The Spin on Green Energy

"Do you need me to set down in that field over there for a minute so you can walk 'round and get your bearings?" I hadn't flown in an R22 before. It dropped out of the sky into the field we stood in like an oversized mosquito piloted by a vet who was straight out of Wild Kingdom. It wasn't much bigger than my rental car. Shooting out of the tiny cockpit with no door using a 200mm lens on my Canon 5D Mark II I almost lost my lunch a few times because of the magnified motion that I didn't control. I used to work on boats in Alaska and have a strong stomach but this was different. We flew in between sets of the giant rotating windmill blades in heavy gusts and got some nice angles. Our flight time was later than I'd wanted and so we concentrated on dusk/dawn images for the rest of the shoot for more saturated horizon color. The units stand along ridge lines like futuristic versions of Don Quixote's dragons spinning their way to create a 150MW of green West Texas power. I had the privilege of climbing the inside of one of the nearly 300 foot units with NRG's CEO and other visitors. It was an exciting assignment, seeing up close the workings and benefits of green energy production.

Flip-Flop Basketball

Even off-piste travel guides challenge gypsy notions of discovery. I sometimes end up feeling stifled when I'm on the road like a package on a shelf following the same routes other visitors choose. After cursory looks at tourist spots for me it's best to search out something that feels more local when I can. As I rolled into Kahului after driving the wearying road along the coast of West Maui, I came across a pick-up basketball game. I pulled over and asked if I could shoot some pictures of the players. Everyone seemed really welcoming. There just isn't anything more authentically Hawaiian than basketball in flip-flops. It's not something you'll see on any other American street. I shot a few portraits and some dodgeball while I was there and felt a real sense of Hawaiian community that I wasn't finding other places on the island.