Lava creeps down Makamae St and Leilani Ave during the 2018 Kilauea Eruption.
Our journey into Leilani Estates led us face to face with Madame Pele. Here is my continuing story about how we found the elusive lava that destroyed a beautiful community in Puna.
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Steam gushes out of an active fissure near a Leilani Estates welcome sign.
As the Kilauea begins to quiet down inside Leilani Estates, I am sharing my experiences covering the eruption for the several weeks I was on the Big Island. Many of the people we encountered during this time were truly unforgettable and my adventures with them will stay with me for a lifetime.
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Hawaii National Guard and local police block the entrance to Leilani Estates the morning after the first eruptions.
s the lava begins to harden, it is time to write about my experiences covering the May 2018 Kilauea eruption inside the Leilani Estates subdivision. I was one of a handful of reporters and photographers that arrived within hours of the eruption and covered the historic event as best we could. The next few blog posts will be about my experiences traveling into the region and documenting the tragic yet beautiful destruction.
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Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stands for a portrait before a campaign event for fellow Democrat Kaniela Ing in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., August 9, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Garcia – RC1A8566A7F0
Late last week, local politician Kaniela Ing announced political wunderkind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be in Honolulu to stump for Ing’s campaign for Congress.
I approached Reuters News and asked to cover the event which they approved. With the popularity of the social democrat in the media currently, I wanted to capture a portrait of AOC before the rally.
I reached out to her campaign people and arranged a two-minute photo shoot. I knew I’d have to work quick and fast and wouldn’t have anyone really helping me.
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Call me a softy but I get emotional at times over things like music, memories, and sentimental items. I’m not always all blustery as I sometimes appear and I can easily get weepy-eyed watching Tom and Jerry from my youth. It’s not often but it happens.
But the other day, tears formed in my eyes as I said goodbye to my old pal, my Canon 1D Mark IV camera body. After nearly a decade of using her and her twin sister, whom I sold a few years back when I got the mighty Canon 1Dx, were my reliable friends through thick and thin. Through rainstorms on the football field to bikini babes on the set of Hawaii Five-O, my Mark IVs did the job and helped me snap some amazing images.
Read MoreI had a great job fall in my lap to shoot the Kahuku Red Raider’s football team at Hell Week, a preseason conditioning camp where the kids spend the entire week eating and sleeping football.
The job was for Sports Illustrated and I spend a few days with writer Austin Murphy who was spending several months following the team around. The mag had me show up to document the training camp for a few days.
Read MoreLast month I had a quick job for the New York Times where I photographed outrigger canoe instructor Solomon Pali for a business profile the newspaper did on him. Pali takes Fairmont Kea Lani guests out on short trips teaching the basics of Hawaii paddling skills.
Read MoreWhat I thought would be a typical Friday Night Lights, rather Saturday Night Lights college football game turned into something more exciting, and painful.
Last Saturday at the Western Carolina Hawaii game, an unexpected force crashed into my 400mm lens thrusting my camera straight into my face. The massive blow tore my forehead open and cost me a trip to the ER. Luckily, the cut, although deep, was relatively small and required no stitches but the doctor glued my wound shut with Dermabond.
Read MoreLast April, the New York Times had me document a controversial issue on Kauai. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s proposal to create a small dairy farm near Poipu, Kauai has made many sour in the nearby community. I traveled to photograph the area, meet supporters and photographing opponents. I also got to fly in a helicopter over the land where the proposed dairy would sit.
Read MoreHonolulu suffered a major tragedy this last week when a fire broke out at the Marco Polo, a residential high rise, killing three people along with a dog and displaced many from their homes. As of this blog posting, the cause of the fire is unknown but we do know the fire started in one unit on the 26th floor and spread to the 27th and 28th floors destroying dozens of units in its wake. Marco Polo also did not have fire sprinklers as the law mandating sprinklers in new construction was past several years after Marco Polo was built in 1971. Currently, there are no laws requiring buildings in Hawaii to be retrofitted with these fire safety measures.
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