First Post! I’ve had this Blog for 2 years and have honestly been so wrapped up in projects, I never continued with it. But as the title says, “Here I am!”

To sum up the past two years I can say I did a lot of photographing, fishing, and editing. The fishing keeps me sain. I explored a good bit of Jacksonville with my new D700 and had the absolute wonderful opportunity of living in Hawaii for 3 1/2 months photographing landscapes and Japanese weddings. Such an interesting and rewarding experience. Not only did I learn Japanese and a whole lot of new wedding biz ideas, but I was living in HAWAII! I fell in love with the Aina (land) out there. I have always been an salt water girl, but any day I had off, I was hiking or headed towards the central parts of the Island.

Above we have a photo of Iao Valley in Maui. A deeply spiritual and highly historical site, that had me exploring for almost 4 hours on my birthday this year. It was windy & cold, and I decided to wear the only thing that I had packed in the car besides a bathing suit, a dress. I put on my 25 lb camera bag, threw my tripod over my shoulder and hiked it up into one the site of the bloodiest hawaiian battle. There was a river that cut through the valley that overpowered the sounds of anything else you passed, especially the locals jumping in the water from the bridge. It was a small area to trek around, unless you decided to jump over the guided walkways into the wooded areas, which of course, I did.

Adventure. Thats what jumping off the perfectly laid pathway gets you. I will say thank you for my Kmart tennies I bought before I went there. With the combination of my huge camera bag, tripod, dress, & 20 knot winds, Slippers (or flip flops) would have been my tipping point. But when I wrapped around a tree on the side of a rock pile and saw the entire view of the mouth of the valley and the start of the river, I was, yet again, amazed by what these Islands had to offer. This place had me falling in love left and right. And this view, upon the red bench, was one of my favorites.

There will be more to come.

For now, Aloha.

KiKi