This first one was taken at Kokololio Beach (Kakela Beach Park) on January 26, 2013. I don't remember if this was shot with on-camera flash or not (the bright sand in front of us suggests I might have), but I do know I was able to use my old Canon RC-1 wireless shutter release (you can see the remote in my left hand) with my new 5D Mk III (a Christmas present to myself). The reason for my strange pose was I wanted to look like a sumo wrestler, but I didn't look very imposing...especially with all the bunny ears hovering behind me...haha...
The next group shot was taken at Lanikai Beach on February 16, 2013. I don't remember if I used on-camera flash or not, I'm thinking I didn't since the sky was all blown out. And yes, it was pretty windy that morning...I remember the sand pelting my legs for most of the morning. For my crazy pose I was using my invisible camera to take a picture of my real camera on the tripod.
The next group shot was taken at Alala Point, this rock out-cropping between Kailua Beach and Lanikai Beach on March 2, 2013. This was a big day for me as I finally got to meet a friend in person that I had met on-line a few years earlier. Roni is front and center and lives in New York. Such a wonderful person. A few other Crazies showed up just because they knew she would be there. It was also the first time I'd met Wayne (between Kenway and Janet). To mark the occasion I decided to copy a scene from the movie "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."
The next group shot was taken at Makapuu Beach on April 20, 2013. I believe I used on-camera flash for this shot. I think this was about the time I stopped doing silly poses and just tried to look normal in the group shots (and I think I got a little heat for it too). Notice that the guys on the end are cut off? That's because George (on the right) was a little out of frame so in order to balance to image I cut Juro off a little on the other side. Lesson learned...triple check through the view finder to be sure everyone is in the shot. Also gotta give more direction while setting up the shot.
The next group shot was taken at Laie Point on April 27, 2013. This was another special day for dA Crazies as we had Billy and Diane of Canada (between Derrick and Kenway) and Dustin from the Big Island (between George and Derrick) meet up with us. Billy said he found this blog while doing research for their trip to Hawaii and tried to contact me, but that was when I wasn't updating the blog and hardly checked in. So Billy contacted Kenway instead (I think through Kenway's flickr account that I have listed on this blog). I think Dustin said he knew Derrick somehow. I took several shots of the group and in every one George was looking elsewhere...later I found out he was watching some girl in a skimpy bikini running around the point.
The next group shot was taken at Kahana Bay on May 11, 2013. I believe this was the first time I met Scott (standing between Kenway and Janet)...I actually met him on-line a few years earlier but never met him in real life. Jeffrey told Scott about dA Crazies and Scott was brave enough to come out and shoot with us. And Kyle, Reid's younger brother, had come over from Kauai for Mother's Day and joined us this morning. And Norris and Brandon surprised us by coming out this morning too...I've know Norris and Brandon since 2008 and shot with them many times in the past, but I hadn't seen them in a long time and it was great to shoot with them again. As for my pose...I was trying to be like those pictures you see of young Japanese girls who always give the peace sign when they have their pictures taken...not sure what the significance is though.
The next group shot was taken at Kualoa Regional Park on May 17, 2013. I believe this may have been the first time I shot the group shot with off-camera flash. I bought a Manfrotto Super Clamp and used it to clamp a umbrella swivel bracket to Janet's tripod. I have a set of Studio Hut radio triggers that I used to trigger the flash and used the Canon RC-1 wireless remote shutter release to trigger the camera. Since the sun was to our right (camera left) I set up the flash to fill in the shadows on our left (camera right). I took several test shots to get the exposure right and then took several group shots and was happy with the way this one turned out. I was doing that weird peace sign thing again.
The next group shot was taken at Waiahole Beach Park on May 25, 2013. Lynnette (standing between Janet and Jeffrey) was visiting from the Big Island and came out to join us this morning. I met her on-line thanks to Derrick and it was really great to finally meet her in person. The person behind Lynette just happened to be at Waiahole that morning to shoot the sunrise and I think George knew him so we asked him to join us for the group shot. Looks like I shot the group shot with on-camera flash this time.
The next group shot was taken at the Makai Research Pier on May 26, 2013. Since Lynnette was visiting from the Big Island the group decided to do sunrise again the next morning. This time we headed over to the Makai Research Pier where we met Glenn for the first time. Seems Glenn had met Lynnette on-line and knew she was going to be at the pier and came out to meet her and we're all very glad he did. I used off-camera flash for this shot.
The next group shot was taken at The Boat Place on June 1, 2013. We were all hoping that the water would be really flat so that we could do reflections, but the weather didn't cooperate and there was a slight breeze that morning that messed us up. The tide was low, but not as low as we thought it would be. There were some really nice colors that morning and the clouds were pretty good. This was shot with off-camera flash. Looks like I stopped doing the peace sign and just tried to look normal.
This next image isn't a group shot (obviously) but was a test shot I did prior to the group shot shown above. I was setting things up for the group shot and Kenway was kind enough to be the test subject. The flash was off-camera to camera right and I was trying to adjust the exposure and flash settings, but the changing light was making things a little tough for me. I took several test shots and was surprised to see how nice this one turned out.
The next group shot was taken at the lower Pali Lookout on June 8, 2013. Brandon and Norris surprised us by showing up again and it was great to see them. But it wasn't great seeing tons of bread slices strewn around the grass when we got here...there was bread slices everywhere and the place looked terrible. I had to clean the group shot spot by kicking the bread slices down the embankment...I didn't want it to look like we took the group shot in a third world country. Brandon loaned me his light stand for the group shot and it was set up camera right.
I'll be posting more group shots from 2013 in the next blog entry. Thanks for dropping by.
