i was recently invited out to hilo to cover the mahealani over hilo fundraiser for the american cancer society.  it was an amazing, well-catered, intimate, so-not-townie event (in the best possible way). i felt incredibly fortunate to be a part of it.  as always thanks to kuha`o and his `ohana for being such gracious hosts.

i shot the mahealani “aloha formal” portion of the evening at the kaikodo building.  it included amazing catering, great wine, and a fashion show by sig zane.  the fashion show involved the models sharing songs, stories, art, or some combination thereof on pedestals.  it was easily one of the coolest, and by far the most intimate fashion shows i’ve shot in years.  the after party went down next door at le magic pan, and had the homie adam palumbo and honolulu’s finest dj sssolution holding it down for the hilo crowd.

it was a whirlwind trip…straight off a plane to a benefit dinner/fashion show, then an after party, then back on a plane.  it seems like these big island trips go by so quickly.  too quickly.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the mahealani gallery! ]

[ click here to jump off to the moonwalk mahealani after party! ]

it’s been a while since i’ve been to an event just for the sake of being there…no goals no assignments no qoutas.  it’s been nice to get back to that.

the homie patrick martinez recently put together an amazing show at loft in space.  i was there to attend the opening reception, and snapped a few photos while i was there.  recently i’ve gotten back into processing my own black and white film…it’s been almost a decade since i’ve had to do this.   all the images in this post were shot on my canon EOS 1n, 50mm f/1.2, and ilford hp5+ pushed to iso 800 in my bathroom minilab.  the last time i dealt with d-76 chemistry regularly was in a different time zone, one where room temperatures were an even, d-76 standard 20C. chilling my developer in an ice bath aka my sink has been an adventure i guess?

expect more film-based photography here, along with the usual stuff. and happy holidays.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]

when contrast magazine decided to do a feature on the founder/owner of nextdoor in honolulu, i knew i had to be the one to take the photo.  besides being an amazing friend and always supporting my work, chris is truly one of those people contributing to the cultural and entertainment enrichment of our state.  nobody else gets as many internationally-acclaimed indie artists to hawaii as nextdoor/chris does.

the set of photos included in this post were taken for the feature, which actually ran with a different image (i hope chris doesn’t kill me for putting these photos up!).  the dark nighttime lighting provided a great backdrop and what would a piece on chris be without a picture of him at nextdoor?  i chose to shoot with a minimal setup, just a 50 1.2L prime and my 5dmkii.

the images were pensive, moody, and as it turns out a bit too intense for the article.  we opted for a scanned 35mm negative of chris from the roof of nextdoor for the article (gotta love the archives), but i still loved the intensity of the set of portraits i got at nextdoor.

enjoy.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]

part of the problem with being on twitterfacebookwordpressohnoihavenoprivatelifeanymore social networks is that so much of your life ends up being on blast to the world.  for a long time i’ve kept honozooloo as a portfolio website for that reason.  it’s a fine line between exhibitionism and self promotion, i guess?

every year my family gets together after raiding other people’s yards for plant material so we can make our own christmas wreaths.  apparently this year marked the 8th anniversary of our wreathmaking tradition.  i snapped a few photos of everyone and this year i liked them so much i just had to post them here.

happy holidays, everyone.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]

over the years i’ve gotten to see some pretty nifty stuff.  one of the benefits of being there to photograph things behind the scene is that…well it’s that you get to see all the normally unseen stuff behind the scenes.  this seems like an obvious point  but the truth is, it’s no small thing.

from watching kool herc roll a blunt while singing lady gaga at diamond head to a 10-minute private set from dj z-trip while soundchecking to having jake shimabukuro do an impromptu cover of the family guy theme song on a shoot to watching NYC-based artist/designer craig costello a.k.a. krink spray massive pieces for a show at loft in space…it’s easy to lose perspective and forget just how cool it is to get to see all this stuff from the perspective i find myself in on a daily basis.  this little shoot was no different…i’ve got a few images here, and a few ended up on a beastly hype website you may have heard of before.

speaking of behind-the-scenes, here’s a few shots of krink finishing up his last set of pieces for his recent show at loft in space.  it was a visually impressive show and in addition to being an all-around nice guy, craig’s attention to detail and dedication to his craft was totally super motivating/inspirational. enjoy.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]

fuji x100 + hoya R7s filter + jungles = infra red banana-ness.

enjoy.  i’ve also included a high-res wallpaper.

-a

[ click here for the full sized wallpaper: 2560 x 1440 px ]

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]

day three of the moku o keawe festival involved covering the auana hula competition, and the ho`ike slash after party.

this was the end of an epic weekend, and the positive energy, friendships, and good times will be a high point for some time to come.  at least until next years’ festival.  aloha.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full auana hula competition gallery! ]

[ click here to jump off to the full ho`ike night gallery! ]

day two of the moku o keawe international hula festival had me documenting a huaka`i to kalahuipua`a and the kupuna night hula competition.  the huaka`i was an extremely unique opportunity to learn the mo`olelo of a place i’d honestly never had the chance to see, and the kupuna night was truly awe-inspiring…those aunties can move.

the fun of participating in a contest like this is mixed with the long hours behind the scenes.  at the end of each night we retired to moku o keawe media headquarters to have a few beers, enjoy the amazing cooking from our private chef/homie ryan, and edit photos, flickr, blog, and update moku’s website.  believe it or not although this sounds awesome and was pretty much super awesome, it was also a bit rougher than you’d think.  enjoy.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the kalahuipua`a workshop gallery! ]

[ click here to jump off to the full kupuna night gallery! ]

when a friend of mine invited out to the big island to help photograph a three-day international film festival in waikoloa, i couldn’t help but jump at the opportunity.  the moku o keawe international hula festival is a three day long series of cultural workshops, hula competitions, and camraderie.

my first day had me photographing the ipu heke `ole workshop and later, documenting the kahiko hula competition.  i had unlimited, front-row access and it was an amazing experience…mahalo nui loa no to the hui at moku o keawe for their hospitality , and enjoy the images.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full b-roll gallery! ]

[ click here to jump off to the full kahiko competition gallery! ]

[ click here to jump off to the full ipu heke ole gallery! ]

here are a collection of a few of my favorite images from my past year of work with the star-advertiser’s honolulu pulse.  from concerts to parties to award ceremonies to the hawaii 5-0 red carpet.  yeah, it’s been a busy year.

-a

[ click here to jump off to the full image gallery! ]