a such a beautiful day out and tons of fun.. Thanks for letting me tag along Annie :) :)

Tonite was the finals OIA (Oahu Championships) for soccer. The first time that the Varsity Boys ever made it that far.... but ahhhhh shucks they lost.. So they are second on Oahu.. Great JOB!!! Now they are off to the State Championships.. Hurray for them.. :) :).. Finally managed to get a shot of the goalie!!! They did so well this year that he didnt get to much of a work out. :) :).. Was shooting next to the newspaper guys and wow.. my 70-200 looked like a tiny baby lens compared to theirs. It was a fun but cold... nite :) :)

Thought I would post the reason that I have been slacking on my photos lately. My daughter got in a car accident and has been trying to finish up the last of her college applications. Thank goodness they are all completed :) :) :)... But mostly, thank goodness her injury was only 3 small fractures in her left hand. For that I am thankful. :) :).. She didn't want her picture taken of course :) so I promised I would just take one of her cast :) At least it is a nice blue color.. :) :)

Here I am.. Nope this wasnt in Hawaii... It was only around 30 degrees out :) :) My friend from the mainland sent me this shot he took when I went out shooting the sunset with him one evening. OK you can all get up off the floor from laughing!!! It was a great sunset :)

A Passing Monk at Ala Moana Beach Park... :) Actually there were 2 monks.. one was tooo blurry so he got cropped off.. So sorry Mr. Monk... They were taking my picture when I was taking a shot of the sunset. I looked up and they were laughing.. So as they walked past I took their picture.. :) They paused just briefly for me.. I thought it was amazing that the girl just happened to be sitting there watching the sunset as they walked past. :)

Sunday January 21, 2007

Today the girls (my daughter and her 2 friends) got together and we went out to the beach for some shots. None turned out as well as we all had hoped so we are going to do this again soon... They are looking for just the right look.. Oh well.. It was lots of fun as you can see and we saw 3 whales.. Shucks I had the wrong lens on.. (good excuse for not being quick enough :) But maybe my shooting partner Annie will post her whale shot.. :) She was much more alert than I.. :)

Waikiki Fireworks :)

Jogger at Sunset

I am back in Honolulu.. Finally got out for a sunset. Nothing spectacular but finally something to post :)

Lake and Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background with a bit of snow.. Oh I love the snow :)

Busby Winery Barn in California at Sunset. They have very yummy wines. :) Testing out the new version of Blogger. Guess you can not delete once you post. Hmmmmm.. Oh well. Sorry for the dark image..

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.