Skyscapes

Spectacular views from one of the observatories on top of Mauna Kea... here's a video I shot with my iPhone4 and edited on iMovie. Grab your popcorn & enjoy... um, actually making the popcorn will take longer than the video : )

The Waterfalls of Hawaii

The majestic 442 ft. Akaka Falls.




The Onomea Falls inside the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens.

Verde

Looking through windows

Take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time, leave nothing but footprints...

The Haleakala summit - Maui, Hawaii.



Graffiti, Philosophy and Nature







The breathtaking views from the Lanikai Pillbox Hiking Trail.

It's the way you hike the trail that counts... Happy trails to you!

What a difference a day makes...and the difference is you.

"What motivates you?" That was a question I was asked recently in an interview for a promotion. In all honesty, I answered, a sense of purpose, hope for the future, making a difference and knowing that what I do matters.

Outside of my career, in my personal life... the very same things motivate me. We live in a cynical world, and in a world with billions of people, what does one life mean but just a single drop in a vast ocean... or just a tiny speck in the grand scale of things? It's relatively easy to get lost in the crowd... But what drives me is knowing that my life matters.

Photography gave me that sense of purpose, it gave me something to do and something to look forward to. I decided to pursue this hobby as a distraction at a time when I was so tempted to wallow in self-pity, indignation and frustration over situations and things that I can't have. To quote a wise philosopher of our time, Mick Jagger once wrote... "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find, you get what you need."



Until now, I didn't realize that outside of my class, circle of friends and acquaintances, that there are actually people that read and visit my blog. Well, aloha to all of you : ) and mahalo (thank you) for reading. Feel free to say hi. I would love to hear what you think!

Well, here are some pictures of Coconut Island in Hilo from this past weekend...

Day and night...






Night and day...







Taken with my iPhone 4 camera... Filter mania? There's an app for that!





With the end of Spring semester 2011, I feel nostalgic, I've come to find the structure of project deadlines comforting somehow... Maybe it's time to move on and think of other personal photography projects... Maybe I can do "Project 365", where I take 1 picture each day to capture what that day was like, and if that is too easy... maybe something along the lines of "100 Strangers" where I approach, talk to and take pictures of strangers wherever my (somewhat geographically limited) travels take me... That can be somewhat more challenging... What do you think?

And we're back!

My "detention" for going over my bandwidth is over and the Jing presentations are back up. Oh joy, oh happiness, oh techno-bliss!

Note to self/For future reference...
How does bandwidth work at screencast.com?
In the case of Screencast.com, bandwidth is used when people view your content. As a Screencast.com content owner, you are paying for the amount of bandwidth required to transfer your content to your viewers each month.

If you have a lot of people, viewing a lot of content, you might reach your bandwidth limit. Screencast.com will send you an email letting you know if you are getting close to your limit, you will also find this information within your Screencast.com account.

Oh Jing!

Apparently, I've gone over my bandwidth... as a result all my Jing presentations & uploads to Screencast.com are temporarily unavailable until my monthly membership cycle renews... That explains the dead links below :(

Behind the Scenes: Life Through These Lenses

Showcase Project: Part 4 of 4

The Making of the Slideshow

Showcase Project: Part 3 of 4

Credits: Into Musical Score - Save Me by Josh Verdes

Garageband Sessions

Here's the making of the podcast. Hope you enjoy watching!

Showcase Project: Part 2 of 4

My blog is a rockstar & other delusions of grandeur

Welcome to my virtual classroom & this is your all access backstage pass to the making of the wiki & the blog.

Showcase Project: Part 1 of 4

Video: Life Through These Lenses

Landscape photography in Hawaii and capturing my vision of life through these lenses, filtered by my own unique blend of thoughts, emotions, expectations & memories.



Here's to inspiration arriving on time at the very last minute... I believe this calls for a celebration, so let's pop open that bottle of sangria... oh yeah, on second thought... there's work tomorrow in a few hours. Rain check?

P.S. I was disappointed that this video won't play on my iPhone... So it may not play on your mobile phone either, and you may need use an actual computer.

"The Best Camera is the One That's With You"

I want to start the week on a positive note, so here's to gratitude & loving what you've got.

majestic Hawaii sunset taken with my iPhone 4 camera

Seeing Life Through These Lenses podcast

Are you interested in Photography? Listen to the pilot episode of the podcast: Seeing Life Through These Lenses where I play a little easy listening music, talk about life in Hawaii, Hawaiian history and culture, and landscape photography... the ambiance is warm and light-hearted, conversations sprinkled with some philosophical musings about life...so grab a drink, sit down, relax and I hope you enjoy listening!



Credits:
Slide #2 from Flickr under Creative Commons license
Jack Johnson's picture from Flickr under Creative Commons license
Jack Johnson music
Pu'uhonua O' Honaunau
Ken Rockwell
The Best Camera

This podcast was made possible by:
Garageband '09
Countless hours of pacing through my condo unit while organizing my thoughts
And an impending deadline

I "Heart" Keynote + Jing!

Warning: geek talk ahead!

I had fun making this slide show and I hope you enjoy watching it too!

Okay, but if you really want to know the whole truth... well, there was a little bit of frustration there too since this is the very first time I am using Jing. For a while there, the preview looked like it can't be resized and was cutting out the text of my slideshow, so I embarked on this mad editing task of resizing my Keynote slides, which I will find later on to be unnecessary.

You see, I am the type of person who likes to just try it out and find my way around, I am usually pretty confident in my abilities to just wing it, you know and since I was up against a deadline, ahem . However, as with most things new, there is a learning curve and I found that I was getting ahead of myself there for a minute... So I forced myself to take a deep breath, slow down, eat a piece of humble pie and watched the video tutorials, and I am glad I did since I learned a few cool things.

Now if only I can find a way to compress the data size without sacrificing the image and sound quality... Hmmm, any techies out there that can give me some advice or am I asking for the moon?

The video might load excruciatingly slow, patience little one, patience... I heard it's a virtue.

Up in the air

I've spent a lot of time looking out the window. As a child, I always chose the window seat, a habit that stuck with me until now. I guess there is something poetic about faces and places passing you by, and while photographers talk about developing a keen artistic eye, personally, I look at it as cultivating appreciation and gratitude. Appreciation for the beauty, artistry and grandeur of this place we call home and gratitude that we are able to be a part of it.


An aerial view of the majestic Diamond Head.



The world famous Waikiki Beach.


The pristine Kohala Coast amidst a cloud of haze and vog.


My friend Holly, looking very much like a beautiful fairy at the Parker Ranch Historic Homes & Gardens.

The artistry is in the details.

Aloha, I'm Elaine Panlilio & welcome to my photography blog!

For my first blog post, I invite you to get up-close (& personal? Hmmm, maybe we'll work on the personal part later on, shall we?).

I am the type of person who appreciate the beauty and artistry in patterns and intricate details. When photographing along this theme, trying out different angles can produce interesting results. Don't be afraid to get up-close, kneel, or lay down if you have to in order to get that shot.







The chandeliers and the candle sconce in the photos above are from the Parker Ranch Historic Homes in Kamuela (or more popularly known as Waimea) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Puuopelu, the second home on the site, was purchased by John Parker II and was expanded and modernized by Richard Palmer Smart. This home is known for its European heirloom furniture, crystal chandeliers and delicate figurines, along with one of the finest private art collections in Hawaii.



The MacBook Pro in this photo is my own (and what I am using as I am blogging this!), the desk is from one of the rooms at the Courtyard Marriott in Waikiki.



The Bird of Paradise flower is from a garden in Waimea. Can you see the tiny black ladybug?

So what are you waiting for? The best way to learn is to just go out there, start snapping some photos and above all, just have fun!