flip the bird hired me to shoot a quick lookbook showcasing the newest designs they’ve come up with.  and on the day of the shoot, i learned one of my favorite emcees from one of my favorite hip hop acts of all time would be making an appearance to model some of the line.

i’ve been a fan of dilated peoples since like 1998, when i copped a re-dubbed dub of rhettmatic’s beat junkies volume 2 on cassette, and heard work the angles.  meeting, working, and chilling with rakaa iriescience was something i had never expected to do.

again, this job is an amazing thing, so many cool people to cross paths with, and always something different.  i shot the images at a secret location at dusk, using strobist techniques and a wide prime lens.

another one for the books.

-a

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

when contrast magazine told me they needed me to go on assignment to shoot the deadbeats, all i had to say was “it’s about time.”  for the past two, going on three, years the deadbeats have been putting in mad work, doing shows at jazz minds once a week, and usually one if not two other gigs every week elsewhere.  their jazz-inspired live hip hop sound has refined itself into something unique and amazing.  on top of all the gigging they have managed to put together an album and are working on another.  they deserve this writeup, and i’m glad i got to be a part of it.

needless to say, i am a fan of the deadbeats, and i respect their work ethic.  contrast sent me out to a practice session at brett’s house (the bassist), and i snapped a few practice photos of the band, a few candids while the barbequed, and a few images at their gig that wednesday night at jazz minds.

another shoot for the books.

-a

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

besides being a friend and an extremely talented artist, lucky olelo is my tattooist.  he hasn’t done my only tattoo work, but really he’s done the piece that mattered.  i can’t describe the relationship that you have with someone who spent hours marking your skin permanently, but its a bond that’s different from any other.

when contrast magazine asked me to take a few profile images of lucky for his writeup in the creativity issue, i was happy that in my own way, i was getting the chance to leave a permanent mark on him…or of him at least.  unfortunately, taking these photos wasn’t really going to give me a chance to sling some of the pain he sent my way back onto him, but it would be kind of wrong if i wanted to hurt him with a needle anyway.

the images were simple and quick, i wanted to highlight lucky’s talents as an artist who tattoos. so i captured him in his workspace at his home in kaimuki.  the shot looks simply but it took several strobes to properly fill and light this image.

the best photos are those that look simple, and all that jazz.  included in this writeup are a few b-roll images that didn’t make the issue.

-a

[ click here to view the full image gallery! ]

golden era hip hop, thursdays at nextdoor.

dj’s zita and j-boogie from the bay area, playing the best hip hop the 90s had to offer.  it was a great night, a chance to see old friends, and of course catch some dope hip hop.

i shot the night with a new technique…i don’t want to over-use it but it was fun…more soon!

-a

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

while on assignment for contrast magazine issue 4, the creativity issue, i had to shoot fellow dropshadows crewmember and homie joseph pa`ahana.  they wanted a few portraits and shots documenting some of his artwork.  a lot of you know joe for his flyer and poster work for nextdoor.  now don’t get me wrong, his flyer design work is some of the dopest on the island…but what really makes me respect joe as an artist is his work.  his blackbooks and art pieces are just bananas.  and joe’s “other” work is something most of the world hasn’t known about until this feature.

besides being one of the happiest, nicest dudes i know, joe’s also pretty ADD.  maybe that’s why we can both relate, and we can always talk about all sorts of random shit, from art to design to crazy film projects, to the new world order.  all in 10 minutes.  his ADD also means the guy’s got like a billion projects going on.  and they are all amazing.  the contrast issue was a chance to shed some light on joe’s other, less visible work.

this was a great assignment and a chance to hang out with a good friend, take a few pictures, and as always talk about crazy random ideas, design projects, and the new world order.  i’ve included a few b-roll images from the shoot that didn’t make the cut.

-a

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

contrast magazine issue 4:  the creative stimuli issue.

a long exposure, a city vista, a wide angle lens, and HDR post processing all added up to a unique picture of waikiki.  which eventually became the cover of contrast issue 4.  i featured this image as a wallpaper a few months back, so if you liked the cover, be sure and cop the wallpaper!

big ups  and thanks to race, mark, and the whole contrast crew.  this issue was the dopest yet!!

-a

part two of the wo-band interview for flux magazine.  last issue, the girlfriends were interviewed by painted highways.  this time around the painted highways were on the receiving end of a few jokes and the occasional meaningful question.

in keeping with the simple, available light theme that flux editorial staff set for the last piece, i shot this series in available light downtown on bishop st.  a 50mm f/1.2 lens and lower shutter speed  set the stage for my coverage of the interview.

by nature i am more of a minimalist, in that i don’t favor shooting staged scenes.  so the images that follow are the actual, recorded interview between the two bands.  while it seems pretty simple to stick your camera on a tripod, lock in a slow shutter speed at f/2, and snap  off a picture of the bands, in actuality this shoot was quite challenging.  for one thing, getting a clear shot of 7 fairly hyperactive guys takes a little timing and a lot of luck.  and waiting for a bus to pass by takes patience and even more timing and good fortune.

but  somehow the shoot came together.  included in this gallery are outtakes from the shoot, other iamges i offered up to the editorial process.

i can’t wait to see what’s next.

-a

PS: yeah, i know i haven’t been shooting a lot of parties or live shows.  i’m sorry.  a change of pace was what i needed, and it’s been nice.  don’t  worry, i have a few really big things in the works and i’ll keep updating here as things fall into place!

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

so i know i haven’t updated honozooloo much. i’ve been working on other, bigger projects…and travelling. last weekend i spent some time on the big island, watching lava burn up a road, and visiting a few old spots.

outside of naalehu there’s a public park in the middle of nowhere. there’s an abandoned pier that my grandfather worked at as a kid, and my father fished at as a child. it’s amazing to go to a spot that has three generations of my family’s history in it. it also helps that it’s quite photogenic.

i haven’t dropped a wallpaper in a while, so here you go. more from my big island trip coming on 5tolife next month!

-a

[ click here to download the full sized wallpaper 1920x1200 pixels! ]

]]> http://www.honozooloo.com/2010/07/naalehu/feed/ http://www.honozooloo.com/2010/07/dogs/ http://www.honozooloo.com/2010/07/dogs/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:47:24 +0000 aaron http://www.honozooloo.com/?p=840

this one was hands-down the most unusual assignment i’ve had in a while.  besides the difficulties you would expect from subjects that don’t speak english, my photoshoot for flux magazine was also one of the most technically challenging i’ve had to pull off.  i had to take a few show-winning dogs and photograph them in some green grass on a sunny day.  sounds simple, right?  well, no it isn’t.

on a bright, sunny day, the sky tends to overexpose while the ground/grass has a whole bunch of shadows in it.  not to mention the dogs with dark coats, which were very hard to coax definition out of in direct sunlight.  the solution was to stop down and lock the exposure at proper levels for the sky, while using three radio-triggered strobes to light up and show definition in the dogs’ pelts.  the blue sharpei in the article’s header image was the hardest, because of all the wrinkles that needed to be illuminated by a strong frontal light source.  each dog needed different strobe settings, and on top of all of the technical challenges, there was the challenge of keeping the dog standing in the strobes’ “sweet spot” once everything was dialed in.  and the props, which had to be setup and kept away from the dogs.  it was a little less organized than i am used to on location that day.

when all was said and done, i ended up with a pretty awesome set of images that needed absolutely no editing in post-production.  so at least all the preparation and work during the shoot cut down on the time i had to spend at home editing.  hooray for no photoshop!

thanks as always to lisa, cody, ara, and the rest of the flux crew…and yaay for another fun assignment!  click the link or tearsheet images below to see a few b-roll images that didn’t make it into the article.

-a

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

a month ago, in4mation had me shoot a quick summer lookbook for their summer 2010 line.  along with the super talented brooke dombroski, i snapped candids that turned into the lookbook.  a great photo shoot for one of my favorite lines, and the first time my photos have been on highsnobiety and hypebeast at the same time!

-a

[ click here to peep the lookbook on highsnobiety ]