aaron eskaran

On a cold crisp night...

2010-11-05T01:41:00.001-07:00

On a cold crisp night..., originally uploaded by hynpoloboy.

I was up late doing laundry getting ready to go on Tour for the weekend. I looked out into the backyard and saw our storage shed sitting quietly. It looked as if it were sad for being there all these years and never really used. I decided to give it some attention and take a portrait of that old face that has probably stared at the same scenery for the past 50 years.

It was too dark at the time to see but it was a pleasant surprise to see Mt. Timpanogos in the background making a cameo.

oyasuminasai

View from the back yard

2010-10-25T19:07:00.001-07:00

View from the back yard_1, originally uploaded by hynpoloboy.

Today it snowed for the first time here in the Valley. I can't believe that winter is here already.

I feel so fortunate to be able to look up at the mountains and see this just about everyday.

It's awesome.

If it's going to snow I want it to snow a lot! so come on snow! Lets get the resorts full of powder.

The Court of the Patriarchs

2010-10-17T20:40:00.001-07:00

The Court of the Patriarchs , originally uploaded by hynpoloboy.

When you see this grouping of cliffs they DEMAND your attention.

Magnificent to say the least.

Water falling from Donut Falls

2009-11-24T12:46:00.001-08:00

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...

2009-09-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

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 ;-)

2009-04-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-04-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

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

Cubworld

2009-01-25T15:46:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-20T21:46:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

The Barnes Ohana

2008-12-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

P and M

2008-11-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

It was fun guys!

FYI

2008-11-27T02:12:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-22T02:41:00.000-08:00

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"

2008-11-20T15:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T01:22:00.000-08:00

Close friends...

To new friends...

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

Halloween Photo Blog...

2008-11-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

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.

a little update...

2008-10-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

So... just to let everyone know what happened with the brickfish thing I came in 325th place... which considering how long I was a member of that site(which was only a week or so) pretty good :-)

I had over 4,000 views from all 50 states and all over the world too. Thankyou all who decided to visit the site and vote for me!

Since then I have been plugging away at furthering my photography in a few applications. Here are some of the recent examples of things that I have done...

Upstanding Youth has also finally had a CD release show! There will be some pictures of that event up soon! It was an awesome show and we can't wait to play next week at The Loft in Honolulu. Good times!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

aaron

For more info on the pictures simply click on the photo and navigate through my flickr page.

Im getting closer!

2008-09-28T17:14:00.001-07:00

Brickfish Photoshootout 2! Im featured on the front page now :-)

so keep voting people! We are getting closer and closer!

and remember you can vote multiple times! From different browsers and all that Jazz.

Photo Shoot Out 2
Brickfish

BRICKFISH VOTING UPDATE!!!

2008-09-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

If you've been voting for me thanks!

I have now reached lucky number 777! I'm so stoked everyone! It's only ope for a few more days so keep up the good work :-)

Don't be afraid to click on the picture and write a review and give me some stars too. woohoo!

VOTE FOR ME!

2008-09-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

and I think you can keep voting everyday multiple times from different web browsers!

Support me and I could win a decent amount of cash to support me to get me back to Utah(for school) and on my way to getting Pro gear.

This is a long shot for me because I am coming into the game so late but I just have to try. Thanks! There are more than 30,000 entries and in one day I'm already ranked around 3,000.

Photo Shoot Out 2
Brickfish

Recent Portrait Work

2008-09-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

My brown eyed girl...

Megan and Lauren

Lauren Belongs to the

Kathy Muller Talent and Modeling Agency : Hawaii
kathymuller.com/

Idea Model Agency : Japan
incent.jp/idea/model/lauren/index.html

Keala and Britni's wedding announcement photos...

Congrats guys!

groundupmovement.com peeps

to see more visit:

www.flickr.com/photos/hynpoloboy or click on any of the photos

Getting back into the Photography swing of things

2008-09-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

Working on the Upstanding Youth album Art surely was a treat for me but it sure feels good to be back behind the lens.
I've already done a bunch of shoots and been to a few of my favorite spots. I hope you guys enjoy these shots. You might even recognize some of them :-)

These pics were taken on the way to Pine Forest up in Laie. Me, Adam, and Kristen went up the other day for a quick hike. It was so good to be outdoors! The weather was perfect and the air could not have been crisper... once we got to the top. I kept thinking about how it would be if all of that was covered in snow! Ah! I can't wait for snowboard season!

Thanks for thinking of me Adam and Kristen when you guys came out here. I would have been bummed if I found out later that you guys had gone without me. :-)

Oh yeah... remember how we all didn't really eat before we went so right after we got back to the car we went to the best place for nutrition?! Yeeeeah! The table at McDonald's was pret-ty quiet. haha

aloha everybody

The Final

2008-08-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

The following is taken from my flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/hynpoloboy

This is the final work. I decided to add the texture on the left and right for track listing and thank you space.

I also did this to include the full composition of the piece instead of having missing parts of the written lyrics throughout the painting.

Thanks for all the support and feedback!

The album will be sent out on Tuesday to be mastered,pressed, and printed.

We had our final listen through last night and the album sounds to us as the best work we've done so far. Be on the lookout for it!

We are going to be playing a bunch of shows over the next few months ESPECIALLY in the month of Oct as that will be the month of our release shows! Our website ( www.upstandingyouth.com ) will be going through some changes to accommodate the album so don't be afraid to drop by there every once and a while.

our blog located at upstandingyouth.blogspot.com is the most frequently updated on how things are going and all of our show info is located on our myspace page. www.myspace.com/upstandingyouth

Mahalo everyone!

-aaron

Even more progress...

2008-08-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

Seems to be really coming along... as it should... there are some things that I need to add and the "upstandingyouth" and "sense of urgency" lettering aren't the final... neither is the photographs... so this really is a rough.

But I just wanted to show you all what I have been up to. I'm pretty stoked on it!

Progress on the album art

2008-08-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

here is some of the progress I've been making...

Hope you guys like it... and don't worry this is only half of the whole front 3 panels.

Take into consideration that the final product will only be inches. Not anywhere near as large as it is here.

and remember this is not the final product!

I also added a better representation of Ech and Ad ;-P

My second time to the Stairway to Heaven

2008-08-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

"The Shark" and I have been wanting to go ever since the last time we were there a year ago. We finally made it up. We went with a pretty large group and my good friend Kris from Kristoforg.com.

We left at night so that we'd be able to get some night shots as well as be able to be there for the sunrise. Needless to say it was an awesome time. Here are a few shots that really made the trip and hike worth it.

night over Kaneohe

me towards the summit

as the suns light slowly was approaching the horizon

SUNRISE

Me by Kris

check out more photos of this beautiful hike @

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hynpoloboy/sets/72157606534444081/

Upstanding Youth New CD Art

2008-08-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

The title of the new record will be called "A SENSE OF URGENCY."

The problem I was faced with was to produce art work that would portray that feeling without the end product to be considered ANGRY.

When I asked the guys what I should do I was given a different array of answers. SO not too sure of where to go I produced this drawing.

we'll see if that ends up on the album.

As far as everything else... I decided to go and do traditional drawing and painting working on paper instead of doing everything on the computer. I got some supplies and can't wait to dive into them. I prepped a sheet of nice sturdy paper and will be adding to it as soon as my design gets approved by the guys. I don't have the luxury to use as much of everything to try things out so I want to do all the preliminary stuff on the computer then apply everything done here to the paper. Should be tough but I'm more than up to the challenge.
Here are the supplies...

After doing some serious thinking on the project I really wanted to include those who really mean a lot to us this time around on the album art. I'll explain later, but I got the wives and kids in on it.

Here is what I have drawn up until this point. I have a few more things but I arranged them this way to see what everyone thought. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK... please. I don't only want this to be Aaron's ideas and then when it's printed for everyone to be sketch on the outcome.

Things can be moved and they probably will be:-)

This is the layout we'll be working with.

much love -aaron

ps- just for fun I did a quick edit of the kind of style I would apply with the paint...

pps- I posted this post last night on the UY blog. We have now met as a band and everyone has given me the okay with a few exceptions. I will be adding Marc's wife and changing some of the spacing slightly. But the overall composition will remain the same.

Sharks Cove minus the Sharks

2008-07-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

Today was awesome. Woke up... ate breakfast... talked to Jo for a while. Went to Sharks Cove with my good friend Eric Minugh. We used his Canon 30D, Canon EF-S 10-22mm wide angle lens, all sealed up in a SPL waterhousing.

At first we just jumped in the water and hung out on the right side of the cove. There is a little cave about 15ft or so down.

Here I am diving down to it.

and here I am exiting

It's a pretty good feeling to get to the floor and cruise under the reef and come up through it. Visibility wasn't too bad today too. Made for a pretty good summer underwater session. I have always wanted to get in the water here with a good camera and housing and see what I could come up with. Thanks Eric for letting me use your stuff today!

Here is a shot of Eric on the opposite side of the reef formation that has the small cave. I like to call it the Wave because of the curl towards the top.

another shot of me close to where Eric is in the last shot.

After we checked out things we moved to the outside far right of the cove where there is a underwater cave that everyone calls the "Blue Room." The first time I went through I was a kid and it freaked me out so I didn't do it again probably until I was in High School. I was going to hold the camera the first time through but I had no idea what to set the exposure to so I went through just to see what the light conditions were going to be. Turns out I was way underexposed.

All the images I shot just came out black so I adjusted to make it work. We went through and this is what you see when you get to the other side.

Its just a tight space that you can sit up in. The view out of the cave back out to sea is much better so I made sure to get it right on the way out.

I was so happy with this shot. Eric cruised just at the right speed for me to follow him with the camera.

Good fun. And then to make the day even better we had a friendly visitor. He/she let me get right up next to him/her ;-) I think this is my best turtle shot to date :-) Up until now I've used friends little point and shoots underwater.

The turtle kept swimming where I didn't want to follow. The surge was a little to strong for me to want to follow it through the crack. There was sea urchins lining the walls.

overall great shoot. Thanks Eric again for cruising today.

Anyone wanna go here with me? Im willing to go again!

aloha

One of the reasons I love to be home...

2008-07-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

So the horns finished up pretty much everything that will be on the album excluding our little solos here and there. Those should be quick to finish up.

Here is the lighting and mood that we were working in. It was groovy. Next time we'll have Lava lamps :-) This image is composed of twelve 5 second exposures.

We were in the studio well into the night pounding away the final tracks. I think we finally left around 1am. I hope Tim did well on his exam that he had the following day. I know that I was out of commission. Lately every time I play my horn I have pretty intense headaches that I have never had in previous years. I wonder if the years of blowing my guts out are finally catching up with me. Maybe one of these days I'll just collapse on stage... knock on wood.

So because I have been recording in Kailua and Adam lives in Kahalu'u which is just a 10 or 15min drive away I've been crashing at his place. Only this time I took my camera with me so that I would be able to catch the sunrise off the East side of the island. It was raining and Ava had been wide awake from 3am so needless to say I was a little hesitant in getting up and out to do this. But I am glad I did.

I was greeted with one of the most wonderful sunrises to date.

although it was a little moist from the rain just subsiding. The neat overcast clouds and rain added a beautiful atmosphere for my early morning shoot.

The tide was out so I was able to walk a pretty good distance out on the soft ocean bed without even getting my feet wet. Even the boats were taking a break from swimming.

The passing showers caused some of the boats to take on water so this man was there bailing his out.

What a truly beautiful morning it was. My only wish is that I had a Hasselblad. The only reason I say that is because there was a man that showed up to the same spot after me with one. :-) I was envious. Lucky I live Hawaii ah?

check out a few more photos at www.flickr.com/photos/hynpoloboy or click on one of the photos here to be directed there.

Aloha

Time for the Horns in the studio...

2008-06-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight I would have to say was pretty epic. In every sense of the word.

It was the night that we were able to start recording the horns. Adam on the Tenor, Tim on the Alto, and Me(Aaron) on the Trumpet.

We really were able to communicate and get the correct articulations and phrasing down for "Sing to Me" and "Wailing and Gnashing." This proves to be quite the challenge because we don't write any of our music out on paper. Ideas are exchanged and we come up with the lines that you hear.

We have never recorded all horns at the same time so it took a little while to find what we think are the sweet spots of the room. Needless to say, when we first heard the results of our recording it literally gave us chicken skin! THIS WAS THE SOUND THAT WE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR!

It's a nice raw and live sound. I think we got it this time Demitri! AURYTE! haha.

The only problem is that because the music is raw it is also revealing. We found out quickly that it's almost impossible to get 3 people to play exactly in tune with each other. But we are up to it. I think Demitri is a wizard.

This is going to be a great album. I love to see the experience that we have gained really put to work boys.

Aloha readers

check out this post and other posts about Upstanding Youth @ upstandingyouth.blogspot.com

Just a cool little story...

2008-06-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

I was checking out my inbox the other day and came across a pretty cool email and thought I'd share it with everyone who stops by here...

"Hey man I love your pictures I went through your whole alien Bees flickr pages. I think they were all yours. But I would love to intern with you I want to get better with my photography.
I do film and want to learn more about painting with light with a still shot so I can transfer the skills learned there into motion pictures.

Check out my blog when you get a chance!

http://www.jamarjones.blogspot.com/"

Just so Jamar knows... Thanks man and I hope you frequent the page as I am preparing a lot of photos now so they can be up ASAP. The shoots that I have done with the Alien Bees were all advised by my good friend Joachim Guanzon(the lighting man).It was mostly all his gear. His flickr page is located here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jowchie/

A lot of pro lighting there.

much Aloha to everyone who thinks what I am doing makes some kind of difference and statement... because I know without your support I would probably be still selling T-shirts and board shorts.

Here are some favorites from a couple of my recent outings :-)

Some sweet shots I got today ;-)

2008-05-16T02:04:00.000-07:00

There was a North West swell today and since I live on the East side it made for flat water and small perfect, peeling, glassy waves.

Check it out.

GLASS!!

Back in Hawaii!!!

2008-05-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yee doggie!

More story to come about the trip home but I wanted to show you something that I am thinking about taking up...

forget the bach strativarius I want a cucumber "turumpeto" thats Japanese for trumpet :-)

and then join a vegetable orchestra

Yesterday...

2008-04-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

was the last day for the snowboarding season at the Canyons resort in Park City Utah. We are all pretty bummed because winter actually stuck around longer than anyone anticipated. Kenny(my mission bud that I go with everytime) had some sick runs yesterday and we both felt like the resort should stay open at least to the end of the month. Oh well right?

Here is a pic of me on one of my last jumps of my first season. One to remember!

When we were snowboarding yesterday my battery in my camera died and I was soooo bummed. Couldn't do anything about it so I packed up and didn't think that I was going to be able to shoot anymore. I rode to the bottom of the gondola holding my pelican case.

On the way home there was such a sense of peace within me. I don't know how to explain it but it felt good. Maybe just being alone and listening to some thought provoking music made me feel that way. So I came around a corner and I saw this. I was so amazed! I knew my batteries were dead but I decided just to put the camera together again just to see and I had just enough battery to take a few handheld shots. I'm so happy I did.

View this one in its original form if I'm letting you because this has to be one of my most favorite stitches ever. What a blessing it has been to be here in Utah.

Aloooha!

Lighting school...

2008-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

My good friend Joachim Guanzong who I played with in the Jazz and Pep Band at BYU Hawaii lives out here in Utah. He works out at Xango doing web design and stuff but on the side the guy is an aspiring professional photographer. He has a lot of experience and this past Saturday we hooked up for me to learn some things and to get Jo in front of the camera... again. I hope you guys never get sick of seeing her. :-)

Anyway we were using some flashes from www.alienbees.com

Here are some of the results. Thanks for sharing the knowledge Jowchie! Here is a shot of him...

Here is the lighting set up that we used most of the time.
And the rest are of Jo :-)

It was awesome to see how this stuff works. I know I have a far way to go but hopefully I'll have a studio like this up and running soon.

Hey People...

2008-04-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is just a little update...

Things are going okay out here in "Utahr." I'll be back in Hawaii late April and will hopefully be in the water that day or the day after. Yay! Can't wait to see Upstanding Youth and play some shows again!

As far as a relationship update... I'm back with Jo and things are going good considering everything that has happened :-)
And for those of you who don't know who she is... this is Jo. Took it on Easter Sunday up in Provo Canyon.

She has also been nice enough to let us use her as a model for Jake, now known as "CUBWORLD" all over the world.

get a shirt while you can.

Hope to see all of you in Hawaii soon!
Here is something I can't wait to be in!

Jabbawockeez - America's Best Dance Crew - Episode 5

2008-03-14T02:59:00.001-07:00

check this out!!!

I vote for them :-)

some of my more recent work

2008-02-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

brand new

2008-02-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

just a post for the new blog...

I haven't done this for a number of years so I thought that now would be a good time for me to start.

I am in Grad school now at Brigham Young University and am studying Fine Arts emphasizing in drawing and painting.

I have been keeping up with a flickr page located @ www.flickr.com/photos/hynpoloboy

I'll post something again soon.