I asked Bree to write a little something for this post, and it ended up being a bit of a testimonial.  Bree was a lot of fun to work with, she is able to pull off so many different looks.  We were able to shoot all the different styles below in one morning.

“Working with Mark Lee was not only new to me but a leap of faith. As I was in search for someone to shoot me for my portfolio pictures, there is always that possibility that you will not connect with the photographer or in the worst case, the pictures will not turn out. I have worked with many photographers, and have gotten my fair share of horrible, and good. Mark was by far the best photographer I have worked with yet. Not only did I go into this photo shoot not knowing what to expect, but I barely knew him. He ended being much more creative than I had intended, and turning idea’s I had, into better and more powerful shots. Mark has so many new and original idea’s up his sleeve, I feel like we could of shot all day with all different looks. After receiving my final pictures, I have never been so pleased. This has been my strongest portfolio within the past three years, and my agent couldn’t be happier. Mark Lee is an outstanding photographer that I would recommend to anyone that needs portfolio shots, wedding shots, engagements, high fashion, or commercial. One of my favorite shots was the water, and underwater shots. He knows what he is doing, and will explain exactly what you as a model need to do and position yourself to get the right picture. Not only are his ideas fun and exciting, but he makes you feel comfortable the whole time. There is never a dull moment with Mark. He can do it all, and I promise you, you will be happy with your end results.”

-Bree

I don’t remember where I first saw it, but someone had a slide show made by Pummelvision.  They just take a bunch of your photos and make a fast slide show in a few minutes.  Instead of trying to make a slide show with all the photography from this last year, like the weddings, family, and commercial photos; I decided to just use the local underwater photography.  It was kind of a fun thing to see.

A few pictures from the 2011 Moanikeala Hula Festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center here in Laie Hawaii.  One of the Halau came all the way from Japan just to perform at this festival.

Just found out that The Washington Post published one of the photos I shot last night at the World Fireknife Championship held at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  This is the image they used, you can see their online post here.

I am shooting the World Fireknife Championship this weekend at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie.   Here are a few of my favorite shots from last nights senior, junior and group competitors.  One of the kids from the junior division, this is ages 6-11, learned how to fireknife from youtube.  You can see Preston Weber’s performance from last night in the video below.  And yes that is me in the lower right hand corner, I finally made it on youtube.

THIS SATURDAY COME OUT AND SUPPORT OUR LOCAL HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAM!  THIS IS A FUN EVENT FOR ALL FAMILIES- FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT.  TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE EVENT FOR $8 , AND THE PLATE LUNCH IS GOING TO BE ALL HAWAIIAN FOOD AND HUGE.   PRAY FOR GOOD WEATHER, A LOT OF WORK HAS GONE INTO THIS EVENT, COME AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!   SPECIAL HOLLADAY PHOTO OFFER FOR THOSE WHO ATTEND- IF YOU COME, FIND ME AT THE EVENT, (I WON’T BE IN A BOOTH, JUST FLOATING AROUND) AND I WILL SNAP A PHOTO OF YOUR FAMILY AND EMAIL IT TO YOU!  YOU CAN ALSO BID ON A IN AND OUT OF THE WATER FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT WORTH $500, AMONG OTHER THINGS, AT THE SILENT AUCTION.

(POSTERS BELOW DONE BY YOURS TRULY)

This is what’s left of one of Laie’s landmarks.  I was on my way home from a photo shoot and decided to jump out and snap a shot as this little inn came down.  When I set up my tripod to take some shots, I was surprised when my van was surrounded by 4 cop cars.  I asked what was going on and they said they had received a call that a guy was loading a gun in his van across from Laie Inn.  Either someone mistook my camera for an assault weapon, or someone didn’t want me taking the photos, or someone was playing a practical joke.  I don’t know, but it made for an adventurous photo op.

The PR firm that I work with for the Polynesian Cultural Center just sent me this shot of the cover on the North Shore News. I took this a few week back at the Moanikeala Hula festival in memory of Aunty Sally Wood Naluai.   This first shot is the original and the second is the cover.

So there are talkers and there are doers and families of Halau Nalu are definitely doers.  In just a matter of a few days, they organized a bake sale for Haiti that brought in over $500 in just a little over a hour.  Even after they had sold out of the very delicious baked good, people still came by and donated money.  What a great opportunity to teach our children that they are not just US Citizens but World citizens as they were the ones that worked the bake sale and delivered the money to the Red Cross.  I happened to have my camera in the car and thought it would be a good opportunity to document this  with a few photographs.  Enjoy.

There are a few ways to donate to the Red Cross, you can go to their site here, or  text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10.  You’ll get a text back to confirm the donation.  Millions has been collected for Haiti via text messages. Brilliant.

Today I shot the 20th annual Moanikeala Hula Festival for the Polynesian Cultural Center. While shooting I was blown away by how much feeling and emotion was put into each performance.  There were about 11 different Hula Halaus, some from as far away as Japan.  Dance has alway been one of my favorite types photography, it really keeps you on your toes anticipating the next move and when to release the shutter.  Here are a few shots out of a 1000+ that I took today.   You can read more about the festival here written by Caryn Kunz a Ko’olauloa journalist for the Honolulu Advertiser. Enjoy.