A Salute

Though I'm a little behind the curve on getting this post up, I didn't want to let this Veteran's Day weekend pass without a nod to all of our veteran's.  My own veteran here at home found this yesterday, and I think it speaks for itself.

Waves of Hawaii

Sometimes you get email forwards from special people that you just can't help but share.  This one in particular almost made me feel like I was somewhere else for a minute, and helped reset my perspective a bit.  I couldn't help but continue the share on this, even though it's not in email form.  I do hope you enjoy!

Photographer Clark Little stands in the water and waits until the very last second to snap his camera shutter, and then takes a beating when the wave collapses over him.

Waimea Bay shore-break surfing pioneer, husband, and father of two, Little has gained nationwide recognition for his photography on National Television..

It all started in 2007 when Clark 's wife wanted a nice piece of art to decorate a wall.

Voluntarily, Clark grabbed a camera, jumped in the water, and starting snapping away capturing the beauty and power of monstrous Hawaiian waves from the inside out.

Clark 's "view" is a unique view of the ocean that most will only
be able to experience safely on land while studying one of Clark 's photos. 

Now with a camera upgrade and an itch to get that better shot, Clark has taken this on full time and
has moved his office from land, to the inside of a barrel.

Since the recent stir of Clark's work, his images have been run on the Today Show, ABC World News Now, Nature's Best Photography, Paris Match(France), La Vie ( France ), Hana Hou (Hawaiian Airlines) magazine, Surfer magazine, Surfer's Journal as well as multiple publishers and newspapers in the U.S. and overseas.

He is dedicated to photographing the waves and has published a selection of his best.  


These incredible images of waves in the Hawaiian Islands were taken by Clark Little, the number one photographer of surf.

Sun Glints Off Wave
Clark Little/SWNS

Sand in Surf
Clark Little/SWNS

This shot captures sand from the ocean's floor being swept up by a monstrous wave and resembles a sandstorm. 

Little calls it the Sand monster. 

"There were clouds of sand ten feet high and I'm standing there.  I'm holding on to my camera and my trigger as long as I can.
Then I have to jump into the cloud of sand to try to get out of danger's way". 


His fans pay as much as $4,000 for his gorgeous photos.

Tubular Shining
Clark Little/SWNS

Beach - Surf Crashes Down
Clark Little/SWNS

Molton Liquid Gold
Clark Little/SWNS

White Tumultuous Water
Clark Little/SWNS

Splash
Clark Little/SWNS

Red Mysterious Shot
Clark Little/SWNS

Break - Wave Crashes Down
Clark Little/SWNS

Beauty - Water Drops
Clark Little/SWNS

This shot is his favorite.  With a high shutter speed he caught the brilliant fanned effect of two waves intersecting each other and throwing out this beautiful fan of water.    

"Faith is not about everything turning out OK; Faith is about being OK no matter how things turn out."

Revlon All Access Summer Imaginarium, Why Not?

Ahhh ... summer is finally here, and what to do?  One of the great things about summer is feeling like you have time to sit back, relax a little, and get away.  Well, unless you're me ... but I digress.  Part of the whole appeal of loosening up and taking a break is really not so much in where you go or what you do, but how you yourself are changed and impacted by whatever it is that's different for you; and hopefully this is a good thing.  Think about it, part of the reason you come back from a vacation feeling refreshed is because you've been able to get a different perspective that you can take back and apply in your every day life - you have a slice of time where you can be someone slightly (or not-so-slightly) different from your norm.  Instead of rhetorically asking 'Why?', you instead ask 'Why Not?'.


Well, if you're looking to break from your routine without dropping a wad of cash to go sweat it out with all of the other families vacationing with their kids while on summer break; or if you're on a quest to find that mysterious, sultry, diva 'alter ego' to cut loose while you are vacationing in a place where no one knows your name, then look no further.  The folks at Revlon have come up with an iPhone app that gives you that daily spark of beauty and fashion inspiration to challenge yourself to go above and beyond what might be your daily norm.

Revlon All Access brings you exclusive, daily beauty and fashion insights directly from Revlon All Access experts Gucci Westman, June Ambrose, Polly Blitzer, and Annabel Tollman.  Much like a summer holiday, it almost dares you to try new things and come away feeling like you've explored something new.  Some of the daily tips may be a little extravagant for your typical Tuesday or Wednesday, but isn't that kind of the point?  So just allow yourself to ask 'Why Not?' and give it a try. It may just be the thing that helps you make every day a mini getaway ... or at least gives you a different enough perspective to imagine yourself into feeling like it is. 

This is where today's tip took me!

Poolside Posh: big turquoise earrings (by Amrita Singh), check; slicked back low bun, check; strong lip, check; dramatic silhouette, double check.

If you don't think I have absolutely lost my mind at this point, then you can download the app for free here, and see where it might take you.  Happy summer holiday!

Photohunt 263: Square, Aruban Excursion

It's been a while since my last PhotoHunt, but when I saw the subject for this week my mind went straight to one place -- Aruba.  This photo, taken from inside of the Bushiribana ruins, is one of my favorite shots from a trek up the northern coast on our first visit to the island.  Obviously evident is the square 'window' overlooking the beach and the vivid blue of the Atlantic Ocean.  Less obvious is the journey it took to get to that spot.

Bushiribana at a distance.

Rock stacks along the beach at Bushiribana.

The fierce waves against the rocky northeastern coast of Aruba.

Aruba is a very interesting island to me.  So sparse is it on the northeastern shore that our map was blank except for a few landmarks and, what I suppose were considered frequently traveled routes that had finally given way to a path.  You may or may not see another tourist playing adventurer for the day -- most of the time it's just you and your travel companion(s) all alone your little rental jeep battling together to cross a vast expanse of dry sand and rock.  Just about as soon as you think you can't take another view of dusty terrain, or you get tired of driving endless stretches of sand and rock, you catch a glimpse over the horizon and realize that there is the most serenely beautiful beach just across they way that keeps you going.  I suppose in that way, the island can be a lot like life.

The climate is so arid and the vegetation so sparse that everything is a dusty sandy beige contrasted directly by the most gorgeous blue everywhere you look along the coast.  Driving along the rocky dirt "roads", you almost feel a bit depressed by the endlessly dry, sparse terrain, and very unsure of exactly where it is that your path will lead (or even if you're on a path at all).  After Jay decided to drive us through a live military firing range (imagine how thrilled I was), we actually ended up getting our rental jeep quite stuck at a certain point in a particularly severe part of the "road"  (which might be more aptly deemed a chasm).  I was almost in a full-out panic thinking that we were going to be stuck there forever - just us and the occasional goat that wandered by.

Fortunately for us, we did not get eternally lost, shot, or end up getting stuck long enough to spend the night with the goats.  We were wonderfully able to trek ahead through the disparaging landscape back towards our little slice of resort heaven to indulge for a bit in some of the gloriously clear water, pink sands, and fruity drinks.  I think because of the earlier events of the day, we were actually able to enjoy the comforts and ease of our surroundings that much more.  We didn't make that same explorative trek on our subsequent visit (once was enough for me), though I would no doubt recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet struck out on their own to explore.  Had we not ever felt lost on our map, gotten stuck in the rough and rocky terrain or taken the risk of crossing the firing range, we never would have seen the beauty of the island in it's entirety to really know where we were, or appreciated the comfort and luxury of the resort quite as much as we did for the rest of our visit - a lesson I, for one, would be wise to remember more often.

PhotoHunt: Shadow

For this week's PhotoHunt, I (re)located one of my favorite images of shadow in some pictures from a weekend getaway to Duck, NC we took a few years ago.  It was early spring (April), and still a little cool to do much in the way of swimming.  This first shot is from our first day there sitting on the beach.  I think this is really the only day we actually spent any time on the beach due to the chill; leaving the hot tub, in the later pics, to be the favored of  the two.