Hawaii photographer
www.holladayphoto.com Comercial Photography by hawaii photographer Mark Holladay Lee of Holladay Photo.
As most of you know the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave contest at Waimea Bay did not go today. There was the size, just not consistent. Contest or not there was still some amazing surfing. I had a shoot on the North Shore this morning, thought I would head over after and get a few shots. As I was standing on the bluff, I couldn’t help think to myself, how could I get on one of those skis to shoot from the water. That is the angle I would like to be shooting from. Maybe next year.
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.
Here are a few shoots from the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons. This is the last competition of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. It was a beautiful day wish the waves were a bit bigger though. To see the results of day 1 go here.
I thought this was kind of cool. There was a guy controlling this remote control helicopter with a 5d mark II attached to it shooting video by the surfers. That is one way to get out there.
This last week has been very special for the LDS community in Hawaii. We were visited by a Prophet of God, Thomas S. Monson, for the rededication of the Laie Hawaii Temple. Before it was rededicated (it was first dedicated in 1919), over 45,000 people toured the temple in the few weeks it was open to the public.
I was asked by the Temple Historical Committee to document the cultural celebration event which happened the night before the dedication. With the press pass I was able to get up close to the Prophet. The cultural celebration was put on by hundreds of youth from all over Hawaii. It was an amazing performance. I have to say that I believe Hawaii has the most beautiful and talented youth in the world! (The youth leaders are amazing as well). Hailing from nations all over the Pacific and Hawaii, the singing and dancing and storytelling and spirit were incredible.
The picture of the Temple was taken today during the dedication.
Here are few pics from halloween 2010. The first few are from the EC party that was off the hook, and the last few are from the Polynesian Cultural Centers Haunted Lagoon. I have to say the clowns were a little freaky.
I was hired by a company to capture video of a sponsored athlete in the 2010 World Championship Ironman in Kona Hawaii last Saturday. This was the first time I have seen an Ironman. For those of you that are not familiar with the Ironman, it’s a triathlon that consists of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run all without a break. The woman that I was covering is 50 years old and finished in under 12 hours. I don’t know if I could finish the swim. I had help along the way with this assignment from getting press passes and transportation, to my assistant Rob who tracked our athlete all day. The clip at the beginning is the start of the Ironman, when 1500 people fight for position. The last few pictures are of the finish line. It’s amazing what the human body can do. Watching the finishers make it to the end and then crumple with emotion or exhaustion was moving. They have volunteers lined up at the finish line just to assist, catch, care for people after they make it across.
This is one of the most moving pictures I have taken. There are a lot of rules in photography to create an amazing image, but sometimes it just comes down to place and time. This picture is Tom Pohaku Stone leading the ceremony of Lester Falatea’s paddle out at Pipeline two years ago. I got there before the sun came up and as it started to rise the sky just came alive with amazing color.
University of Hawaii picked up this picture for their 2011 Hawaii and the Pacific new and current book catalog. Click here to check out their catalog. While perusing the catalog look for the book Waves of Resistance, written by Isaiah Helekunihi Walker. He is a good friend of mine and an amazing historian and a gifted surfer.
This is the second year in a row that I have worked on the promotional pictures for the Polynesian Cultural Center’s Haunted Lagoon. It was lot of fun working with the art directors and graphic designer from the PCC. I wish I would have taken some behind the scenes pictures, there were about 15 people working together to create these images. I was used a number of different strobes and a huge fog machine to add the mist affect. Big thanks to Jenica Taylor for all the graphics. This is defiantly a good year to go to the Haunted Lagoon, it is going to be bigger and better than last. To get more information about the Haunted Lagoon click here.
Just got back from photographing a wedding in Kona on the big island of Hawaii at the Royal Kona Resort. I usually don’t post images on my blog so fast, but as I was downloading my cards this one caught my eye. I think Silvia looked stunning in this dress, you will have to wait to see the back when I am done editing. Look out for the full post in a few.
Here are a few pictures from Te-Manahua, Maori Festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center this last weekend. I have been photographing special events and some marketing for the Polynesian Cultural Center for a little over a year now, and this has got to be one of the best contests I have ever seen. There were performers from all over including New Zealand and London, England. The winners were a local group and I got chills as they performed. I don’t know if it was because they were doing the Haka 4 feet away, or the fact that I was looking though my canon 70-200 telephoto lens right into their eyes. Whatever it was, it was amazing and they received a standing ovation.
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.
