Mosaic artwork at the Imiloa Museum

A hill made of ancient lava flows

A Hawaiian welcome sign with a pineapple

Ala Moana park near Waikiki Beach

Banyyan Tree near Waikiki Beach

A local man rides an ATV up the mountain towards Kona

Not sure what these native plants are

Purple Banana Flowers in Bloom

Mai Tais at the Luau

Hawaiian Waterfalls

Fruits of the Jungle

The Ae Fern – a species unique to Hawaii

Perilous Sea Cliffs in Hawaii on the southern edge of the Big Island

Bronze statue of Duke (the one to popularize surfing) adorned with flower leis

Closeup of a Model Japanese Aircraft Carrier at the Arizona Memorial in Honolulu / Pearl Harbor

Fruit for sale at the Hilo Farmer’s Market – Rambutan, Starfruit, Breadfruit, etc

My Brother swimming up close and personal with a sea turtle

A Pheasant running wild on Hawaii

A Chinese Lantern Plant on the Big Island

A Spanish Cowboy Petroglyph (Rock Carving) – Hawaiians called the cowboys paniolos, which is a transliteration of the word Espanoles

View of the Punch Bowl on Oahu, Hawaii from the sky

Daytime View of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii

Waiting at the Honolulu Airport Hotel Bus Stop

Tiki Statues at the Place of Refuge – Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau

Hawaiian Tree Ferns Close Up

Shaved Ice at Matsumotos on the North Shore – celebrities like to go here

Oil Spill Art at the USS Arizona Memorial

Park Bench at Ala Moana

Cows Grazing on the Big Island – Most people are surprised to hear there are a lot of cows and a cowboy culture in Hawaii

This Sea Turtle looked like it needed a nap at Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau on the Big Island

Coffee Trees in Kona – Coffee beans are the seeds of the red berries (you can see some on the far left side of the photo)

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory in Hilo

Backlit dead Tree Ferns

Volcanoes National Park – Active Volcano!

No lie, it was hard to take a bad picture in Hawaii. Of course I had my Canon 5dmkII and all of the associated gear in tow to document the experience. Here is the first batch of photos from the trip (and a video!) Be on the lookout for more in the future!

Sulphur – y Fields Forever at Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island

Ferns in the rain forest on the Big Island

Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau (Place Of Refuge) on the Big Island – these were holy sites in the past

Tiki statues at Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau (Place Of Refuge)

Stand up paddle boarders on a black sand beach in Hawaii

Fishing on the pier at Ala Moana near Waikiki

Downtown Hilo Streets

The View of Honolulu and Diamond Head

USS Arizona Memorial shortly after the shootings at Ft Hood

Hawaiian Rainbow

The Royal Hawaiian AKA The Pink Hotel on Waikiki Beach

Eating Fire at a Polynesian Luau

Sea Turtle on the Beach from Peter Tsai on Vimeo.

I’ve shot a lot of weddings and I can definitely say that this reception was the most fun one I have ever been to. The location and food were amazing, the live band was rocking, and the dance floor was packed for the whole night. Lets just say that this family knows how to have fun!

To see all photos from the wedding or to order prints, please visit the Photo Proofing website. To view an online slide show with select photos from the wedding, click on the image below.

The Austin City Limits festival begins with it’s new grass on Friday at around 4pm

Blue skies and a thick, carpet-like grass in front of the Livestrong stage

Concert Goers take a break between shows on the lawn

Blue skies above the ACL wind vane sign inside the park.

Day 2 – the rains begin, and they are HEAVY

Day 2- The lawn starts to get a bit brown – but it’s still OK

Day 3 – the soil from underneath the lawn seeps up and it’s really soupy

The areas close to the stages become mosh pits full of standing water and trash

Some don’t seem to mind the conditions and take full advantage of the situation

This area is what I referred to as the Shamu Splash Zone

These shoes promptly went in the trash after the festival!

Final Note – even though the lawn looks like it was totally trashed, the officials at Zilker Park were able to salvage about 98% of it. The park reopens today, Oct 30th 2009!

1. Who are you and what is your bboy name?

What’s up Peter and thanks for the interview. My name is Ebun Omoni and I’m a 27 year old techie, teacher and b-boy currently residing in Iwate, Japan. My b-boy name, Boon, is an abbreviation of my name which is pronounced “eh-boon”. People started calling me that in college and I’ve been using it ever since.

2. How long have you been dancing and why do you dance?

I first started dancing in 1998 but it wasn’t until 2007 that I really started to build a deeper connection to breaking. Before then, it was more of a fun, occasionally stress-relieving activity and workout to me. But after an evening of therapeutic breaking in 2007, Misa—a dope bgirl from Austin—remarked “You needed that floor tonight”. I had pushed myself harder that night and those 5 words made me question why. In that moment, I realized that breaking was a means for me to truly open up and express myself unapologetically. I can’t lie when I lose myself in the music and there are few ways for me to be so shamelessly honest. I continue to dance for that reason.

3. If you had to describe bboying to someone who had never heard of it before in less than 10 words, what would you say?
It’s the art of full body musical call and response.

4. What have you learned from all of your years of dancing?
I’ve learned a lot but the biggest thing is that music is an important part of life. I feel like our bodies crave music and that dancing is really just a natural reaction to it. I don’t like it when people say they can’t dance. We all have rhythm at our core. It just sometimes takes time to dig inside and find it.

5. You once started regular bboy practices at a corporate 9-5 sort of office. How did that go?
That was a pretty interesting experience. It came together quite well but a lot of it had to do with the circumstances.

First, I had been working at a San Francisco-based startup company at the time so the “sort of office” part is spot-on. Startup companies tend to have flexible working environments so they allow pretty much anything as long as you get your work done. And since they had an extremely danceable kitchen floor, I proposed weekly breaking practices there.

Second were the people. Another great thing about startups is the type of talent they attract. Out of the 100 or so people using that office, 5 were already into breaking. So we would break after work and occasionally take “break breaks” during the day. It was a pretty cool ordeal and the company even mentioned it in job listings for a while.

The last factor was that our office was in the same building as a 24-Hour Fitness gym. We moved practice there because we all had a heavily discounted group membership and the gym had a general purpose room with an even nicer floor, lots of space and mirrors. And as luck would have it, one of the guys who worked there was also a b-boy. He started practicing with us and hooked up the room’s sound system for our music.

Had any of these contributing factors been different, it definitely would not have worked out as well. We ended up forming a crew and practiced together at least 2 times a week. We’d also occasionally go to area b-boy practice spots and clubs around San Francisco and Berkeley. Through it all, we ended up meeting some of the Renegades Crew and learned a lot from b-boys Wicket and Iron Monkey. And even though I’m no longer there, the rest of the crew is still going strong.

6. You are now in Japan teaching English and still consistently dancing out there. What can you tell me about the dance scene in Japan and was it easy to communicate with other dancers without knowing the language?

Japan has a vibrant breaking scene and I run into bboys and bgirls nearly everywhere I go. For example, on my second day here, I had an impromptu session with some bboys who were practicing outside of a mall near my hotel. Though my Japanese is horrible and very few of the ones I’ve met speak English, we always manage to communicate through our common dance. Rhythm and movement replace nouns and verbs. It’s amazing to be able to connect despite the language barrier.

It’s also fascinating to see breaking in a culture that’s so different from America. Breakdancing started in the States and its inherent ideas are somewhat aligned with U.S. culture. In Japan, however, those ideas—individuality, ego, being distinct—are seen as “Western” and are traditionally frowned upon. There is sometimes a notable difference in breakers attitudes when compared to the rest of Japanese Society though they usually leave their swagger on the dance floor. But the longer you break, the more breaking becomes a part of you so I don’t think they can keep it separate forever.

7. Any final words on bboying?

I’m glad that bboying is once again gaining traction, that bboys are winning nationally syndicated dance shows and that there are $50,000 breaking competitions. But I’m also of the mind that there is absolutely NOTHING better in the breaking world than a cypher. There’s a pure, harmonious energy generated in cyphers and it’s uplifting to be a part of it. Whether you’re new to breaking or have been at it for years, don’t forget to get down in cyphers!.

What she wanted and what my style is match perfectly so I was more than happy to deliver. We had a great time braving the elements as we shot around the Blanton Museum, downtown Austin, and Bull Creek.

Thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to more shoots in the future!
-Peter

I recently had some time to look back on photos from that trip and there’s tons of images I want to get out there that didn’t make the first pass. It’s funny how sometimes your best work doesn’t come out until long after the experience, when you have the benefit of hindsight. This post gives a small glimpse of what I saw in Cambodia during my 5 day stay.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

One of the temples of Angkor Wat – This reminds me of Machu Pichu for some reason

Tourists climb to the top of Bakheng Hill Temple to watch the sunset

Cambodian stone relief

A long tunnel at Angkor Wat

Cambodian Guard Monkey

Cambodian Propaganda – We No Longer Need Weapons

A Cambodian fruit stand at night – selling Longans, mangos, bananas, dragonfruit, etc.

Cambodian Street Vendor

The view from Bakheng Hill Temple close to sunset

Ravana Shaking Mt. Kailasa carving in Banteay Srei

Faces of Kings in Cambodia

Angkor Wat Ruins

Here are a lot of select photos from my work over the past few months, enjoy!

Giant 10 patty burger at Elevation Burger

mini cupcakes from Wicked Cupcakes in Austin, Texas

Custom cookies from Polkadots Cupcake Factory

Chocolate Nutella Cupcake from Polkadots Cupcake Factory

Food Kitty – Playing with your food is for adults too

Ice Tea Goodness for an Ice Tea Vodka drink

Peach Frosty Drink

Cheese on Wax Paper