October 25, 2007 - A full moon rises along the edge of Diamond Head crater shot through a telephoto lens. This Hunter’s Moon (the name for the moon after September’s Harvest Moon) is the closest it will get in 2007, about 30,000 miles closer than April’s moon, which was the farthest from Earth. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 600mm f4 (with 1.4X converter — 840mm), Manual, 1/2700 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1200, Daylight balance

There was some hype about this month’s full moon being huge and spectacular, so I decided I’d go out and try and get a moonrise photo.

I told the city desk about my scheme, and they seemed to like it, although one guy said, “Sounds good, as long as the clouds disappear.”

Thanks. Good ol’ dramatic foreshadowing.

My plan was to go up to that little park on the hill in Kaimuki above the fire station, and shoot the moon coming up over Waialae Iki ridge. The potential for drama was good — a big moon, plus the Moon Illusion effect, plus the use of a big telephoto lens.

I got up there with the 600mm and the shot looked good. Except for the clouds. Lots of them. Thick and puffy, hanging low over the hills.

I was feeling a little queasy at this point, but there were some clear sections, and I gambled that the moon would rise in one of those pockets of clarity and the day would be saved.

No such luck. I caught a sliver of the moon, rising above the ridge. It looked great. Too bad there was nothing to shoot.

Okay, stay calm. Time for Plan X.

Which I didn’t have.

So I reasoned that the clouds were kind of low, so once they cleared the clouds I’d be okay. But I needed some object on the foreground. I thought about buildings in downtown or something, but given the time constraints I had, I settled on Diamond Head.

I jumped back in the car and ripped down to Kapiolani Park. I didn’t have much time before the moon got to the point that it would be too high for even Diamond Head.

After dodging a virtual marathon of joggers running all over the place, I parked and ran to a place between some trees where I had a good view of where the moon would rise. Or I thought it would. Of course it started rising nowhere near where I thought it would, so I had to go running to another place to line things up.

The moon is surprisingly bright, and I could shoot at high shutter speeds, which was good since I didn’t have a tripod (I was using a monopod with the Image Stabilizer activated).

After taking a slew of photos, I called it a night and went back to the newsroom to hand over the goods.

Not quite what I had in mind, but there’s always next time…

October 06, 2007 - A little orange man comes in for a landing at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 600mm f4, Manual, 1/640 sec at f/4, ISO 3200, Fluorescent balance

Just keeping myself entertained during those TV timeouts at a UH football game…

October 21, 2007 - Geoff Morris held an anti-ferry sign at a public meeting on Kauai at King Kaumual’i Elementary School for a special session regarding the Hawaii Superferry. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 70-200mm (at 200mm) f2.8, Aperture Priority, 1/320 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Auto white balance

I got sent over to Kauai the other day to cover the public meeting for a possible special session by the legislature to try and keep the Hawaii Superferry afloat.

It was an in-and-out deal; fly in mid-day, shoot and transmit photos, and catch the last flight back to Honolulu.

The meeting was to start at 2 p.m., and I got to the school around 1 or so. There were some people starting to wander in, and I began analyzing the lay of the land.

The meeting was held in the cafeteria, three of the walls of which were essentially all windows. The senators were on a small stage against the one solid wall in the place. Everything else was pretty much back-lit. Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, adding a a weird hue to the otherwise daylight color of light in the room. Oh well, not much I can do about that, I thought.

I went outside and got some photos of people signing up for testimony, then hung out and lurked. In a situation like this, I like to get a feel for the people involved, and try to keep to myself as much as possible.

I was wearing a Star-Bulletin shirt, and had my “press” tags dangling from my neck for effect. And one or two people came up to me and handed me copies of what they planned to say. I dutifully took them, just in case (and it’s always nice to have extra paper for notes if needed).

Then a guy came up to me and wanted to hand me what looked like a magazine. “Can I give you one of these?” he asked.

“No thank you,” I replied.

“Are you sure?” he asked, looking a little surprised.

“Yeah,” I said.

“But you’re with the media, I thought you’d want one,” he said.

I just looked at him. And then he walked off, looking a little hurt.

Things finally started rolling at 2, and I started shooting. After about 10 minutes, it was becoming apparent that this was not going to be a repeat of the infamous Lingle/Coast Guard episode from last month. The crowd was well-behaved, and there were only about three or four signs in the crowd.

Since there wasn’t a whole lot of drama going on, it was just a matter of getting a variety of different shots of essentially the same thing — people standing at the microphone, saying what they would say, and senators looking at them, occasionally scribbling on yellow legal pads.

At one point, a woman got up and began speaking. She prefaced her comments by telling the crowd “You’re probably not going to like what I’m about to say.” At which point I thought, hmmmm… could there be drama? When it became apparent that she wasn’t against the ferry per-se, she was immediately heckled and booed by the crowd. Might have been good with audio, but the pictures just looked like any other.

Some other guy went up and gave a rambling talk about how he was in favor of the ferry, and again was promptly booed and jeered. After I shot photos of him, I went up to him (in the middle of the crowd) to get his name. As he was giving it to me, some guy behind me started blurting out various lines like, “I hope you got pictures of the people who are against the ferry!” I ignored him thinking “how could I not? There are over 300 of you here.” It’s the usual thing I get all the time, people see I’m from “the mainstream media” and immediately brand me as someone with an agenda. Usually one that doesn’t agree with their point of view.

Let me tell you, while I might have my own opinion on what I’m covering, I make it a point to leave it behind when I go into a news situation. I shoot exactly what happens, avoiding coloring it with my own opinions. Of course, nobody believes this, and I’ve learned long ago that I’ll never please all of the people all of the time. So I just let it go.

Anyway, I stood around for about two hours or so, then decided I’d go back to the car and transmit the photos back to Honolulu. I also called the city desk to let them know this was not the pressure cooker drama that some may have expected.

After about a half-hour of editing and sending, I went back in and hung out just in case something else happened. Although I was doubtful at that point.

The place had emptied a bit by this time, and I saw some room to sit at the front by the mic. A woman went up to testify and had a long scroll of the negatives she thought the ferry would bring Kauai. She unfurled it in front of the senators and I got some photos of that.

Then right after her, a high school student went up and held a banner with a bunch of negatives written on it.

Well, this is interesting, I thought. Props. So after the kid sat down, I went over to get her name. As she was about to give it to me, the scroll woman came over and said, “you need to talk to her parents.”

“She just gave public testimony, in a public venue,” I told her (while thinking, “and she gave her name, too”).

“Don’t talk to him,” she told the girl.

At this point I could see things unraveling fast. The woman was getting agitated, and I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation, not in this crowd, anyway. I decided it would be best to let that one go.

“Well, can I get your name, then?” I asked the woman, since I had photographed her. Maybe I could salvage something.

“They have it,” she snapped back.

“Who?” I asked.

“Them,” she said, pointing to the senators.

I looked at her blankly, then got up and left. It was a lost cause. And the photos weren’t worth the potential for a full-blown confrontation with this person who obviously didn’t want anything to do with me.

It’s like arguing about religion or politics, nobody’s gonna win.

I left the school a few hours later, and went back to the airport.

Definitely an interesting day.

October 15, 2007 - Senator Jill Tokuda’s door. Somewhere behind that door Hawaii Superferry Executives John Garibaldi and Tig Krekel meet with the senator. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 (at 19mm), Aperture Priority, 1/50 sec at f/4.5, ISO 800, Auto white balance

I was sent over to the State Capitol the other day to get some photos of Hawaii Superferry execs going around meeting senators in preparation for a possible special session next week.

Driving over I got to wondering if it was going to be a media circus, if there would be Superferry P.R. handlers there… or maybe there would be nobody there, and I’d have the place to myself…

I met up with Richard Borreca in the Star-Bulletin’s bureau in the loins of the Capitol building, and we headed upstairs to where the fun was to start - Sen. Jill Tokuda’s office. There were a couple of the TV stations there waiting.

Waiting.

“Are they in there already?” I naively asked the guy from KITV.

“Naw, they’ll be coming down the hall and going in,” he answered.

So we all stood there, waiting.

Then, Garibaldi and Krekel appeared from an elevetor and briskly walked down the hall. I shot them long, then pulled in close for a few mugs (the paper is always in need of mug shots — what we call those tight face shots they use when they quote someone). They approached the door and I switched to a wide angle lens and went in close as they walked in.

That was a thrill.

Then we waited.

And waited.

And stared at the door.

For 45 minutes.

Borreca came over and said, “Imagine working in Washington, this is all you’d do. Stare at doors.”

Then a door on the side opened and out they came. So we all rushed in figuring they’d stop and talk about their lives, and their hopes and dreams, and what they had for lunch, and other important details pertinent to why we were all there.

Instead, they just kept walking briskly to the next office.

At this point I found myself behind the pack, which just wouldn’t do, so I took off in a sprint to get in front of them for that wide angle “walking down the hallway while ignoring the media” shot.

Into another office they went.

And so we stood outside and waited.

And waited.

There was a baseball game on in Hemmings’ office next door. But it was far away and I’d need to watch it through my 200 mm lens. I wasn’t in the mood.

Then they came out, and we all sprang into action.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

And into another office they went.

And we waited.

It was well past 5:30 p.m. and most offices were closing up, so we figured this would be the last visit for the day, so we could get them to stop once they were done here.

Then they emerged, and we all did our dance routine again.

They headed straight to the elevator and we backpedaled the whole way in front of them.

At the elevator they were cornered and made small talk.

October 15, 2007 - Hawaii Superferry executives John Garibaldi, right, and Tig Krekel talk with the media after they made visits at the State Capitol to try and get support for the Superferry. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 (at 10mm), Aperture Priority, 1/60 sec at f/3.5, ISO 800, Auto white balance

So I got in and got them answering questions from a few TV reporters. The photog from KGMB had a light on which I usually hate, but used it here from some rim light in an otherwise very dark corner of the Capitol.

I could tell the Superferry guys wanted to get out as fast as possible, and I liked how Garibaldi was casually yet somewhat frantically pushing the elevator button.

Then the elevator arrived, and they got in, and the door closed, and I stood there and blankly stared at the door, and then realized they wouldn’t be coming out of this door anytime soon, and turned around and headed back to the office.

October 11, 2007 - Commander Kevin Mannix, flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels stands with his aircraft behind him at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 (at 10mm), Manual Exp, 1/320 sec at f/14, ISO 200, Daylight white balance

The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels air show team was in town this weekend for a couple of shows out at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.

On Thursday I went out for a media meet-and-greet with the pilots. I knew we’d only have a very short time with the pilots so I had to be quick to get a portrait.

I got to the base and was escorted by a public affairs officer out to the flight line. The planes were still in the air doing a practice run, so I popped off a few shots, just in case, but I figured the pilot pic would be the main deal.

After a few minutes, the head PAO guy from the Blue Angels herded the media together and told us we’d be shuttled further down the tarmac to where the planes would be parked. So we dutifully hopped into some waiting cars and off we went.

The planes landed and parked and the pilots got out. Each media outlet was assigned a pilot, and the Bulletin was assigned the #1 plane with the flight commander.

As we walked over to the plane, I figured to myself that we’d have about 10 minutes with the pilot. So I told the reporter to go ahead and do his interview while I set up the photo, which needed to be a quick and dirty set-up.

It would be a one umbrella deal, which I would trigger using pocket wizards. I lined up the shot and marked a spot on the tarmac where the pilot would stand. The sun was coming from the left of the frame, so I set the umbrella up on the opposite side. I wanted the light even with the sun, so he would be fully illuminated from both sides. It gives a clean look with a lot of depth. I also like that type of lighting because since only the subject is fully illuminated from both sides (and not anything else in the background) it has a slightly surreal look to it. It makes the subject pop out of the frame.

After the interview was done, I had only a few minutes for the picture. I had him stand on his mark, tested the lights and exposure, and was done in about a minute or two. The set up and break down took longer than the actual photo itself.

October 13, 2007 - The U.S. Navy Blue Angels performed a variety of complex maneuvers over Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe during the Blues on the Bay air show. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 300mm f2.8, Manual, 1/3200 sec at f/4, ISO 400, Daylight white balance

A few days later I went out to shoot the actual air show. I’d never actually been to one of these, always instead ending up shooting practice sessions, or whatever. So, I drove out early thinking I’d soak in the atmosphere, but got stuck in traffic instead. It took over an hour to get on the base.

Once there, I found the media tent, and wandered around for some general interest pictures. Which pretty much ended up being pictures of people trying to avoid the sun.

The Blue Angels were scheduled to go around three, so I went back and waited for the show to start. As I waited, I noticed more and more clouds rolling in — good for the heat, terrible for pictures. Instead of having nice blue sky, the planes are against bright white.

But whatever, the die had been cast, and it was time to get some photos.

I decided on using the 300mm f2.8 since it’s sharp, fast, and easy to hand hold. As the pilots flew around, I tripped out at how close they flew to each other. They looked like big blue darts in the sky.

My favorite photo came along when two planes were flying side-by-side, one upside down, the other rightside up. They approached from the right and I tracked them as they flew over the runway. The key was keeping them in the center of the frame, and getting a photo as they passed directly in front of me.

Luckily it worked out.

October 06, 2007 - A montage of bad luck.

UH Warrior football was back at Aloha Stadium.

Clouds hung dark in the sky, and intermittent rain showers made the night wet and unpleasant. Perhaps it was some kind of omen.

Last night was “one of those nights.” I seemed to be in the wrong place at all the wrong times.

Shooting sports involves a blend of luck and skill. Sometimes you get it all, sometimes the luck well runs dry.

I knew things were going downhill when I only got a few decent pictures in the first quarter, it seemed all the plays were going to the opposite side of the field.

Or a ref would be between me and the play…

This started to become an alarming trend. I noticed more and more pictures getting spoiled by this unfortunate circumstance.

If it wasn’t a ref, it was a ball dude. Or another ref.

All I could do was shake my head.

Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do but suck it up and look forward to the next game, hoping for a better day.