Hawaiian Airlines - Flying is a way of life

We were fortunate to work on a TV commercial for Hawaiian Airlines recently.  It was an interesting project - still photos to create a collage with motion animation.  Laird Christianson Advertising called us in, along with 3 top notch Hawaii photographers (Tony Novak-Clifford, Alex Viarnes, and Rae Huo). Their idea was to come up with some basic concepts, then send us out on our own to capture the themes of "Flying" and "Hello and Goodbye."


The "Hello and Goodbye" commercial first aired during the 2011 Merrie Monarch Festival, and featured two of our photos (you can see them below the video link):

 Kyoko (Tor Johnson Photography business manager) gets some love from the dogs when she gets home

The idea here is the tradition of throwing a lei into the sea in hopes that you will return, or to honor a loved one who has passed away.

The "Way of Life" commercial had the theme of Flying, and it featured several of Tor's photos (shown below video). We had fun with this one, as we got to shoot what we enjoy most - ocean activities, including tandem surfing with longboard champion Duane Desoto and his daughter.

There's a great 3-shot sequence of Kyoko swimming in Waimea Bay

Hawaiian canoe sailing in Kaneohe Bay

Melissa on the iako of the Hawaiian canoe in Kaneohe Bay

North Shore ripper Ryan Shanley doing a floater at Val's Reef

World Longboard Champ Duane Desoto tandem surfing with his daughter in Waikiki

Duane holding his daughter in the air

Nelson Yerxa sand sliding into the shorebreak on his boogie board

Of course there were a lot of images that didn't get used. Below are some of our favorites:

Ryan Shanley getting air at Val's Reef

Coleman swinging Mila in the air

Manae Yerxa riding the shorebreak on a blow-up killer whale (it's not as easy as it looks!)

Skateboarder getting air at the Ehukai skatepark

Coleman swinging Mila in the air again

Honu looking graceful

Manae and Nelson Yerxa riding the shorebreak at Ali'i Beach Park