Ti Leaf Headdress

Walking down the middle of the road with Ry-n Shimabuku wearing his handmade ti leaf headdress and custom biker jeans designed and created just a few hours before the shoot by Kojo Couture.

After Work Quiet Time

From a story I shot about Ron Chapman, the front desk manager at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort on Maui. When off-duty he’s driving along the beach with “Alberta”, his vintage Plymouth.

Goodbye Papaya

 

 

I shared you.

Migrant Maui’s Chef Sheldon Simeon

 

 

 

Some assignments are all around fun. Chef Sheldon is a cool guy. He’s a happy papa to four beautiful kids with his wife Janice. He’s an innovative, talented, award winning chef. He’s the head honcho at Migrant Maui. I’ve gone back to his restaurant twice since I shot this assignment for Hana Hou Magazine, and the food has been excellent, the service gets an A+, the location and view from the restaurant is like a postcard and Chef Sheldon is always inventing creative new mixes of traditional home cooking with modern twists. If you’re on Maui you need to go have a meal or two at Migrant Maui. Eat.

Inspired by the Geraldine Fibbers’ Dragon Lady

The way singer  Carla Bozulich delivers the lyrics to the song Dragon Lady, has always inspired intense emotions and visuals for me.  There was a difficult period of my life, when I would scream these lyrics with Carla at the top of my lungs while driving the freeways of Los Angeles; windows rolled up.  There’d be a moment of tenderness, then a dive into frustration and shattered beliefs.  The song’s lyrics didn’t tell my exact story – the relationship was different,  it was the raw emotions I related to. Thankfully that was many moons ago. Now it’s just fun to play director and create images from a movie I used to play in my head years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting at the Cliff House

Sometimes, the shot before the “real” shot is the image I like best.

Art Director/Designer John Giordani.

What Year Would You Live In?

Question #3 :  If you could live in any other year, past or future, when would you choose to live?

1970’s because of Led Zeppelin.

18th century Scotland, in a castle.

1950’s for simpler times and good fashion.

1700’s Maui before land was taken from native Hawaiians.

One Drink and One Food Item, the Rest of Your Life.

Question 2 in this little series… If you could only have one drink and one food item for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

Guava juice with ginger ale and brownies.

Gingerberry kombucha and a baguette.

Guinness stout and pizza margherita.

Carrot juice and a green salad.

Werewolf, Vampire or Frankenstein?

For 10 years I’ve been asking a question on my voicemail. It all started with, “Please leave a message as well as: what do you prefer, paper or plastic?”  After a month I’d change it … “would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?”  In addition to getting answers and sometimes lengthy explanations from friends and family, strangers would tell me things – that’s what got me hooked. A doctor calling with test results, “…your test came back benign and my favorite cereal when I was a kid was Fruit Loops.”  I haven’t recorded any of the answers for a decade!  So I’m turning it into a little portrait project, starting last week. With camera in hand I’ll be asking random people a question and posting their answer and portrait. The question this week was, “Which would you rather be: a werewolf, a vampire or Frankenstein?”  My conclusion after completing my “monster” research, and yes the term “monster” is up for discussion is:  the werewolf people like to be wild and like that it’s predictable when it will happen, vampires are attracted to being sexy, fashionable and as one woman said, “They’re really smart”, and Frankensteins like the idea of always being in their state of uniqueness. They have time to assimilate into the mainstream perhaps. Hmmm… stuff to think about if you can’t sleep tonight.

Werewolf

Vampire

Vampire

Frankenstein

Frankenstein

Last Bite

It was such a tasty home brunch – but I couldn’t eat one more bite.  This currant tomato goes to the chickens.