Photoclubalpha

On Independence Day (Saturday) I was down at the beach and shooting the annual outrigger canoe races -- I did the same last year. I was barefoot and walking on the beach or mostly in the water and was wet almost up to my waist from all the waves. Fortunately, I was able to keep my A700 completely dry. It was fun!

Late in the afternoon until sunset we had a picnic at Kapiolani Beach Park on the grass under the palm trees right next to the beach. While we were there 4 fireman came rushing right by us to the beach. The lifeguard had rescued a man who was drowning. I have a few shots of them working on him.

It was a good day. You can see the day's photos here:

http://www.bakubo.com/galleries/Hawaii/ ... index.html

Here are a few photos of the canoe races at Waikiki Beach:







Anyone else have some event photos from this past weekend?

Pity they won't let me live there! Should have got a green card 30 years ago when it would have been possible. Still, with global warming, Scotland may be like this in a few years' time. Sorry, no event photos here, unless you count a big art exhibition in Venice:
Sigma 12-24mm but a huge amount of vignetting correction!

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:Pity they won't let me live there! Should have got a green card 30 years ago when it would have been possible.

It is very pleasant to be here and I like having just a 5 minute walk to the beach. This area is urban, which is what I like, so it isn't one of the quiet, hidden beach areas. Except for a short vacation those kinds of places would have me bored out of my gourd in a week. There are lots of photo opportunities if you like a sort of street/candid style of photography. There are always lots of tourists and locals down at the beach and it is quite long so you can wonder along *or* sit in one place to get photos.

We have been thinking off and on about making this our permanent home and have thought about buying a Waikiki condo. Prices are down 7-9% compared to a year ago and even though property taxes went up on July 1st (along with several other taxes and fees) the property taxes are still the lowest I have seen in the U.S. Lower than Austin, Texas by a whole lot and a lot lower than Santa Clara, California too. Vancouver, British Columbia is comparable for non-Canadians, but if you are Canadian then Vancouver property tax is much lower than Hawaii. If you are Canadian and 65+ then instead of paying property tax to the government the government pays *you* property tax! Income taxes in Hawaii are pretty high and start at the first dollar earned. There is talk of them going up again soon too since the state is having lots of budget problems. The biggest single problem with Waikiki condos is that they have absurdly high maintenance fees that you pay each month. Tokyo, Austin, Las Vegas, Vancouver, and other places I have checked have maintenance fees that are generally 1/4 to 1/3 as much as here. For some condos the monthly maintenance fee is as much as the mortgage payment.

About 5 years ago I thought about getting a Canadian maple card (green card) so that I could spend as much time as I wanted in Canada. One of the paths to do that would have allowed me to get one pretty easily, but would require me to stay for a couple of years. That was -- and is-- tough to do so I decided to wait and possibly do it later. Now, because I am 5 years older it would be quite difficult to get one since age is a consideration.

David Kilpatrick wrote:Still, with global warming, Scotland may be like this in a few years' time.

Yeah, Vancouver may one day be where the winter snowbirds go to instead of to Arizona and Texas.

David Kilpatrick wrote:Sorry, no event photos here, unless you count a big art exhibition in Venice:

This is great! I like this photo a lot.

Hmmm those artworks don't appear to be in any imminent danger of being stolen..you'd have to boost the entire building
Great pic tho, I wonder what they are supposed to be, they sort of look like a schematic of a supernova...
Greg

Sorry Henry, I was going to say that those are nice clear shots of the beach action, and I did take a couple of event type shots on the weekend but I hadn't downloaded them and had to dash off and do so.
These guys were in town for their annual race, exciting but they are too far away from the nearest land (my boat needs work) and the sun was in the wrong direction by the time they held the race.



and these guys are arriving for the big race next weekend, (V8 supercars) one was on display outside work on Sat morn.



There was another couple of events, Hot rod +carshow and Ladies day at the races (racehorses) but I never made it to them.
Greg

Yesterday I was running up the stairs to my condo - does this also qualify as fun action Sorry, forgot to take a pic

Great colours on Henrys shots, but I would probably be more fascinated by these noisy and polluting sports with huge CO2 exhausting engines

Greg Beetham wrote:These guys were in town for their annual race, exciting but they are too far away from the nearest land (my boat needs work) and the sun was in the wrong direction by the time they held the race.

Cool. I have only been to one boat race in my life and it was about 25 years ago in the summer in Texas. I remember it was very hot and the best shade and the best place to see the race were not the same. A bunch of us were standing under trees and couldn't see the boats all that well.

Greg Beetham wrote: and these guys are arriving for the big race next weekend, (V8 supercars) one was on display outside work on Sat morn.

I have an Australian friend who I met in Ecuador a few years ago. He showed me a photo of his car (he carries it around in his wallet ) and it looked sort of like that. He races and tinkers with cars a lot -- in addition to loving snakes and other reptiles which he has a bunch of.

bossel wrote:Yesterday I was running up the stairs to my condo - does this also qualify as fun action Sorry, forgot to take a pic

Darn, bossel. You should have set up a camera with a remote trigger at the top of the stairs to capture the action.

bossel wrote: Great colours on Henrys shots, but I would probably be more fascinated by these noisy and polluting sports with huge CO2 exhausting engines

Al Gore and the environmentalists are all having a heart attack right now.

Great shots with such gorgeous colors Henry.

Took this at Wabanum Sailing Club last Saturday morning from a
racing officials boat. Four friends of mine in the Fireballs, both
had false start. The Laser must have been a slow starter!

david antony wrote:Great shots with such gorgeous colors Henry.

That is one of the things I love about here are the colors. The beautiful varying colors of the ocean, the green of the palm trees and banyan trees, the blue sky, the beach umbrellas, the many colors of surfboards, lots of bikinis of all colors and patterns, the tan skin and sometimes sunburned skin too!

david antony wrote: Took this at Wabanum Sailing Club last Saturday morning from a
racing officials boat. Four friends of mine in the Fireballs, both
had false start. The Laser must have been a slow starter!

Looks like fun! This is on a lake? Where is it?

Looks like fun! This is on a lake? Where is it?

Wabanum is about 40 mile west of Edmonton, Alberta. off the Yellowhead HWY.
I used to crew for one of the brothers when there was only one cottage
on the lake. Now there is a village on the east side of the sailing club.

david a

Very good capture Don, are you still using the
18-70 kit lens for your fireworks?

david a

Sonolta wrote:I left the gigantic moon in the frame for scale.

Beautiful fireworks photo. By the way, in only 12 more days it will be the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon!

And if you buy a Hasselblad H3D50 or H3D60 before July 31, you will be sent to Florida for a 3-day photo workshop with Buzz Aldrin as a guest, celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hasselblad on the Moon, get photo tuition and a contest to win Hasselblad gear.

So just get your chequebooks out, lads...

David

Great firework shots there Don, there is a couple of US warships in the Harbour here at the moment for some big exercise/war games, they would have missed the 4th July celebs in America...maybe we should have organized a fireworks show for them....
Greg
ps I've forgotten the shutter speed you told me one time for the fireworks...1/60sec 1/30sec? what was it again?