super fun photo shoot!

sorry for not blogging for a while. i've been super busy with planning my new project. it's getting there. i can't wait to let you guys know what it is!

a few days ago i went to waikiki to shoot troy and kaeo for their cd cover.


it's kindda crazy cuz i used to listen to ka'au crater boys all the time whem i lived in cali. i met troy at bowls surfing and he's been nothing but really cool to me. i've never met kaeo until the shoot day but he is another super cool guy and i've heard he's an amazing guitar/ukalele player!

so troy hit me up about this photo shoot because he wanted me to shoot photos of them surfing WHILE playing their ukaleles! i was wondering how are they gonna go that but they did it no problem!

pre session warm up. i thought they were gonna stretch or something but they were actually warming up there throats and hands for playing. ha ha

troy brought these really nice ukalele for this shoot. i couldn't believe they were gonna get those thing all wet...

i can't show you some of the better shots so it'll be surprise when their cd comes out.
here's a teaser for you.

after a while they started tandom surfing. kaeo would just jump on troy's board while they are surfing, playing and singing!

the shoot was super fun. i didn't feel like i at work at all and how often do you get to see and hear live music performed by these guys in the water!! thanks guys!

since it was raining and cold last week end, hawaiian south shore is having their swapmeet / sample sale THIS saturday. so stop by and treat yourself to some great deals!!

BUI surf contest!

today was a friendly Bui contest at mokuleia organized by greg (nakamura). i was little worried cuz when i left my house this morning the wind was blowing so hard i thought there won't be any waves to surf. what do you know, when i got to the secret location in mokuleia there were some decent waves!!

there were waves but it was raining, little windy, and cold... hey, there were waves! so it's on!!

i never went in the water to shoot because the condition and lighting were bad for shooting. i'm sure glad i brought my water housing tho. i just put my camera in the housing so my camera was safe while shooting some lifestyle shots!

so stoked we had 2 tents from BayVI and a tarp. they kept us dry all day!

everyone took turn judging. judges' tent!

it's kindda hard to see but you see nick (mita) wearing the in4mation g-shock? he was the first one to have that watch when it came out. i used to want to steal that watch from him... ha ha nick is a JPSA (japan professional surfing association) and one of his sponsors is g-shock. it's ok tho, i got a sponsor name michael kawada who found the watch for me! ha ha thanks michael!

rob from Redbull hooked us up with cases of redbulls for the contest! we only had one trophy for the winner so we got creative and made another one for 2nd place using redbull. came out pretty sick!

so 1st place gets a trophy and a case of redbull, 2nd place gets a redbull trophy! thanks rob and redbull!!

since it was raining we were all chilling in the tents but every heat someone had to walk out in the rain to blow the horn. so we just kept sending kids out to get wet. ha ha

kaito (kino) doing his job. he was getting so good at it, i think he's ready for wct as a horn blowing guy. ha ha

so what do you do when you got a bbq grill, hotdogs but no plates to put the dogs? serve them on a surfboard!! thanks goose for being in charge of the bbq and keeping us fed all day!

at the end of the day, it all came down to greg and gopal (butler) battling for the trophy and a case of redbull. and the winner is...

gopal!

gopal was surfing solid all day. he was busting some airs, shove it, fins out turns and moves i don't even know how to explain.

awesome day! thanks greg for puttin this contest together!

where are my fins??

my friend bobby and i've been working on a new project (i'll let you know what it is when the time comes) so we had a meeting on his boat last night. i should've taken a photo the other direction with the ocean in the background but i was so tired just took a photo where we were sitting... i'll take a photo or two next time i go over there so you can see an amazing view he has on his boat.

i got tons of stuff to do for the project so i've been sitting infront of the computer doing that a lot these days... so i figured i should check out makapuu again today in the evening.

i wanted to get some shots of hanna (harrison), a new and the first girl team rider for BayVI. so i picked her up and off to makapuu where derek (wong) and nelson (ahina) met up with us.

i was getting ready to go out and i couldn't find my fins!! hhmmm... i have no idea where they are. shiiiiiit. this is the 2nd time losing my fins this year. i guess i'm getting old or something.

well, so no fins today.

hanna getting ready to get some serious poundings on waves breaking on 6 inches of water.

derek and nelson just brought their bodyboard and they were having so much fun.
i thought it'll be fine but the current was super strong and i was having a hard time getting in position. so i didn't really get any good shots today.

nelson about to get shacked and punded.


derek dropping in on a nice close out. ha ha

hanna bottom turning. look at the water. it's so shallow, pretty much sand with little water mixed in.

it was nice being in the water even tho i was out there getting tossed around cuz no matter how hard i kicked (with no fins) i wasn't moving in the direction i wanted to be moving...

it was getting dark so time to go!

do you have some old surf related stuff you want to sell? or want to find great deals on used and brand new surf realated stuff?

hawaiian south shore is having a Surf Swap Meet and Sample Sale this saturday!!

if you got stuff to sell, you can get a space for just $5. you can sign up at their website, www.hawaiiansouthshore.com

here are some companies who will be selling their samples.

Oneill
Lost
DC Shoes
Von Zipper
DVS Shoes
Globe
FCS
Futures Fins
Board Works
Resin 8 Surfboards
Keep The Country Country

it's perfect if you wanna start your xmas shopping, just treat yourself to brand new stuff at huge discount, or want to make some extra cash selling stuff you don't use anymore!

oh sh!t, my old neighborhood is on FIRE!!

wow, my old neighborhood is on fire! i wasn't keeping up with this whole california fire 'cuz i thought there was only one north of LA but i guess there are multiple fires now. my friend from Fullerton called me and she was telling me how her house is filling up with smoke last night.

so i did a little search on google and what do you know, my old neighborhood is on fire.

i went to Cal Poly Pomona (cal state sysytem university) so i lived in Diamond Bar for a year or so in a nice house with bunch of friends. (red star with 1 in it on the map) (click on the map to enlarge) the red zone is on fire and blue zone is mandatory evacuation zone.

see the red star with 2? that's where snoop dogg lives in a nice gated community. you know that one song of him saying "living on the house over looking chino..." he wrote that right after he moved to this location. ha ha

so it looks like lot of places we used to hangout or drive thru are gone!! i'm really sad about this one biker bar in the canyon we used to hangout at. we used to go see bands play there and had many drunken nights hanging out with my friends.

i remember one time this huge biker guy was about to beat the shit out of a punk guy. i jumped in and tried to stop the whole thing. i grabbed the biker guys arm as he was ready to swing. his arm was huge! as wide as my waist! the guy was punching the punk guy while i was danggling on the biker's arm... ha ha

someone had to spray some mase all over that place to stop that one. since i was on the guys arm, i got sprayed pretty good.

aaahhh.... some good old memories! i'm assuming that place is gone now 'cuz it right in the middle of the red fire zone...

i hope everyone's ok over there.

HSA contest at Rennicks

today was a HSA (hawaii surfing association) contest at rennicks. it was overcast, kona wind, and the waves were small... i guess it's good practice for kids if they are thinking about doing the QS in the future. ha ha

i was thinking not many kids will be there since there are fun waves up in north shore but pretty much everyone was there.

because of the small waves, not too many people were paying attention to the contest, including myself... i never even went in the water to shoot. yes, i'm a lazy guy. ha ha

i just ended up taking some lifestyle shots instead. seth (moniz) won his division! here's tony (moniz) helping seth getting ready fot the final.

after a while kids started playing a game of kickball.

here's fisher.

kaulana (apo)

even kaulana's little sister nahe got in the game.

you know kids are having fun when the grown ups jump in to play too. i think tony was having more fun than any of the kids! ha ha

we were so into the game i didn't even noticed sister (kelia moniz) and tammy (moniz) was gone. when they came back, they came back with 4 brand new bikes! i guess fisher and the moniz family are staying in north shore for the rest of the season so they got the bikes to make their lives easier while they are up there.

josh (moniz) on his new bike.

here's sister giving nahe a ride on the new bike.

we all ended up stying there well after the contest just hanging out. it was a nice relaxing day.

we'll be all sh!tting sand tomorrow

north shore wasn't good enough for me to drive up and town was really crappy today but i got a call from buddy (wiggins) telling me makapu'u should be decent. since surfing is not allowed at makapu'u until 5pm, i took care of stuff during the day, picked up kuakini brothers and buddy and met up with moniz kids there.

checking out the surf.

waves weren't the best but looked fun enough so we got ready and off we go!

ha'a (aikau) just got there too. i guess this place was the place to be today!

i knew it was going to get dark quick so flash session today!

the waves were super tricky and mostly shore breaks but the kids were going for them tho!

here's seth realizing he wasn't gonna make the drop and jumping off of his board into about 6 inches of water. ouch!

kids were having a blast! like i said, it was about 6 inches of water were the waves were breaking! i guess they just love getting pounded... ha ha

micah (moniz)!

sister (kelia moniz) wasn't about to let the boys have fun by themselves.

the waves were just pounding on the shore and not many barrels today but brandon (kuakini) some how found a clean one.

ha'a (aikau) doing his thing!

buddy (wiggins) was popping some airs today like these waves weren't breaking on the shore.

i'm super surprised there were no broken boards today. we all got pounded so many times today i think we'll be all sh!tting sand tomorrow... ha ha. but i have to say, it was a really fun session!

i think it's full moon tonight. the moon was shining so bright but not bright enough to keep surfing...

it was getting dark, so time to go!
talk to you all later!