Water falling from Donut Falls

Water falling from Donut Falls, originally uploaded by hynpoloboy.

Went and stayed up at my buddy's place 2 weeks ago... went on a pretty cold hike up to this cool waterfall called Donut Falls. It was really neat and there are more pics to come... this is a test post from my flickr account.

Summa Summa Summah taiime...

This summer was epic. I was blessed with the chance to go home and play some shows with Cubworld and Upstanding Youth. It was so cool to be home, see family, and realize how much I am not in shape to be out in the water. I ate it on a longboard skateboard like a week before going home that made being out in the water uncomfortable(thanks Ed). Thought about putting pics up of that but then realized who looks at this and well... didn't want to gross you guys out. Just take my word that it didn't feel good. So back to Hawaii... it was an awesome trip home. I even got to do a couple photoshoots. We also released Cubworld's EP "I Love _____" It sounds awesome and make sure to let me know if you donated and didn't get a digital copy. Email me and I will get it to you! As you also know The VIBRANT SOUND produced it's first album called Downtown. You can get it at thevibrantsound.com or even on iTunes but if you can afford to get it off our website do it cause I want you to have some of my artwork :-)

Just before I went to Hawaii I went to see Jason Mraz in Las Vegas with Jo, Emily, and Kiel. That was a fun and pretty cool concert. It was at The Palms hotel's Pearl Concert theater. The sound was amazingly clear. Definitely a night to remember... it started at like 1am and didn't finish until around 4am. Jo kept dozing off during the set up and breaks. I also learned how bad Vegas traffic can be... even in the middle of the night. It was horrible. While out there we all stopped by my Grandparents to say Hi. They took us out to a Chinese buffet. Right after meeting with them we were on our way back to Utah.

I went on a few tours with the bands here on the mainland too. Once out to the Bay Area with CUBWORLD where we stayed with a wonderful family that really took care of us. I got to see Sacramento and San Fransisco. Blake from Upstanding Youth and his wife Janet came out and met with me and Jacob when we played and also showed us around San Fran. Thanks guys! The Vibrant Sound made a couple of trips to Vegas, Idaho, and California. I made a bunch of new friends and saw people I knew too. It's amazing that even though I am from a tiny island I have friends almost everywhere I go. I'm so grateful for that.

On top of all that traveling me and Jo did a 2 week tour of Zion National Park, Mesquite, Nevada, and San Diego, California. That had to be another highlight of the summer. Just being able to spend one on one time with her for that long of a time period was a treat. We hiked some pretty cool trails in Zion including The Narrows, The Subway, and a few other smaller hikes in the front country. We also drove to Vegas one day to visit Granny and Grandpa Dean. It was another good visit. They took us out for Chinese again :-) I think its becoming a nice tradition. Love you Gran and Grandpa. We stayed at a hotel in Mesquite and drove to Zion every other day for a week then it was off to San Diego to stay with Nathan and Chelsey. While we were in San Diego we went to see the sights, went to the beach of course, got some mexican food right next to the border, and hit up a Knott's Berry Farm waterpark.

I realize that I love to travel. I have so many pictures that I want to show you all. the ones from flickr will be in a slideshow here and the more personal ones will be on facebook for those of you that know me. It may take a while for me to get through all of them so even if a few months from now I am still posting things from this summer forgive me please.

Oh before I forget. I am starting a tshirt design company with a few of my buddies called rock ahn designs. Be on the lookout for it! I could have written a lot more about each one of these trips and I hope to return back to each one and tell you stories but they will have to wait. I hope this will suffice for now!

Aloha


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The Vibrant Sound

Gotta tell you guys about a new project I am working on.



Pretty VIBRANT huh?

I am playing in a Provo based band called the Vibrant Sound. We have already produced and Album this summer and played all over Provo and Orem and have even been on trips to Rexburg, Idaho and Las Vegas. We're building a pretty cool fan base to say the least. We've been busy.

I met Mckay and the boys a little while ago and since then things have been getting better and better. We play a wide array of tunes... from Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers to our own music that was mostly written by Mckay. Our debut album "Downtown" was recorded at Joshua James' home and Mastered at Lurssen Mastering in California (the same place they mastered Across the Universe and Slum Dog Millionaire).

The final product is pretty awesome and not like anything I've been involved with before so I'm pretty stoked on it. I also did all the CD layout and design and Tshirts and Posters and what not. It's been a blast and can't wait to see where we go next! Check out our myspace page at myspace.com/thevibrantsound and our online store at thevibrantsound.bigcartel.com

I also have done a few other things like do DA HUI's t-shirt drawing and some photoshoots... enjoy.









Aloha

a cool music video

just thought the slow motion stuff in this was pretty cool...


Form One - Falling Down from Tobias Martinsson on Vimeo.

Also make sure to check out this video.

I really like the story telling and simplistic animation. It's different.


Thom Yorke's And It Rained All Night HD version from raul gonzo on Vimeo.

A good cause ;-)

I am writing to give you all a little update on what I'm up to and ask for a little help.

I am currently living in Provo,Utah pursuing a career in music, Fine Arts, and photography. I am here doing all sorts of freelance work. You can view some of what I'm up to here on my blog or my flickr photo page at www.flickr.com/hynpoloboy. I am also in the process of building my own website which will be located at www.aaroneskaran.com. I have been very busy.

I am currently in 3 bands. I play the trumpet and sing in all three groups. The first is a Punk/Ska band that consists of friends I have been with since 1998 called Upstanding Youth. Adam (my twin brother) is also in this group and lends his skills on the tenor saxophone. With your help Upstanding Youth was able to clench it's 4th Hawaii Music Award for best Ska album of the year. Needless to say we are very thankful for all your support and hope to put out another recording this 2009 summer. You can buy our music on iTunes even. Our official website is www.upstandingyouth.com and we also have a myspace page up at myspace.com/upstandingyouth.

The second band I'm in is a group I just got with since moving back to Utah this past January. They are called the Vibrant Sound. We are a rap infused R&B/ soul group, I guess? haha! It's so hard to classify what it is we do. But two songs that we do cover aside from our original music is Bill Withers' "Aint no Sunshine" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's get it on." Here I am singing LETS GET IT ON! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FwhQ7s0wU At first I was a little shy about that but now I think it's cool that I can get up on stage and belt that one out! Wooo HoooOOoo. We just finished recording an album and are in the process of printing it. We are hoping it will be out in about a month or so. Our myspace page is located at myspace.com/thevibrantsound but feel free to search the vibrant sound on youtube... I'm sure there are a few things of us out there. Our record label has a website with stuff too... northplatterecords.com.

The third band I'm in is the reason I am writing this email. It's called CUBWORLD. I have been good friends with my friend Jacob Kongaika since I was in elementary school. We went to high school and even did our final Bachelor in Fine Arts show together at Brigham Young University Hawaii back in 2006. Jacob to say the least is a self made man. He has been going hard at his own music ever since he got his first guitar. He joined a website a couple years ago that allowed people to invest money in him called sellaband.com. To make a long story short he raised $50,000 bucks and they flew him out to Amsterdam to play some shows and since then he has gone back a couple of times and played a bunch of different shows in Europe. The money was used to record his album in New York City and release it. Check out CUBWORLD at www.cubworldmusic.com Jake now has a full band and has me aboard doing back up vocals and trumpet lines. We have a show coming up back home in Hawaii on May 16th, 2009 with my first band Upstanding Youth and maybe even the Vibrant Sound at Brigham Young University. We are raising money to buy me a round trip ticket to play the show. We set up a website where you can donate any amount. Anything can help me :-)

There is an incentive for those who donate;You will recieve our new three songs from our EP in your email inbox before anyone else! As soon as we finish the mixing and mastering they'll be sent to you. Just make sure you type in your email in the correct field on the donate page. I promise you won't be disappointed. The website to donate is...

http://www.cubworldepk.com//fundraiser.html

We are already up to $115!

Thankyou in advance to all those who can help! Keep in touch! And I hope to see you at the show for those who can make it out to the show!

Mahalo nui loa!

Aaron Eskaran
Aeskaran@gmail.com
aaroneskaran.blogspot.com
808-382-3473

playing catch up... again

A lot has happened since I've done the CUBWORLD shoot and for those that don't visit my flickr page I'll fill you in a little bit about what's been going on.

I hung out with one of the coolest little kids. His name is Josh.


He is my friend's Kevin and Lea's little boy. They just got married in DC and they were kind enough to fly me out to DC to be part of their wedding. I have a few shots from that cool day and a few from saying what's up to DC again. I stayed the week with Spencer and Sho in Arlington, VA. We had a good time to say the least. Yakisoba and Tsukiyaki were on the menu for dinner! Woo hoo! Tanoshikatta~! (It was fun in Japanese)I even made a stop by Johanna's house and had dinner with her family just before I got on my flight back to Utah. I am so lucky to have friends all over the place. It's unreal sometimes. Here are some of my photos from the trip.

I also had a photowalkingutah meetup at a greenhouse where we got photos of flowers and trees. Those pics will also find their way into this post.



















DC









Oh yeah... I even went by THE OLD EBBIT GRILL in downtown DC with Kenny. I wish I took pics there but it was pretty good. They have some really good calamari!









THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER!
Probably the coolest thing I saw in DC this time I went there. It was HUGE!



More catching up to come soon.

A goal....

Not only to get the camera but all the lenses in this short promo.

Cubworld

A calabash brother of mine is pursuing his dream and making it happen.

He is known to the world as "CUBWORLD." Search google and see all he has to offer on the net. It's amazing. Music videos, Art ,interviews on CNN, and even shows in Amsterdam. He has been all over the world playing his soulful tunes. I have played trumpet with him a bunch of times in Hawaii and in Utah and will continue to do so as long as he still wants me around :-) We have some shows coming up that I will keep you all posted on.

Recently he recorded a music video with Bologna Fungi Films in his Grandpa's workroom here in Utah. Symbolic of him still working on his sound and himself. I was able to be the still photog for that night. Here is some of my work followed by a quick edit of the video.

Check him out at www.myspace.com/cubworld

















Aloha Jake

My little vacation away from home...

I went to Maryland to see my girl. She was away in Italy for a few months so it was awesome to see her and her family. I am grateful they let me spend my Birthday and Christmas with them. Me and Johanna did a lot of site seeing including Washington DC and Gettysburg. I even spent time with Jo's family in Charlottesville, VA(home of Dave Matthews) and a few days in Chapel Hill, NC(where MJ played bball). It was a good time to say the least. They made me feel like I was a part of the family :-) Here are a few memories of my travels...

Went to a Christmas tree farm for the first time.







Spent my 27th bday making this monster with everyone ;-)



and yes... it was as sweet as it looks!

saw some really neat places...





Went on a hike to Sugarloaf mountain in Maryland with Jo





We went and spent some time with Spencer in Georgetown DC.









We also went to see the lights and a piano concert at the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center.



Then I went back to DC on a different day with Jo and her best friend.









The HOPE diamond was there



and some other really cool sights.

















I even got to go to Gettysburg



We watched the two films... "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" before visiting to help us remember what happened and for me to have images of things past. There was such an awesome feeling there. Such a reverence that demanded your attention. I recommend you all to visit sometime.









I know I should have blogged more about each place but I hope that the images posted will evoke enough thought for you to feel what I felt.

I enjoyed my time on the East Coast. I even touched the Atlantic for the first time. Who would have thought that a local boy would be able to continue his dream far away from where he grew up. It was pretty cool to go to the South also and experience some new things and see places that I never thought I would get to see. My Mothers family is all there and it was neat to hear Southern music and experience a little bit of Southern living.

Mahalo Franco Ohana!

Hawaii I will miss you

This is the best place on Earth

for me.

I grew up here
Learned here
made friends

and will never forget it.

Mahalo for all the help that I received when I was in Hawaii this past summer. You all know who you are. I will miss you all!

I hope you all frequent my page to see what I'm up to. There are some great things to come.

K.I.T

Julius

The Barnes Ohana

P and M

It was fun guys!

FYI

I will be leaving to MOVE back to Utah on Dec. 4th! Woo hoo. Going to get a real job and go 100% with a photography business. Wish me luck and if you want to shoot with me before then I am still open pretty much everyday! Let me know!

Some of the sights I'll leave behind and say Hello to again :-)



































and just for fun I thought I'd show you all my first snowman I made last year in my front yard... we called him "LLED"



Happy Holidays!

Going through the black and white archives...

and decided to do a little journal entry at the end of the post here too.

Enjoy

























































































I think I could keep going for another 40 or 50 frames but I'll cool it here. I hope you all can see how I feel about my work through these photos.

I love it.

I carry my little black Pelican case with me everywhere not because I am scared to lose it(although most times that is the case), but because I really enjoy being ready to capture the brilliant or just plain mundane. It doesn't matter. Specific moments of time that we remember are actual fragments of who we are and they describe why we exist the way we do. We only live here on this earth once. Why let the ones we leave behind forget about what we did and why? I would like to beleive that what we do here be it big or small makes a difference to someone or some thing. Even if all I do is have someone glance at one of my images a thousand years from now and makes that persons day brighter I would be satisfied (as long as I can put food on the table now ;-). What if one of my kids becomes an artist and their kids kids and their kids kids? Can you imagine the kind of work that will come out of them? Could our ancestors even have begun to imagine what we would be doing now? Probably not but I would like to think that they did. I'm not too much of a writer and I hope my kids can decipher the code that I leave behind in my memories captured with light. I hope what I do now will be remembered and not looked over as I know we all probably do when it comes to those who have come before us.

Thanks to all those who have shared these and many other moments with me. Enriching my life and ultimately making me better and wiser. I look forward to the rest of life's challenges as I know they will arise. Sometimes I feel as if I am too concerned about the past and the future... there is a pretty wise saying that my niece has helped me to realize through her most recent favorite cartoon movie, Kung Fu Panda. The wise Turtle in the film says,"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it is called the Present." Live everyday to the fullest.


Aloha.

More "GOOD TIMES"

Sunset at Kaka'ako waterfront park with my Sister and Bro-in-law.



Rainbows



Fun pictures...
Guys... look at the stuff girls get us to do!



All smiles.

And more family wonderfulness.

















It was fun Liko and Doug :-)

More portrait work since Halloween

Close friends...







To new friends...







If you want to shoot with me shoot me an email @ Aeskaran@gmail.com :-)

Halloween Photo Blog...

I don't really have much to say other than it was fun :-)















My Sister and Brother-n-Law



We took a stroll in Waikiki down Kalakaua Ave.

Ran into some familiar faces...

said wassup to Master Chief. We didn't even need to do weird cheats to see his face on the inside!



There was a lot of people there!



Zombies



CAT DOG was probably my favorite of the night



and some lumberjacks



Thanks for a good time Diane and Jerrol.

Hope everyone had a good night!!

Monday with Eric

Me and Eric decided to go to Off-The-Wall the other day and needless to say it was a good idea. We got there around 8am feeling pretty good. It was a little cold (to Hawaii standards) but after some quick stretching we were in the water.

From the shore it didn't really look like the heavy hitter it was once you were in the impact zone on your way out. It wasn't that hard to get out to the line up but it was kinda hard to know where to sit that day. I found myself in the wrong spot on one occasion and took two 4-6 footers on the head. I was dazed and I was so surprised my leash didn't snap. Even after the waves had hit me my board felt like it was stuck in the reef. I'm sure Shane Dorian and Sunny Garcia had a laugh at me because they were out too. So dazed and a little shaken up I stayed out for a little while longer until I decided to go in and take a breather. Some of our other friends showed up and even gave me some water. I was stoked. Eric was still out snapping shots of everyone. He got the neatest shot of John John Florence boosting like 6ft out. Jeff Hubbard was also out pulling big airs off of everything. I was having a blast sitting there and watching the spectacle. The thought crossed my mind to just leave but with some encouragement Eric got me out in the water again. By this time it was around 10am or 11am. The wind was just starting to pick up but the surf was still holding up. I got some fun rides in and was stoked that I didn't just get up and go. Here are some shots :-)











We left around 1pm. It was a solid session. After going home and looking through the shots a few times at Eric's, playing some video games, and grabbing a quick bite we went back out to V-land from 4pm-6pm. It was a good day. Mahalo Eric!

Waimea Bay after a show in Haleiwa

We played a show in Haleiwa this evening. Tom and I decided to stop and take some photos from a POV that I have been wanting to shoot ever since I could see over the door and out the window of the family car. This view made me take a trip down memory lane.

When I was growing up my family would jump in the van and go to Pizza Hut in Haleiwa every once and a while. It was always a treat. I remember loving to go to see and hear the crashing of the waves as we drove by. I didn't realize then how much of a blessing it was to have been able to grow up in such a beautiful environment. "Lucky I live Hawaii."

Mahalo Mom and Dad.

I forgot my tripod and I had to use the guardrail to take these photos. It was around 1am so I was a little weary of drunk drivers but I am really happy with the results.