Oh what a month it has been!

I have been lucky enough to travel from Parker Ranch on the Big Island to Kalalau Valley on Kauai, with several stops in between. I am tired and satisfied because I have learned so much this month.

I was asked to travel to Kamuela (Waimea) on the Big Island to photograph the incredible Lim family hula halau practicing and performing in the historic old theater there. The show was incredible! I loved to work with so many friends like Lokelani Hurwitz,  Ka’ea Alapa’i, Nani Lim, Mary Lim, Bubba Lim, Lorna Lim….

Naturally the Big Island was sold out of rental cars, and so I rented a moving van. My other choice was a dump truck. My mother traveled with me — poor woman.

After getting back to Maui I arranged to spend a week with my friend Russell. “Dr. Russell Brown” is Adobe’s irector of Creativity, and is the “face of Adobe”. We planned to spend the week in my kayak photographing whales. Well, the weather was horrendous that week, Then my kayak broke. No whales. Well, actually there was one close encounter with a pod of whales, but the timing was off, as we happened to be taking a little bladder-break at that exact moment and the cameras were not in our hands!

We took a helicopter tour with Alex Air after giving up on the kayak. Naturally we asked for a “door-off” flight because we wanted to lean WAAAAYYY out over the skids to get the right shot!

I ended up spending a second week with Russell as he taught a PS4 “Magic of Masking” seminar on Oahu, at the University of Hawaii. I taught a mini class on HDR Panoramics during a lunch break. Portrait artist Joanne Barratt, of Sunset Beach hosted us for a cook-out beach her mansion, allowing us to get out and shoot some cool surfing images after hours.

Changing topics really fast, please mark your calendars for the Maui Photo Festival in September! This is the first year of an annual event that is sure to grow with the recovering economy. This year will offer an intimate experience with several top digital photography experts and the price is fantastic! Check it out on-line at www.mauiphotofestival.com. I am planning to teach 3-4 classes myself. Additionally, I am considering taking a small group of interested campers on an excursion for the next couple of days following this event.

Rachael and Jasmine have held their own in the gallery — actually they are flourishing in my absence! Thank you to all of our loyal customers whom make the trek up the mountain to see what is new and exciting in our gallery.

The new Humpback season us underway. For me, that means it is time to dust off my kayak and put the roof rack back on the car. I am hoping to get out once per week throughout February and March. I have yet another simple book concept called “Wednesdays with Whales”.

The first week of March will be exciting for me as I will get to go shooting with the very infamous Dr. Russell Brown — Senior Creative Director for Adobe. I am hoping for glassy seas and “whale soup” off of Maui’s south shore.

I continue to search for a WP Blog developer to help me make this blog more visitor-friendly. Hopefully soon. …and Rachael’s blog too. Her blog has all the loyal followers.

Tomorrow and the day after my days will be spent with a Photoshop Guru Ben Willmore. Ben is the homeless dude living in his little $350,000 bus. He criss-crosses the continent shooting, teaching, and doing other guru-things.