A Slice of Island Life - Obon On A Hot Summer's Night

July in Hawaii means Obon Season... part solemn buddhist ceremony honoring ancestors, part festival with plenty of smiling family faces, food and dancing. Every Jodo shrine in Hawaii hosts an evening or two of ceremony and dancing under the stars. I make it a point of attending the one held in Lahaina each summer.The Lahaina Jodo Mission also hosts the island's only floating lantern ceremony, a highlight of the event for me. 

This year, running in to a writer friend I see there each year, she asked my why I am always there? Assuming her question was put forth because I don't practice the buddhist faith, I responded "because it's beautiful!". There are other reasons, of course, which bring me back year after year. Having lived in Lahaina for many years previously, it's also a chance to catch up briefly with old friends ( inevitably, I am greeted by many of the aunties with a hearty " Haole Boy!I nevah see you long time..."), enjoy some excellent local foods prepared by the ladies of the temple and a handful of local restauranteurs. Then there is the dancing... joyful, colorful and welcoming... seasoned dancers invite novices into the circle and demonstrate the steps... all are welcome.

This years festivities in pictures (click on photos for a larger view):

Lodging Magazine

I recently had a sneak peek at the eagerly anticipated Andaz Maui Resort. I had just stepped off a plane after a 26 hr. flight returning from S.E. Asia only three hour prior... quickly showering, loading the gear in the car and driving down to the island's south shore to meet the publications Art Director and our subject for the shoot, new GM Michael Stephens.

Though I was wrapped in a fog of culture shock & jet-lag and the property covered in a good layer of dust and crawling with round-the-clock construction workers, I could easily see that this property, a new "boutique" arm of the Hyatt chain, would be a stunning addition to the star-studded resorts lining the beaches of the Wailea resort area. Watch for an opening either late this month or early september.

The photos appeared in the July issue of Lodging Magazine, landing on the cover, table of contents page and a double page spread on the inside.

JSB + T+D + .GIF

It wasn't long after yesterday's posting went online when I received a call, followed by an email, from an Agency AD friend in H'lulu. The call was to alert me to the email... and to apologize if I might have been offended that she had "stolen" the images posted yesterday. The AD had taken some of the Cambodia images and created the animated .GIF file you see above and then sent it to me, thinking this might be a useful tool for my future marketing schemes. She may be right. Either way, I am not offended... grateful might be a more accurate description. Grateful that my work & blog remain on her radar. Grateful that she would bother to take the time to make the .GIF file, to send it to me and to bother to follow up with a call to offer suggestions that may prove valuable to my continued viability in the image marketplace. With all sincerity, a big THANK YOU to W!!!

In further effort to get current on the happenings around here, we had the chance to photograph noted author, thinker, lecturer and self-described Chief of Confusion, John Seely Brown for an issue of T+D Magazine. The publishing photo editor, being a mainland-based journal for business training and development, had specifically requested that "JSB", as he prefers to be called, appear in a suit & tie against a white background. The background was no problem, yet JSB, being an island resident, shared the typical island-resident disdain for all things suit & tie oriented. While he did arrive at the studio with a sports jacket as a nod to the PE's lack of understanding about the informality of tropical island life, he had no shoes. Ha!

In the end, we photographed JSB in shirt-sleeves and barefoot... the PE ended up loving the departure from the typical business guru style of portraiture usually on display in the pages of T+D and I had an interesting conversation during the shoot with an animated & brilliant man.

JSB for T+D Magazine

Dog Days of Summer

It's been a while since we've posted anything in this space and I'll admit that the summer has gotten away from me. Since my return from S.E. Asia early last month, new projects have been coming at a furious pace. This is all good news as the clients for these recent projects have all been candidates for the honor roll. I had hoped to return to Indonesia sometime this month to begin a new venture but things have been so busy here on the home front that those plans may have to be put off until the fall.

There's been a new digital magazine app to work on as principal photographer & photo-editor, slated to see the light of day sometime in the coming months... an architectural & lifestyle project for an impeccably designed retreat center, a restaurant project and last week we were wisked away to the Big Island for several days to shoot another lifestyle project at the magnificent estate of an international celebrity who shall go un-named due to required confidentiality agreements being put into play. 

Client JP and Callie at a top secret, undisclosed Big Island location

Otherwise, there's little to tell unless you want to hear about the last week spent hunkered down in front of this fine, blue screen in full metal edit mode... busily in pursuit of the filthy lucre. No, let's not go there.

Finally, this morning I find time to get back into the Cambodia images. Rather than waste any more words here, let's tell a part of the travel story thru a handful of my favorites gathered along the way...

Of course, there were the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat...

And the markets of Siem Reap...

Always, the beautiful faces of children...

The generous hospitality offered by the monks of nearby Pradeak Monastery...

And a few odds & ends to finish things up...

Thank You Karen

Yes, I've been absent from blog duties for far too long now. Sorry. Back from Asia trip# 2 for a week and a half now and still experiencing major difficulties with re-entry.

Still remiss in getting up to speed with the Cambodia leg of the journey. Now, in retrospect, I am left with mixed feelings about the place. Angkor Wat has been on my bucket list for sometime and   overall, the time spent there... while full of fantastic moments... was less than I had hoped for. I can't say I wasn't warned. I had read all the travel/photoblogs on this destination, providing plenty of forewarning. None of it prepared me for for the experience of being surrounded by the tourists from mainland China. Hordes of them... thousands of them arriving by busload after busload. Oblivious to their surroundings and sporting spanking new digital slrs, iPads and other assundry electronic gadgetry. One gent, armed with a new Nikon mounted on a monopod walked around temples with his camera hoisted high in the air while he triggered the shutter with what appeared to be an app on his mobile phone.

Ah, but that's another story meant for another time when there's ample enthusiasm for digging into the subject of Angkor, the photos captured there, and the appalling things witnessed during the four-day run thru the ancient ruins. Once the fear & loathing brought on by the experience adequately subsides, we shall revisit the subject.

On a more positive note, during my absence... a package arrived in the mail. Within said package was a beautiful silver-gelatin print... a print that I had coveted for some time... of an artist I have admired for many years, a gift from an artist I had equally admired for many years. Today, the print returned from the framers and now hangs in it's new home above my studio workstation. Brian Eno, photographed, I'm guessing sometime in the late 1980's, in the loft of and by remarkable photographer Karen Kuehn.

I've never met Karen, at least not in person. I have, however, admired her work for many years after first reading about her In PDN (Photo District News) many years ago. It turns out that we have several mutual friends in common. About a year ago, I reached out to her via social media and lo & behold, a dialog began. Recently, I sent good friend and professional couch-surfer Master D to see her to weave a little magic. It must have worked. as the print was sent shortly after he visited her in her desert digs.

Thank you Karen! Check out her website here:

http://www.karenkuehn.com/

Back, Then Gone Again

Returned to my home island only 9 days ago. Three short hours after landing, jet-lagged and disoriented, found myself inside a massive new resort still in the throes of renovation construction, shooting as assignment for a new client from the mainland.

There has been no time to upload photos or analysis of the Cambodia excursion... all in good time.

Now it's 5am. In just over an hour, I will be sitting in another airport waiting to catch a flight back to Indonesia by way of S. Korea for another job. Another long day of airplane containment is in store, this time with client in tow. Hoping desperately that he possesses both a sense of humor and adventure.

Stay tuned....

21 Days in The Kingdom: Part II - Road Trip to Nirvana

The alarm sounds at 3am. Aaarrrggghhh. It's time to rise, throw myself under the shower, dress, inhale a cup of strong coffee and stumble through darkness and sleeping village streets to the central corner fronting the Royal Palace. The air is cool & damp and the only sounds are those of crickets, croaking bullfrogs and the occasional motorbike. 

Mr. T, Edi & Abi arrive a few minutes later. Climbing into the giant SUV, we aim the car towards the mountains high above the island's northern coast. Our first destination is a remote mountain village situated on the shores & shallows of a volcanic mountain lake - Tamblingan. It is still dark when we arrive. Already, there are a handful of local photographers jockeying for position. They are friendly and welcome us... quickly comparing gear and chatting in hushed tones. To our right, the silhouette of the temple and it's many tiered mehrus can be seen against the faint light of dawn climbing from behind the surrounding mountains. 

Small dugout canoes line the shore, along with the ruins of a few homes abandoned after heavy rains swelled the lake waters and flooded the area. Our crew wanders thru marshes looking for positions to best greet the sunrise as the first hints of dawn color creep over the ridges in the distance.

Mist rises from the still lake waters, shrouding surrounding mountains ridges. A film crew arrives... this spot is becoming popular with happy asian couples as a location to shoot "pre-wedding" video. They clamor into small canoes and paddle out to a raft in the center of the lake. We continue to tramp through the mud & marsh as the water becomes a mirror reflecting the sky & surroundings.

The sounds of a village coming awake echoes off the water... roosters crowing, the barking of dogs and the chatter of children. The light here is magnificent. I wander over towards the shacks lakeside just as a woman is bringing baskets of fighting cocks to air in the sun along the path fronting her home.

A few sleepy-eyed children emerge, curious about our group. Mr. T talks with them, makes a few photographs and then hands them each a  2000rp note. The children smile enthusiastically at their sudden luck.

After a while, we climb back into the car and wind back down the mountain, stopping for breakfast at an odd restaurant of dutch architecture with whitewashed walls, blue shutters and a manicured, european style garden. The building feels completely out of place here but the food is good and the service friendly & efficient.

By mid- morning, we are winding thru terraced rice paddies, lush & green as far as the eye 

can see. This is the area known as Jatiluwih.

Continuing on, our next destination is the Pasar Candikuning, the vibrant marketplace in the mountain village of Bedugal. Here, we stop to purchase fresh vegetables to leave as gifts with priests and friends we plan to visit later in the day. The market is humming and the crowded stalls brimming with every imaginable type of locally grown fruit & vegetable, exotic spices, and local handicrafts. This market is especially known for it's strawberries grown nearby and we leave with the rear storage area of the car bursting at the seams.

Next stop... the mountain temple Pura Luhur Petali. The temple priest, or Mangku, is a close friend of Mr. T.  Here, we watch as Mr. T, who is also a renown Mangku, prepares small offerings of flowers & palm leaf, bits of rice, Ritz crackers and incense to place upon the altar. Our group then sits, cross-legged, before the altar to pray, as the resident Mangku bestows a blessing on each of us and dowses us with holy water. Before taking our leave, we drop off some of the booty purchased earlier at the market with the temple mangku.

Later in the afternoon, we head towards the Regency of Tabanan. Here, we drop in on the family compounds of friends of Mr. T. We are greeted warmly and offered drinks of hot water and banana, coffee, fruit and balinese pastries. Mr. T introduces me to two brothers, men who are strong trancers... meaning that they are prone to being used by the Gods as vessels in which they communicate their wishes and advice to the village. I am invited to ask questions about their trance experiences, Mr. T translating when my feeble grasp of the language fails me. The men answer my questions thoughtfully and seems surprised by my interest. We sit informally on their covered bales while other assembled family members chat & joke and express their curiosity about this foreigner who has suddenly appeared in the company of their priest.

Soon, the light begins to fade and nightfall surrounds us as we leave them with bags brimming with vegetables purchased earlier & take our leave. Speeding down rough mountain roads, heading back to Ubud where we meet Adi & the Missus at the home of old friends Roy & Eri for an amazing feast of smoked & spiced balinese chicken, corn fritters, green beans with greens, red rice and deliciously hot sambal pastes. The meal is concluded with Eri's homemade cheesecake. 

A full day, a full belly and we head back to our lodgings for sleep.