Byodo-in Temple, 6/19/10

Byodo-in Temple

Located in the Valley of the Temples, this temple "is a scale replica of a temple in Uji, Japan, that was constructed over 950 years ago.

Visitors are allowed to pull back this rod and let it hit this bell.
Erick, thanks for showing me your shot of this bell - this was quite a challenge to get this angle - I had to go really low and use Live View to get this shot.
As you can see, it is so serene here.

Pan Pacific Parade, 6/13/10

Pan Pacific Festival

June 18, I just added 3 more pics at the end of this post.

We were so fortunate to be entertained this past weekend, June 11-13 at Ala Moana Center Stage and to end with a parade. I shot this, after all we were in Waikiki.

I just had to capture these cute women sharing an umbrella.
These Korean outfits were so beautiful.

It was also nice seeing these Japanese outfits.


There were many hula groups from Japan.
I heard a lot of commotion, now I know why, this guy was oogling this hula dancer.
The parade had so many happy participants. The little boy was so kawaii (cute)!

I forgot to include these pics of this man and this huge flag. See what he did with it.

Plumerias, 5/7/10

I was trying some macro shooting. I was also experimenting with different effects Photoshop has to offer. Voila.

Thanks Derek, I wouldn't have gotten these shots without borrowing your memory card. Note to self, get my gear ready the night before.

OMG, 5/22/10

Talking about having fun with photography, Erick and Shun Wah were my models. Yes! You are seeing doubles.

These are pics Erick and Shun Wah took of me.

Lantern Floating Ceremony, 5/31/10

Yesterday, I captured 2 events. I just posted: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 5/31/10.

This post is the Lantern Floating Ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park. The news mentioned that at least 40,000 attended this ceremony which included many photographers.

Messages were written on these lanterns, when it was dusk, each lantern was lit and sent out to sea.
This picture was really dark, but I was able to photoshop it to "fill light" to give you a glimpse of the many people. There were people along the shore line - including myself. It was actually very hard for me as I am height challenged. Many shots were deleted as I kept getting others in my way.
Some of the lanterns are released by these canoeurs, others released by those who walked into the water.

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific , 5/31/10

This flag says it all.

I could not wait to take pictures of this war memorial. I took this as I entered the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as "Punchbowl" which lies in the middle of Puowaina Crater.

I was informed that this was the first grave #A1.

I stayed low to the ground to make these flags appear larger.

It was hard to capture the beauty and vastness of this memorial site.