Taking the Plunge

Robin and Reena are great friends of ours. They have a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy so we thought this would be a perfect way to shoot them, in celebration of their marriage. "Jump Rock" at Waimea Bay has long been a favorite place for local kids to do a bit of "thrill seeking." I'd shot the local kids jumping there before, and the images I liked the most showed the entire bay and the beach, with that amazing aquamarine water, so for this shoot I decided on that same angle.

Below: Tor shooting the couple jumping off, as curious locals check out the scene.

In the last few days I'd noticed there weren't many kids jumping, and when we arrived I discovered the reason: big swells had undermined the sand, so that just getting to the rock required a swim and a rock-climb, all of which had to be timed between waves. Luckily I brought a waterproof backpack for my camera (Patagonia makes an incredible one). Reena had quite an experience, getting pulled slightly out to sea in her wedding dress while trying to reach the rock. She handled it perfectly though.

When the couple jumped, I was surprised to hear the beach full of people erupt into applause and shouts of approval. Many people had their cameras out for the big event. They must have thought that this was their actual marriage ceremony. On the second and third jumps the applause dwindled considerably.

For Robin, Reena, Kyoko (my wife and business manager) and myself it was great fun. This is one of the best things about wedding photography - sharing the joy of one of the happiest times in life with true friends.

Pele's White Dog

There's a legend about Madam Pele, goddess of the volcano, and her white dog. It is said that the white dog appears in the lava fields right before an eruption. Some say that the dog is Pele herself warning the islanders of the approaching danger.

I was recently on the Big Island shooting lava at the Waikupanaha Ocean Entry site. It's an incredible place where the elements meet and where you can witness the creation of an island. My friend Brad Lewis, an accomplished volcano photographer, talks about the earth being a living being. The common saying "solid as a rock" doesn't really apply here.


After experiencing forces of nature of such awesome power, I was quietly hiking out of the area when I saw a white dog standing in a field of black lava. I took several photos, thinking of my friend Richard Drake, who had told me about the legend of the white dog. It wasn't until I looked at the photos on my computer that I noticed the interesting and strange expression on the dog's face. I'm the least superstitious person I know, but there was something about that dog...

Today is Thanksgiving, and I probably have Pele to thank for getting me back from the lava fields safely.

A New Twist on Surfboard Building

Local legend shaper Eric Arakawa is starting a new surfboard company called Arcomi (a modification of the Greek archomai, for "beginning"), in the Waialua Sugar Mill.


It's a different sort of board company in that it's based on the craftsmen involved. There are no "ghost shapers" here. Each person involved in the process has a name and a face.


With the current trends toward the "pop-out, made in China" and the "pro-board-stretched-to-your-size," Eric and his crew are going back to basics, back to a time when you knew your shaper and glasser, and they made you a genuine custom board for your style of surfing that made you really want to go out there and surf.


The idea is that these guys all work together to develop new ideas as a group. They are making some unusual designs, and doing some classic work like old school glassing and pin lines. I've been shooting quite a bit of material trying to document the creation of their project.


Eric is a very creative guy, and he came up with some interesting ideas for photographing the surfboard building process. I liked his idea of light coming out of a resin bucket so much that Eric and I ended up taping a Speedlite to the bottom of a paper bucket and shooting his glasser, Fermin Lagonell, pouring magenta-tinted resin onto a board.


Since the resin has a very short working time, we knew we'd ruin the glass job, so we used a reject board and just kept pouring resin onto it. I think we came up with something unusual, a new twist on the theme. Now if I can just get this resin off my camera gear....

Weddings

I focus more on journalistic and commercial photography than weddings, but I recently had a wonderful time shooting two very different weddings. It so happened that a friend who shoots high-end weddings, Stephanie Riedel, became ill halfway through an important wedding. Her clients were prominent black Philadelphians who wanted the best of everything, even to the extent of bringing their own pastor and some amazing choral singers from the mainland.

The bride was gorgeous, the light at sunset was soft and warm. The ceremony was long, and there was a downpour just at the end, which made the entire wedding party scatter for cover. I ran in front of the wedding couple and caught the action.

Later the groom and his best men sang half a dozen songs to the bride, before starting an incredible dance party. I enjoyed filling in for Stephanie and I shot some images that I was very happy with.The long, traditional and religious ceremony couldn't have been more different from my next wedding- a simple Hawaiian ceremony for our new friends Brian and Tracey from Sydney, Australia. Noted Hawaiian kahu Butch Kauihimalaihi Helemano led a traditional Hawaiian ceremony including weaving of coconut fibers (ka nui ka'ula) symbolizing the weaving of the bride and groom's lives into one, and the traditional exchanging of breath (ka honi Hawai'i), the Hawaiian form of a kiss that symbolizes the sharing of life itself. The wedding was at Laniakea, one of my favorite beaches.

Learn more about Butch Helemano's Hawaiian wedding ceremonies.

It's been a joy to share some of the happiest moments of people's lives with them, and to have a chance to make a creative interpretation through the lens. Rather than simply taking pictures of a wedding, I think it's important to find new lighting, new angles, and new compositions in order to learn and stay passionate. I guess the same goes for any type of photography.

View more wedding images at Tor's website