Hula O Na Keiki 2010 with Randy Jay Braun

Photographing anything with Hawaii's own Randy Jay Braun, is always an honor. Having the opportunity to assist him in capturing the winners of Hula O Na Keiki 2010 hosted by the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel a couple of weeks ago was no exception. Starting in the early hours before sunrise, Randy takes the Kane and Wahine winners to the beach and gets them warmed up for their session. The pride and confidence exhibited by the young winners is always evident in their eyes and the way they carry themselves. Randy instantly puts them at ease with a quick laugh and in talking story with their families and kumu hula. Once he established rapport with the dancers, the photo shoot gets underway. This is the second year I have had the opportunity to shoot with Randy and I always have a wonderful time. Here are a few of my shots as well as some behind the scenes shots of the exceptionally talented Randy Jay Braun at work. Congratulations to Kaui and Kaya on their honors! Until next year!

A hui hou,

Aubrey

www.aubreyhord.com

Seabury Hall Craft Fair - May 8th

Save the Date!

The Seabury Hall Craft Fair is this Saturday, May 8th upcountry- come join us for another year of fun with our booth and lots of great Mother's Day gifts! My husband, John, will be running the booth this year from 9am-5pm along with the remarkably talented Nicole Angel so please be sure to stop by and say "Aloha". We will have fine art, notecards, framed prints, gallery wraps, books and the ever-popular Jackson Chameleon and Laughing Horse magnets.



Our booth is located in the same spot as last year across from the main school office on the main road. Just look for the large print of the Jackson Chameleon in front of the tent!

See you there!

Aubrey

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

Waiting for a Tsunami (not so much)

What a way to start the weekend!

We awoke this morning on our little tropical island to the sounds of the tsunami sirens just after 6am. My husband jumped into shorts and t shirts and raced to the store and the gas station within minutes of the sirens to get supplies and gas up. Their were long lines for gas and food at the stores but everyone was really calm and laughter and excitement filled the store, even at 7am. One woman stood on the side of the road asking every car waiting in traffic "what are you doing today?" and the answers were totally varied. You can only imagine! Another story was that one of the local grocery stores put a limit of 2 cans of SPAM per customer but allowed them to buy as much beer as they wanted- too funny! I cancelled my four photo shoots for the day and sent fellow photographer, Kirk Shorte, back to the Big Island mid trip. Our models for the day were calling and texting starting at 6am to cancel since they were scrambling to take care of their homes and families and get to higher ground.

The sirens continued to go off intermittently throughout the morning and at a little after 11am the tsunami was supposed to hit the island's north shore and possibly wrap around to the rest of the island. Once we had supplies, we secured the house and our confused dogs and headed higher upcountry to get some photos.

Look at the creativity that people used to enjoy their time on higher ground- some of these are brilliant. One guy was selling hot dogs and sausages on the side of the road (see umbrellas on the right) while people were waiting in long lines for gas- mind you, this is only 9am.

Others took the opportunity to pull seats out of their mini vans and set up makeshift couches under shade trees to wait until the All Clear.

Mini tent "villages" were quickly set up and people slept on blankets or cooked meals with hibachi grills. One guy even showed me how he was able to cook rice on his hibachi. brilliant!

Some people used their pick up trucks as home base had beach chairs to sit on and they brought a cooler filled with whatever they could buy in the back of their pick up truck along with a case of water. Classic island style!

No tsunami ever came from the day but we had fun talking to our friends and neighbors and sharing stories throughout the day.

A hui hou,

Aubrey

http://www.aubreyhord.com/