Where did I go? 5/13-16/11

I had a great weekend, but where did I go?

 Some panoramas with my cool Sony NEX

 Auntie Lisa invited me to join her for the

Most of the events were at The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii at Mauna Lani Resort.

Leo Sears is the Founder and Executive Director of this event and his wife, Jan is definitely his right hand person.  There were 63 films. "Wounded" won for Short film and "Get A Job" won for Feature film.

Wow, I got to sit on the same table with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Lisa Lu, both of whom were in the 1987 film, "The Last Emperor".

Although my calabash Auntie Lisa is remembered in the 1993 film, "The Joy Luck Club", her acting career is quite extensive.  In Asia, she has received 3 Golden Horse Awards which are similar to the Oscars and 1 Magnolia Award for Best Artistic Achievement.

I also had the pleasure of sitting with Pastor Daniel "Kaniela" Akaka, Jr and his lovely wife Pastor Anna.

 During our time on the Big Island, we drove to Hawi and had a nice lunch at

 To our surprise their restroom was fun to look around

The following are just some fun shots
(my dessert)

(wise saying)

 Auntie and I enjoyed taking pictures of The Fairmond Orchid's beautiful landscape.

 I stopped to take one last panorama as we approached Hwy 19 as we headed to the Kona Airport.

Upside Down Rainbow, huh?, 5/12/11

Around 2 pm, word got out there is an upside down rainbow.  Big, huh?  At first I saw the bottom section and thought cool, then some one mentioned it was a double rainbow.

Apparently the atmosphere was colder near the sun causing this nice refraction of light around the sun and the other area below it.

I even tried someone's polarize sunglasses to shoot this nice refraction.

Watercolor and Photo, 5/10/11

Wow talking about being stoked.  Jonny Tupua gave me this watercolor.  He was inspired by the next picture that I had taken because of its lights and shadows.  Jonny works for Loco Boutique and does textile designs for many of their products.  He also works part time at the school I am at.  I am awed by his talent both in his art and working with students.  

This picture was in my post snippets-of-this-weekend, 2/26 & 27/11

I am so touched as this is the second time my photo inspired others to paint.  Jon Ching, my son,  did an oil which was in my post wonderful-surprise, 10/20/10

Thank you Jonny and Jon.  I am so happy that your artistic talents compliment my photos.

Brown Bags to Stardom, 4/23/11

I am not sure why this event is called Brown Bags however high schoolers are given an opportunity to share their talents and lots of well known entertainers got their start this way. To name a few: Na Leo Pilimehana, Kapena, Tia Carrera, Jasmine Trias, Jake Shimabukiro.  

Thank you Johnny Kai for this talent search.  

Greg Gabaylo is his right hand man.  I recently featured these 2 in my post: Hawaii Music Award, 4/11/10

This little one was not a participant however he has a bright future, he enjoyed break dancing during the transition between the middle school and high schoolers.  I was unable to attend the elementary section and came while the middle schoolers were receiving their awards.  It would have been a joy to see them.

Low Tide and Kawaii Kon, 4/30/11

A combined group, Oahu Photography Meetup and I Wanna Shoot So Badly left at 5:30 am from Windward Mall.  We headed past Heeia Kea Small Boat Harbor and continued until we got to this spot. We were informed by their leader, Stan Yamada, that "the tide will be dropping beginning at 2am with low tide at 8am...exposing the reef and that the water should be glassy allowing for excellent conditions for reflections shots."  He was on the mark.

We returned to Windward Mall and enjoyed breakfast at the IHOP.  I enjoyed Swedish Crepes.  Yummmmm.

Later I went to Eyes of Hawaii's mini workshop.  Thanks to Cliff, Doug, Gary and Milton for sharing your time and knowledge with us.  I am certainly enjoying Photography.

Within a half hour, I was off with Pastor Curtis, Kean and Maureen to enjoy Kawaii Kon. What is this?  Here is a link to last year's post.  Note to self, check out the Japanese Animations before going.  I enjoyed these costumes but am not familiar with their characters. 

This guy is from a board game.  Hee hee, I forgot the name of the game and his character. 

I noticed this artistic guy.  I got permission to take his picture and some of his drawings.  It appears his interest is with a fox character, he also had on a fox tail. 

I saw characters with red contacts, this fluorescent blue really stood out.

He shared that it took 6 months for him to complete his costume.  

On his back, he made a large bottle of SPF3, no wonder he got the burn.