So, this is my first blog post ever, so we'll see how this whole thing goes.
2016 was quite the year, full of tons of twists and turns for the world, and myself as well. In the light of things (and since everyone else seems to be doing this), I wanted to do a post about my favourite photos of the year. I shot more concerts than ever (even though it's still not much since Hawaiʻi doesn't get as many shows as the mainland does, lol), and made so many new friends to take photos with! I got a new job doing portrait photography at the Moana Surfrider, and continued to take photos for the Republik.
Here's a bunch of pictures I really liked that I took this year, and why I like them.
Starting with my favourite concert stuff:
Leroy Sanchez is an artist that I have followed for a while on Youtube, and he came down to do a show in Hawaiʻi for the first time! Show was super rad, and he reposted this photo on his Instagram. This was the first show that I attempted to use my 85mm lens with a hella broken autofocus, so you can imagine how that went. (There weren't that many clear shots, lol).
Two bands I really like, Silverstein (from my emo days, ugh) and Beartooth, a newer hardcore band, came down to a small venue called Hawaiian Brianʻs. This was actually a super sick show because of the fact that two big bands rarely come down to Hawaiʻi with each other, and there was SO much energy due to the intimacy of the venue. Shoutout to Justin Conant for helping me out with that!
This is a super dark pic, but this was such a cool experience with Waka Flocka Flame. I was taking some shots of him in the crowd, when he ran out to behind me. I turned around, he high fived me, and made me go on stage with him to take some photos (which was terrifying tbh because I was not ready). I wished that I had a better lens at the time but it's okay!! Waka is such a nice guy!
This was the last show of the year that I got to work, and it was actually last night. I decided to go all out and rent some expensive lenses that I most definitely cannot afford to buy at the moment, and had a ton of fun. Jhene Aiko (left) is such a gorgeous girl, and is amazing live, and her boy Big Sean also made a guest appearance which was pretty sick.
_______________________
This photo certainly did not have the best lighting (on my part for having a lens with an f/stop of 4, oops), but this was really meaningful to myself for a couple of reasons. Jake Shimabukuro was a pretty big influence on myself when I was little 8 year old Kari trying to learn the ukulele. I would always try to play his songs (but would fail because his songs are super ridiculously hard), and got the opportunity to take photos of him on stage doing what I love, 11 years later. Little Kari never saw that coming, lol.
Justin Moore and Rodney Atkins are well known country artists that played at the Waikiki Shell earlier this year. It was only my second time shooting at the Shell, so I was pretty nervous, but overall enjoyed the experience there (Even though some drunk cowboy spilled their beer on myself AND my camera, thank you Canon for weatherproofing!)
Action Bronson is a favourite of mine, but not for his music. He has a super funny tv show on VICE called F*ck, That's Delicious, that my brother and I watch all of the time. He also filmed parts of the Hawaiʻi episode at the show, and I thought that was pretty cool. Crazy show.
To top it off, I finally got to shoot my first concert at the Blaisdell Arena, which is Hawaiʻi's biggest venue. I got to shoot the iconic new wave band The Cure. I only found out I was shooting it like 2 hours before the show, which is always super nervewracking, but made it to the venue in time. (Sorry Daylin lol). Such an amazing band to see live!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Going on to portraits!
The sunflower fields in Waialua have become a tradition that I have tried my best to keep going to every year. They have a beautiful sunflower field that you can go to for 2-3 weeks in the year, totally free! This was my 3rd year going, and Shelby was a great model.
This was taken at the beginning of the year, before Melanie moved to Cali. Miss you Mel, love youuuuu!!
This was taken the day before Maya moved to Cali at the Waikiki Aquarium. Why is everyone moving to Cali. Miss you too Maya!
This was actually taken yesterday, when Jorissa and I rushed to get up to the top of the hill past Tantalus to get some sunset lighting. We pretty much missed it because some asshole cop stole our parking spot, but the lens I was using was a rental that did insanely great in low light so it was all good. Thanks girl for always being down at the last minute for things, love you!
This was taken out of an idea that I saw somewhere on Tumblr, since I really like neon lights. I bought some cheapy $30 lights from Amazon, and cut out some plastic lighting gels that kept melting every 3 minutes. We tried to set the lights up on some boxes in Lyra's apartment, and this was the surprising outcome. Sometimes impromptu studio lighting works!
This was also taken at Lyra's apartment, but I think on a different date. I love this shot because of the matching of the reds (Kailee you're good at decorating). Also Calvin Klein saw this and used the photo on their #mycalvins campaign online, so that's rad. It's not up anymore though :(
After like 2 months of trying to figure out a date where we were both free to shoot, Leia and I finally got to shoot in Waikiki before I had to run to work. Absolutely love how everything turned out, and I think this is one of my top 3 favourite portraits of the year, if not my favourite!
I do couples portraits too!! Not weddings super often because they're tiring, but I do do them if you ever need anyone for photos. Love the colours in this photo. Congratulations Muraokas!
Shoutout to Lyra for being down to drive to the other side of the island to eat burgers at Five Guys, then drive all the way to Waianae for nicer beaches, you da best.
This is Jillian, a super sweet girl from Cali that I got to meet up with while she was here for a week. Shoutout to Shane Brown for connecting us! Instagram is such a crazy concept in the year 2016, where you can make friends from seeing others' photos and liking them. I'm friends with so many people that I never would have met in person and befriended otherwise, so thanks Internet.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The last one is again from Jorissa at her house. Her house is so freaking gorgeous. Also even though the bathbomb I bought from Etsy lied and wasn't completely black, the photos still came out awesome. Colour changing lamps also help when you don't have actual lighting on you.
______________________________________________________________________________
Lastly, here's a couple of events/other stuff I really liked.
This was my 4th year shooting the Hawaiʻi Five-0 Premiere, so I was finally a little more comfortable shooting the red carpet (although I will assure you, I was still VERY anxious). Daniel Dae Kim is such a nice guy, and is now bigger than ever, so I was stoked I got this photo. Can't wait for next year's premiere!
____________________
The Eddie Aikau was always something I've wanted to experience, and finally got to with some of my best friends from university! We got there at 2AM to find parking, and had an amazing time, even though most of us got the worst sunburns of our lives. Congrats again John John on the win!
And lastly,
This weird photo of the Thunder from Down Under because I basically felt like I was taking photos of Magic Mike in real life. This was the photo with the most clothing that I could post, lol.
______________________________________________________________________________
So in conclusion, 2016 was a really crazy year, but I'm overall really happy with some of the things that came out of it, and I am so grateful for the opportunities I've been given, and have continued to get. I can't wait to see what 2017 has for us! (Hopefully it's not something crazy like WW3, but you know, we'll see.)
Thanks for going through this long-ass blog!
Happy New Year!!
-Kari