well, i boarded the airplane, fell asleep, and woke up at the wrong place. i’m in japan! haha. panama is the opposite way so now i have to fly 15 hours to atlanta, and another 4.5 to panama city. more long flights to come and i’m looking forward to it. watched 3 movies, read 4 chapters in a new book i’m reading, and had a super relaxed time on the 9 hour flight to japan. now going to eat some good food and head back to the airport on the long standby list.
back in march 2002, i picked up Micah, Kelia, Isaiah, and Joshua for their first fishing trip. we took my little boat and went outside to do some bottom fishing. i would tie the hooks, put on the bait, let the fish bite, and give them the pole to reel it up. you should have seen the excitement in their little eyes. it was so cute! this is the only photo i have from that day and to me, this is priceless. i think Kelia took it. look at Isaiah in the front left, Seth behind him, Micah in the middle, and Joshua on the right. they were just little boys. Seth was only 4 years old at that time. so cute! anyway, that was the seed being planted, now they love to fish! the cool thing is all these kids remember this day and we talk about it all the time.
12 years later and Joshua can tie his own line, put on his own bait, and catch his own fish. i love this kids smile.
and the youngest Seth is probably the most competitive kid in the world. his brothers and sister made him that way. so stoked to see these boys growing up into young fine fishermen.
and i’m also teaching these kids how to handle the rough ocean and seasickness. i was once there, everybody was. getting sick makes you stronger in life. i don’t even have to ask how everybody is feeling because i can see it in their eyes. you can’t hide it as it’s probably the worst feeling in the world. you feel sick, you hang over the boat and do what you have to, get it over with, and start fishing again. simple.
then you have Uncle Kirby and Uncle James on the side watching and laughing. i’m not laughing to be mean, i’m laughing because i’m so happy to see these kids experience the goods and bads in life. i don’t get seasick anymore thanks to my childhood experiences on boats. neither will these kids when they get older.
now going to get back on my computer finding a way out of japan. have a wonderful day!
Monthly Archives: April 2014
Baby Fisherman
1Q84
Are? Wrong way?
I Wish they Could all be California Girls!
at one point in my life, i really took photography seriously. i bought all the top equipment, i studied day in and day out on the internet and by reading books. i kind of self taught myself. i loved learning how to adjust my camera, get the right angle, and was happy with the results. luckily i have many of friends who are professional photographers so that helped a lot too. after working for many magazines here in hawaii and in japan getting thousands of photos published, i kind of got burnt out after a while. shooting wasn’t 100% for me. it was more like a hobby than work. i went on so many surf photo trips and while i was shooting, i was really wishing i could be surfing instead. but my camera gear is going to be with me forever as i will never sell it. i know someday that i will get the passion to shoot again and when that day comes, i don’t want to spend $30,000 again. as for now, i’ll take side jobs, shoot when i want to, and hope to get the photo bug again.
a few months ago, i was offered a job to shoot 2 surfer girls for Marlon Brand. i took it because it’s been a while since i shot. i had fun, met new people, and enjoyed my job of working on the beach and in the water. they used some of my photos at a big event in tokyo.
“i wish they all could be california girls!” by the beach boys.
and my favorite of course is getting in the water. how do i get photos like this? i paddle out my 9′ longboard, sit on it with my 70-200mm lens and camera in the water housing, wait in the impact zone getting pounded by waves, then when one of the girls take off, i make sure there are no water spots on the lens, i look into the viewer, zoom, focus, take the shot, then get pounded by the waves again. it’s not easy and not fun getting wave after wave on your head paddling a longboard with one arm and holding on to a $5,000 heavy camera with the other. but hey, it’s work and i don’t complain when it comes to work. all i’m concerned about is the results. i love this photo.
and speaking of love. i love my life. i’ve been talking to close friends recently about how short life is. airplanes disappearing, ferries sinking, people getting murdered, radiation, earthquakes, guns, drugs, aids, and war. innocent people in this world are dying by the thousands every single day. i understand that my life could be over in a second so that’s the reason why i live my life the way i do. it’s not about being selfish, it’s not about being wealthy, and it’s not about being free. it’s about enjoying every minute of the day and every breath i take. life is so precious so live it up. and when that day comes when my time is over, i will say the exact thing my grandpa told me before he died, “I HAD A GREAT LIFE!” i hope you can say the same thing too.
