A Photo Chick's Journal in Paradise

An Anti-Static Home

Discovery! I finally found a home for my SATA Hard Drives which have been sitting in anti-static bags!

  

I found these anti-static storage boxes at www.meritline.com.

Whew!  I'm so happy to have found these as I was getting tired of my hard working drives sitting in bags.  At least this way they'll be secure and hopefully won't fall victim to the Kane'ohe mold!
 

WD Caviar and a little BlacX

I purchased my first 1TB SATA drive.  ONE TERABYTE!!! Who would have ever thought!  

Because I'm a RAW shooter, I use up a lot of hard drive space.  Hence the 1TB by Western Digital Caviar Green. This hard drive is eco friendly because of it's reduced power consumption. It's cool and quiet. 

I bought this drive from www.newegg.com.  I think it was like $89.99 or something wonderful like that!

Until I can afford my very own Drobo unit, I opted for this BlacX to read my drive (Mahalo to bruddah Aaron Bernard of Liquid Light Images for turning me on to this!):

It's great because this docking station can also read my older SATA drives. You know like the one that was in Edna before she passed on?

Here's the hookup:

 Very simple!  And I just hope and pray that:

1) No geckos decide to chill out on it for warmth

2) The humidity in Kane'ohe doesn't get to the components

So far so good, peeps!!!

Dell Mini Netbook

As you all know, I'm a HUMONGOUS Apple fan!

Tonight, I was a bit in awe of this cool Mini DELL Netbook that my friend La (a fellow Apple follower) shared with me. 

What she loves about it is that it can run Mac's OSX system!  How's that?! And it runs for only like, $300-$350!

Small and portable, I could imagine myself returning emails while soaking up some sun on Lanikai beach or possibly Facebooking from a nearby Starbucks while people "oooh and awed" over this cute little laptop asking me if they could play with it in exchange for a low fat Thai latte or something. I'm down with that! 

Okay, so maybe it could also be the Mojito making this mini computer look so good.  It's totally something to think about!

Love that Skin, La!

Eneloop - Great Rechargeable Batteries!

As a pro photographer and gadget girl I use a lot AA batteries.  Fortunately, I'm also an eco-friendly chick who loves Mother Earth soooooo much!  So I've been using RECHARGEABLE batteries for the past several years now.  I noticed that my old rechargeables were no longer holding their charge so I started searching for better batteries that hold their charge longer.

I stumbled upon the Eneloop batteries by Sanyo several months ago while doing some research on-line. 

I love that they hold their charge longer than other batteries I've been using!  I think I purchased my original set from www.smallpower.com.  

While doing a Costco run I came across this:

 OMG!!!  THANK YOU, Costco!!! I was so happy to see my little Eneloop buddies in Aisle 14 (just a guess, I can't remember right now) that I even did a little dance!

In true Costco stlye, this pack gives you a whole lotta stuff! Not only do you get the 2 sets of four AA batteries and 1 set of two AAA batteries, you also get a Sanyo wall charger AND these things called SPACERS to now supersize those batteries into C and D sizes.  How's that!  

Here are some of the benefits of Eneloop:

Check it out...I already labeled my charger!!!  I love labeling my stuff!! That's a whole different post in itself!

These batteries work for me right now!  I really dig that they can last me several hours on a shoot. Please visit www.sanyo.com for more information.

And if you haven't already, please consider switching from alkaline batteries to rechargeables.  It's good for our environment!  In fact, it's a great birthday gift for Mother Earth!!

Peace out!

Welcome to the World of Coolness!!!

I did it!  Tonight, I walked into one of my most favorite places in the world, The Apple Store, and bit the bullet (or Apple, I should say).

I got myself an iPhone!  

Thanks to my Apple Dude, Jeff Kurio (who protested being on my blog), I was hooked up and ready to roll.  All within 20 minutes! (Yes, Jeff, I didn't count the minutes it took me to figure out what plan to get).

Look!  I even got my first TEXT message from my gal pal, Ilima Sheems! 

What an exciting evening!  Thanks to Jeff Kurio at the Ala Moana Apple Store for making the process of switching to Verizon to AT&T painless.  And of course, to Steve Jobs and the whole Apple world for creating these amazing devices!

The next time I call you, just know that I'll be talking from my new iPhone! 

Peace out, peeps!!!

Hinano Beach Clothing

I was so stoked to receive a call from my good friend, Master P, asking me to assist by shooting several items of the new Hinano Beach clothing line. I'm not a beer drinker but have always LOVED the Hinano logo! C'mon! Who doesn't love one of Tahiti's most infamous symbols! Plus it also reminds me so much of our own beautiful island wahines.

Here's Jenna modeling one of their cute tanks. Cute, yeah?

But don't think that Hinano Beach Clothing line has just tank tops. Oooohhh no! Check these out:

Please check out Hinano Beach's website. Summer's coming, girls and boys! Time to get ready to look good!!!

Special MAHALOZ to: my niece Lil' G for assisting on my shoot during such a windy afternoon at Kaka'ako Park. Crazy, good fun!!!

Amazing Peggy Chun!!!

If someone were to ask me, "who do you think is the most courageous person you know?" I would easily reply, "Ms. Peggy Chun, of course!"

Peggy Chun, artist, friend, and warrior! She is fully paralyzed with Lou Gehrig's disease. But the disease has not and will never paralyze her spirit!!! Today, I attended Windward Community College's "Women's Art, Women's Vision" lecture where Peggy was the keynote speaker.

With the assistance of her incredible daughter-in-law, Kimi, and the dedicated Pegs Legs Reps, Peggy was able to tell all of us her inspiring story, how she lives from day to day and what she plans for the future. Her energy and spirit is so alive!!!

She truly is a real life hero! I love her soooo much and I am so glad that I was able to see her today! She continues to amaze and inspire me...

Please visit Peggy's site to see her works of art and learn more about this beloved artist.

I am proud to call her my friend!!!

Senior Photos - Island Style!

Attention SENIORS (and parents)!!! It's not to late to have your senior photos done in time for graduation. I do all my shots outdoors and it's a fun photo session expressing the REAL you!

Please contact www.hokuliiimages.com for more information.

Peace out, baby!!!

Who turned on their headlights?!?!?!

Woah!!! It's amazing how powerful a little point-and-shoot flash can be!!! I was photographing an indoor ceremony when lo' and behold, a guest armed with their camera blasted the couple with their little-itty-bitty flash while I was shooting. It's hard to control guests shooting during your wedding day so be prepared. As a pro, I try my best to make sure I get the shots. Unfortunately, there will be those unexpected and yet expected moments when a camera happy guest wants to get the same shot I'm getting. Thanks to Canon for creating my batter power pack so that my flash recycles quickly enough to get the shot again without the added "headlights" effect!