Nighttiming – I’ve been trying to work on long exposures

I was playing around with long exposures in Hawaii because I think great ones are phenomenal, especially star circles.  Mine are far from fantastic but I had fun cruising around and shooting these photos!  I took many at the new Disneyland resort, the Aulani.  It’s pretty incredible in the pool resort area.  Anyways, enjoy and any good tips on long exposures is greatly appreciated 🙂

The sun starting to set.  This was about a 10 second exposure.

View from the balcony.

Walking to the Aulani.  The white building is the JW Marriott in Ko Olina.

Aulani lobby.

Aulani pool.

More Aulani pool.

Aulani infinity spas.

View from my Aunt and Unlce’s.  During the day you can see the ocean perfectly.  What if everyday you woke up to that?  It’d be beautiful!

Hanging around – why not spend a non-traditional Thanksgiving in Hawaii?!

More pictures from my getaway last week 🙂

Hawaiian Skies

OK, since I have the obsession with taking pictures of sunrises, sunsets, cool cloud patterns, etc. I thought I’d start my week of Hawaii posts off with some shots I snapped of the Hawaiian skies.  I do have to say that the colors in Hawaii are next level beautiful.  The skies are so blue and the sun so red, making for some of the most perfect sunrise and sunsets I’ve ever seen.  Enjoy and Happy Monday :-)!

Another Samurai sun!

It was only fitting that on my flight home I witnessed thee most un-real sunrise I have ever seen.

Zoomed out version of the photo above.

The light was shining right on Waikiki beach.

I have so many more blogs to come.  I’m rejuvenated and ready to get back to work as the new re-inspired (if that’s even a word) me 🙂  I promise I won’t include any sunrise or sunset photos in the next Hawaii posts, I just can’t help but love them.

Reef Hawaiian Pro on the North Shore

While in Hawaii, there was a huge series of surf contests happening on the famed North Shore.  I’ve always wanted to see one but the swell never seemed to work in my favor of days that I could make it.  It was really cool to see!  The water can be completely flat one minute and then come to life with huge swells the next.  Here are a few of my photos from the Reef Hawaiian Pro last week.

Here’s the next heat paddling out!

Next week will be a week of Hawaii posts since I have so many photos from the trip and didn’t share any last week 🙂

Welcome to Vacation!

Hawaiian sunrise

Hawaiian sunset

I haven’t really been able to blog since I’ve been here but I thought I’d put a few pics up.  I have SO many to share and can’t wait to update my blog when I get back.  This place is amazing and I’m finding myself enjoying the downtime more than ever before : )

Flashback Friday – A month of sunrises and sunsets in CA

At the time of day I catch my train in the morning is right about the time when the sun starts peaking over the mountain.  This past month I have seen some of the most beautiful sunrises and although I have a brutal time waking up in the morning, the sunrise usually makes it all worth while.  Here are some of my favorite iphone photos from the past month.

The sun coming out in San Francisco.

When it’s overcast, everything seems to turn blue.

This was a sunset.

And at last but definitely not least, this morning’s sunrise.

Travel Thursdays – Barbados!

Since I’m leaving for Hawaii tomorrow I thought I’d do an island Travel Thursday!  When I was in high school I met who would become one of my greatest friends, Sheena.  Her family was Bajan and were born/grew up on the island of Barbados.  Her family was kind enough to extend the offer to let me come to Barbados with them one summer and see the island.  It’s a very small island at only about 21 miles long and 14 miles wide.  Since her family was from there, they had a nice condo to stay that they used to live in when the island was their full time residence.  The condo’s backyard looked exactly like the following photo:

(Photo Cred)

(photo cred)

The condos also had a pool in between the building and the ocean so you could take your pick of where you wanted to cool off.  It was/is my definition of paradise to a tee.  You have to be very careful around town by yourself.  We didn’t go hardly anywhere on our own except in the ocean but there were many people swimming so we were safe.  The white sand was so soft and the water was so gentle, you could walk out a very long way before having to tread water.  Sheena and I even walked through the ocean to get to the market one day and carried what we bought on our heads for the walk back.

(photo cred)

Sheena’s Uncle also took us sailing around the entire island!  He has his own sailboat and it’s a family event to get everyone together for a sail while they are in town.  It was my first sailing experience and we stopped to snorkel around a sunken ship!  We also sailed by the rum factory where the ocean smells like rum.  It was an unreal experience that I’ll never forget.

(photo cred)

Her family also took us in jeeps across the island dirt roads to see the East side (other side) of the island.  Here the water is much rougher.  It’s still beautiful to see but you can tell this is where the big swells come from.

Barbados is a beautiful place to visit but make sure to check out extensively the area where you will be staying when planning a trip to this island.  It has some rough areas and I definitely recommend doing some good research before booking any hotels.  I don’t have any of my own pictures from my trip because I lost them when my computer crashed a few years ago but these pictures depict this place particularly well.  Recently, Sheena has moved back to the island herself so hopefully I can pay her a visit sometime soon and relive all the beauty of Barbados!

Favorite Holiday Home and Fashion Trinkets!

Since I will be out of town the week of Thanksgiving, I won’t be at home getting into the holiday cheer.  This is fine by me but since Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, I thought I’d bust out some of my holiday favorites sooner than later.

Red candles!  I’ve replaced my orange and yellow candles now with deep reds for the holidays.

A new green jewelry stand from Forever 21!

It’s perfect for all my different jewelry and I love the matted turquoise!

Red lipstick.  I love red and dark orange hued lipstick.  This one is a Revlon (#018 “Fire”) that I love.  Oh and I also love warm beanies, another plus of winter.

Chunky jewelry!  I love this new Forever 21 necklace (worn above).  I love the dark green beads and gold feathers.

And last but not least… fun nail polish!  Here’s three of my favorites.
(Turquoise – Nordstrom’s $5, Sparkle – Walgreen’s $0.99!, OPI – Beauty Source – on sale for $1.99)  Nail polish is a fun and inexpensive way to add color and/or sparkle to anything.  I love layering sparkles on top of a solid color, too.

These are just small, easy ways to add a little more holiday cheer to your every day life!

So incredible…

One of Ian’s friends and fellow snowboarders, Danny Toumarkine, was in an awful accident snowboarding a while back.  He’s fought his way back and has a phenomenal story.  Shreddy Times has documented Danny’s journey. Just watch this and you will see…

I can’t wait to see the full movie. Such an inspiring story and important message about wearing a helmet while on the slopes.

A few good songs for the week

Three songs that I’ve been listening to this week are below.  They are nice soothing songs helping to keep my stress levels down in this very heavy week of work.  Also, two of them are getting me excited for one of my work’s upcoming shows (where did I mention my girl Flo will be there?!?).  Live 105’s Not So Silent Night has been a HUGE part of my life for the last four years.  Not only because I work for the company that creates this event but because they bring some of the largest names in Alternative rock together for one large Christmas time concert.  This year the line-up is rock steady with: Jane’s Addiction, Bush, Mumford and Sons, Florence and the Machine, and Young the Giant (Along with a local artist who wins a battle of the bands type competition).  It’s been an amazing show and you can see some of the past artists and my music photography here (where we have had some of my absolute favorites perform in the past, like Phoenix).   I also threw a little Grace Potter in this week’s mix because her voice in the song below blows me away.  Any way, I ramble on more about that as the time gets closer 🙂  Enjoy for now!