New (Old) Work: From Hawaii with love. Part I

One of the perks that comes with marrying a Hawaiian girl is that you get to accompany her home every winter to see her family.  Malia and I have been returning to the islands (Windward Siiiide Shout Out!!) for years, and have built a great base of friends and loyal clients there.  What follows are some photos from my work there this past winter.  Enjoy!

The Quicksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau is a historic event.  We were there to photograph the opening ceremonies, and I was honestly surprised by the gravity of the moment.  Within this select group of invited big wave surfers, there were moments of silence for dozens of fellow athletes who had passed away over the past decade.  It was sobering to think that at least one participant from last year’s event had died in the previous 12 months.  There must be an amazing drive for these guys to keep competing in something so dangerous.

Many of the surfers had their children with them.

Kala Alexander with his Wolf Pak tattoo.

Clyde Aikau, with his brother Eddie’s portrait in the foreground.  If you don’t know the story of Eddie Aikau, please follow this link and learn about his sacrifice and legendary feats of skill and compassion.

“Kanaka Solutions” is what his shirt reads.  The word Kanaka means local native Hawaiians… and a dozen of these big boys provided security during the ceremony.

The prayer by Kahu Billy Mitchell.

Some guy named Kelly Slater.

Sticker on Kelly’s board.

Ok… another shoot entirely here.  Morning at Makapu’u.  My poor suffering wife got up at 4am with me to cover a canoe race, and it turns out the race didn’t start until 9am.  Hawaiian time I guess.  Anyway, we got some great shots from land, and of course any excuse I can make to get wet, I will.

Last two shots are just a appetizer for part two of our blog post… heavy surf conditions, and lots of up close and personal time in the water.  Stay tuned!