Photography opportunity found within a Pacific paradise. By: David Johanson Vasquez

Wether your an amateur, pro-fessional, fine-artist or commercial photographer, you need to be resourceful to have viewers take interest in your work. For the past 11 years I have made traveling to the Hawaiian Islands a priority. In this tropic paradise, my experience is one of creative renewal, brought on by inspiration from the Island’s

Aloha spirit and charming land-scapes. On the Island of Oahu Pearl Harbor has been a great interest to me. Some years back, The Por-tico Group, a Seattle architectural firm began exploratory work to design a component of World War II Valor in the Pacific Na-tional Monument. In 2008, I contacted a princi-pal architect at Portico with news

of my planned travel to Oahu. At that time, preliminary stages of design were just taking place and there wasn’t much opportunity in photographing the site. Unde-terred, I made arrangements for a window seat on a Hawaiian Air-lines, Boeing 767, that would al-low me to take some initial aerial photographs of Pearl Harbor. Fortunately,, clear weather al-lowed me to photograph the

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Monument on approach to Honolulu Airport. Upon returning from the trip to Oahu, my aerial photos were emailed to the architect. I fol-lowed up with a phone call and

the feedback, although polite, revealed that it was still too early in the project for the firm to con-sider using photography.

If your a dedicated photog-rapher, you realize the impor-tance of patience and learning from every success as well as fail-ure, regardless if it involves tech-nical or marketing issues.

By emailing new samples of my photography, I kept in contact with Portico and learned last year

that the project was nearing com-pletion. Unfortunately, the dedi-cation was taking place a couple of months before my next flight to Hawaii was scheduled. So a local photographer would be called to shoot the new center.

Undaunted, I asked for the opportunity to photograph the visitor center in February, with no financial obligation to the firm. The architect agreed to this offer by providing me with a National Park administration contact in

Honolulu. A couple of weeks before

flying to Hawaii, my contact allowed me to view images the Honolulu photographer took back in December. The photo coverage was good, with many angles of the new center shot, using various times of day for best light. This review confirmed my approach would have to be different from what was previ-ously used. I then re-

searched internet images and information that would assist me in knowing the site’s geographical

attributes before arriving. My flight to Hawaii was

pleasant and as the plane was approaching Oahu I could clearly see Honolulu. However, after de-boarding the plane, blue sky had given way to a partial mixture of dark clouds. Phoning the national park services, contacts, the staff informed me the forecast was not promising for my intended early morning photo shoot. So my plan was to be flexible for the next

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week, while watching local weather forecasts to take ad-vantage of the first opportu-nity for an

early morning photo session. Af-ter a few relaxing days under a blend of tropical sun with clouds, a favorable forecast came in for the assignment.

Traveling in darkness I ar-rived at the site immersed in sub-tle, predawn light. On a hill I discovered after scouting the visi-tor center a few days before, I set

my camera on a tripod and be-gan taking a series of carefully composed photographs. Soon twilight gave way to sunrise, re-vealing a vibrant panorama backdrop of multicolored clouds. As morning light lit the visitor center, I joined legions of visitors descending upon the open gates.

The shores of Pearl Harbor, and the Arizona Memorial, have continually drawn me into their honored gates time and time again. Many members of my family have served in the mili-tary, and I’m grateful for their dedication, and sacri-fices dur-ing enlist-ment. What happened on an early De-cember morning, at this his-toric site, brought our coun-try into WWII. The individuals who were under fire here, exem-plify the strongest dedication to preserving and defending our nation, particularly those who

gave the ultimate sacrifice. An unseen force pulls me to this place, and I offer homage to what happened at his historic site.

Another cause for my interest in this National Monument is my appreciation for history. Histori-cally, the Pearl Harbor attack represents a great milestone, a solid beginning of a Pax Ameri-cana, or the U.S. ascending posi-tion as undisputed world leader for the second half of the 20th Century.

Once inside the Monument’s entrance helpful park service staff, who were informed by ad-ministration officials to allow me total photographic access., made their greetings. My morning work went well, as I was able to efficiently move about the site, photographing for several hours, from all the best angles.

Leaving Pearl Harbor after a successful shoot, I felt fortunate the weather had been so coop-

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erative, as it produced a combination of soft, dif-fused light with interest-ing clouds to ad sky tex-ture. For my remaining visit on Oahu, I had an enjoyable and relaxing time with family and friends. We all came to-gether for couple of nights to celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday in Hawaiian style with great food,

live music and Hula dancing. Of course I found some

time for my personal photography work. Hawaii has some remark-able subject matter, which is al-ways worth discovering. Beside the gorgeous tropical landscapes, there are urban scenes with blends of Ocean, South Pacific, Asian and North American cul-tures that create a unique, Pan-Pacific experience. Perhaps the sense of renewal I experience

while working and playing in Hawaii is due to this fusion of culture tak-ing place on the Islands. Another influence I draw from this land is the constant

vibrant growth of plant life, along with continuos volcanic activity which never slows down and cre-ates new land on a daily bases.

Upon returning to a cold winter in Seattle, several days went by before a meeting could be scheduled with the Portico Group. Once the meeting did take place, a couple of lead archi-tects, along with the group’s mar-keting manager reviewed the pho-tographs I brought in. The im-

mediate response was enthusiasm for the photographs presented, along with compliments towards my approach of using subtle light to help illuminate compositions. Two dramatic photographs were purchased at the presentation in order to meet a deadline for an architectural awards competition taking place that week. Within days, additional images were ac-quired from me that featured views not included in the prelimi-nary photography completed last December. This photographic experience was a classic lesson in fortitude, persistence, and not giving up, no matter what the apparent odds are.

Mahalo nui loa!

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