My wifey surprised me with the Sunrise Photo Tour since I am a photography student at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design). She just started to get into photography herself but has been very hesitant to go off the auto settings on her camera. Well, De-Jay, the Rad Tour Guide as his official title calls him, fixed that in a hurry.
We had a little hiccup at the beginning of the tour. Apparently, a third party is used to schedule the pickups and they did not adjust the time for the changing seasons (the sun tends to dictate the schedule which this third party did not adjust for). So, needless to say, De-Jay got a less than enthusiastic greeting from me when he arrived almost 30 minutes later than we expected.
However, our ire was quickly extinguished within minutes of chatting with De-Jay. His calm demeanor, witty banter and love for the island and photography in general made us immediately forget all about the timing issue (of course, I wasn't able to get any coffee yet, so that probably wasn't helping matters either!)
We started our tour with the sunrise at Sandy Beach where De-Jay ensured that we were all set with our equipment and gave us several tips and tricks on how to capture that special sunrise. He spent a lot of time with my wife teaching her how to use her camera on manual settings. I was amazed at his ability to understand multiple cameras even though he had very little experience with that particular model and manufacturer.
Afterwards, we stopped for coffee (many thanks for the caffeine boost and yes, the maple pecan latte was excellent!) and headed out for some more spots. All along the way, we cracked jokes with each other and genuinely enjoyed each others' company. It felt more like a bunch of friends hanging out than it did like an organized tour.
We made a few more stops where De-Jay continued to provide expert advise, a bunch of seriously bad jokes that still made you laugh (mainly because they were so bad!), and useful information on the local area. We were also able to fit in a breakfast stop at Kalapawai Market in Kailua. It was a small market with an even smaller deli/sandwich stop in the back. It might have been small but it was insanely good. I had a chili dog that was actually better than the Fenway Frank. Seriously. I didn't think that was possible.
Anyways, if you are even slightly considering going out to Oahu for a visit, or if you are actually lucky enough to live there and want to go out and grab some great photos, give De-Jay and the rest of the crew at Oahu Photography a call. You will not be disappointed!! I now have them on speed dial for our next stop out to Oahu.
Signed,
Almond Joy