OAHU {HAWAII}

Continuing on through the islands of Hawaii, we hopped over to Oahu for a few days. Oahu is much more commercialized than Kaua'i was but it was still very beautiful. Our first stop, which everyone must make when they visit this island, was Pearl Harbor. Everyone learns about this tragedy in school but for me at least, I don't think the reality of it really sank in until I went there for myself. As I was standing on the memorial looking down at the ruins of USS Arizona, I was filled with so much emotion and couldn't hold back the tears. I think this in one place that every American especially should make a trip to visit during their life time.

As you look out over the waters while standing at the memorial, the USS Missouri remains parked, which is where the treaty was signed that ended WWII. Above is a photo of this incredible ship. Not many people know this but I have an enormous fear of large ships so for me to handle going to this memorial and being so close to this large vessel without melting down was quiet a feat.

On a sweeter note, we then ventured out to the Dole plantation to learn how pineapples grow.  Wow, I was in for a shocker! I didn't know they grew like this. They are so CUTE! They grow on a tiny little bush close to the ground and it takes three years for a pineapple to finish growing. That explains why they cost so much. Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits. Looking at this photo is making my mouth water. Oh I should mention... finally the sun decided to join us, only two weeks into our adventure. Hooray!

Later that week the winds started to pick up which brought in some incredible waves. We had a lot of of fun sitting on the shore watching the surfers ride the waves. I also am not a huge fan of going in the ocean or of water in general- perhaps I am part cat. So I sad from the sidelines and took my photos.

My littlest brother though thought he was tough enough to beat the waves. See that tall white thing behind him? That is the wave that came crashing down and ate him right up into the ocean just seconds after I took this photograph. My dad had to jump in and get him. He gave the entire family a heart attack, no lie! and was picking sand out of every inch of himself the rest of the week.

This guy however, knew what he was doing. I had a lot of fun photographing him. I submitted this image to Jones Soda and for a brief time it was published on their bottles. The look on his face as he is doing this flip is so awesome. Well there weren't as many crazy adventures on Oahu but we still had fun, got some sun, and ate great food. However, if I ever go back to Hawaii I will make sure that Kaua'i is on my list of stops. That island is unbelievably breathtaking and not so touristy! Highly recommend!

KAUA'I {HAWAII}

Since we have been talking about the US, why don't we pop on down all the way to the island of Kaua'i, Hawaii. One of the most beautiful places on earth. Of course, when I went to visit there it decided to rain for 2 weeks straight. Yeah Hawaii gets rain but usually it's for a short time each day. This was all day, every day, over cast skies, don't go in the water because the sharks are lingering and will eat you kind of rain. But we made the best of it anyway and to this day it is still one of my favorite vacation places. I went to this location with my family. Doesn't happen to much anymore but from time to time they do enjoy bringing a ~photographer~ along. :-) 

Since there is a bit of a time change between there and Minnesota, I found myself waking up well before the sun. That is not so normal for me. The first morning I ventured outside of our condo that overlooked the ocean and found this magnificent view of the sun coming up behind the lighthouse. It was a perfect way to peacefully wake up before beginning our weeks of adventures. 

Despite the rain and clouds we still headed to the beach. This was the local swimming spot by our condo. It looked like a paradise with the bay being surrounded by mountains and the clouds lingering low. Here are my three younger brothers venturing out to go snorkel.

And here is one more family favorite of the three boys all lined up in order by age. They aren't real fond of getting their photo taken and this one was taken in stealth mode so no one ruined it for me. If you have teenagers, then I'm sure you know what I mean. The one thing about being the person with the camera on vacation... often I come home and people ask where I am in all of the photos. :-/

Later that week we took a boat ride up the Napali Mountain coast line. Of course there was more rain and gray skies which brought with it large waves and made for some very sea sick family members! This coast line may look familiar to you. It is the backdrop for many movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the TV show Lost was also filmed here. This photo doesn't do the mountains justice. In real life they look like they reach all the way up to heaven.

 We even had some whales following the boat that day. Whales might every well be one of the most difficult things I have every photographed because you really have no idea when and where they are going to pop out of the water. We stood there for ever just watching over the horizon waiting for any movement to photograph.

This water fall is called Secret Falls. There is a good reason for this too! To get to it you have to paddle a kayak up stream for a hour. Then you land on shore and start hiking. At some point you have to cross a dangerous high current stream by holding on to a rope and the water goes up to your neckline (well at least mine). Then continue walking along the rivers edge for about an hour which is extra fun when it is raining and the mud makes you slide towards the cliff. But this was a once in a lifetime trip. Usually hundreds of people visit this spot every day to swim under the waterfall where the king used to bath but on this day the weather was so bad that the only people who were there were my father, my brother, my self and our tour guide. Wow! I never could have gotten this photo with a hundred people swimming around.

When people ask me to pick my favorite place I've ever been on earth, this is it. I will never forget it as long as I live. Thinking back to it even gives me goosebumps. This is another 16x24 canvas that hangs on my wall in my office that I dream about every day. Once in a lifetime experience!

ARIZONA AND THE {GRAND CANYON}

In my last few posts we visited Alaska where the weather is dangerous and very cold. Now we are going to head way done south back to the lower 48 to Arizona and make a stop at the Grand Canyon and neighboring desert. There is this thing about the Grand Canyon. No matter how many photographs you see of it, nothing will prepare you for the site you will see with your own eyes. It is spectacular, mind blowing, stomach dropping, and best of all it is insanely photogenic. Sounds like a terrible place, I know. It was one of those places where at first I never really cared if and when I ever got to see it but now, I can't wait to go back and see more of it.

 This is one of my favorite photographs that I took of the Grand Canyon. I have a 16x24 inch canvas of it displayed in my office that I look over at every day and day dream about sitting up on that ledge looking over at the most amazing drop I've ever seen.

Here you can see the sun shinning out over the horizon. A little slice of heaven. There are pathways that lead down to the bottom of the Canyon. You can either hike or take a mule and there is much to explore once you reach the bottom. I didn't have time to do this. It takes an entire day to get to the bottom and then to come back up. Next time I go, it is on my list of things to do. There are also some amazing water falls around the Canyon that I would really love to check out some day.

 As I was walking around taking photos, this little feller came across my path and asked me to take a portrait of him. So I did! I was almost within petting distance. Now that isn't something that happens very often in Minnesota.

During this adventure I also had the opportunity to visit some parts of the Arizona desert. We took an amazing motorcycle ride for a day. It was my first time ever on a motorcycle. At first it scared me something crazy, then after a while I couldn't get enough of it!

The one thing I just had to photograph while in Arizona was a cactus. So we drove out to the desert and me in my flip flops walked out into the deadly desert where all the scorpions and snakes live so I could get my darn photo. Seriously, I'll do ANYTHING for a picture. I was later informed that if the police would have caught me I could have been issued an idiot ticket. Ha ha! Yeah I would have deserved it. But luckily  nI as OK!

And last but not least, this is one of my all time favorite photographs I have ever taken. I made us stop at this church out in the middle of the desert as the sun was setting. It's amazing the photography opportunities you will find when you simply just get in the car and drive with no destination in mind.

~Kristen~

Bethal, Alaska {Cama-i Dance Festival}

A few hours flight west of Anchorage is the small town of Bethal, Alaska. This town is the most known to many of the villagers. It is where the closest airport, hospital, and grocery stores are. It's the closest town to the Yup'ik Eskimo villages that is modern and many of the school kids have flown to this town from time to time for events funded by the government's school funds. I traveled to Bethal to attend their cultural festival which features dancing from all regions of Alaska, including a few villages that I performed while in Tununak. This festival is known at the Cama-i Dance Festival. It is a weekend long event and villagers from all around Alaska, as well as tourists come to watch.It is even broadcast live on their website so people from all around can tune in and watch. The festival was still going on once I was back in the lower 48 and I did indeed turn on the website channel and leave it play the rest of the festival. I really enjoyed watching this dancing.

This group of Yup'ik dancers if from the village of Chefornak. I had the privilege of getting to hear them when I was in Tununak so I was familiar with some of their songs and dance steps.

I LOVED photographing the children dancing. This is one of my favorite photos from Bethal. Their expressions are natural and in the moment.

During my travels from Bethal to Anchorage I was able to capture some breathtaking sights of the landscape. These images are the kind that you know in that moment when you see the view it is so spectacular you will never forget what it looked like as long as you live.

Can you see the smoking volcano? I actually didn't even notice it until I was back home and looking over my pictures. What a beautiful sight!

And one last photo to share. It doesn't even look real to me. It looks more like a painting and my memories of being here seem more like a dream.

Question for my readers:

What are some of the most beautiful locations on Earth you have ever had the privilege of visiting?  (leave your comments below!)

TUNUNAK, AK {ESKIMO VILLAGE}

TUNUNAK, AK {ESKIMO VILLAGE}

Part 3:

As I mentioned in an earlier posting on Tununak, the village is located in the tundras on the Bering Sea. It is surrounded by coastline, mountains, icebergs, and desolate land. It is an amazing site! During my adventure we took the snow machines up the mountains right outside the village and chased Musk Ox. Musk Ox look like hairy buffalo. They eat grass and berries that they dig up under the snow and ice. They travel in herds and can be very hard to find because they move so fast and are camouflaged in the mountains. Apparently they are dangerous. Apparently I'm not good at listening when I am told this. Being as stubborn as I am and wanting to do anything to "get the photo" I got off the snow machine (because no one would come with me) and walked close to them to take photos. I had not brought a telephoto lens with me. I was pretty happy with the results. The Musk Ox, however, they were pretty irritated with me! :-) 

On the top of the mountain there are large rocks stacked on top of each other. They look like rock sculptures. These are called "Rock People." The villagers built the rock people to keep the Musk Ox from coming down the mountain and into the village. To the Musk Ox, the rocks look like large people so they get scared and stay away.

They also have a very large wooden cross up on top of the mountain that looks over the village. It is a few stories tall. They have many stories about the tundras and bad sprites that the children told to me while I visited the school. It is believed that little gnomes live in the tundras and if  you wander out to far alone they will take you. It is also believed that this mountain was haunted and a bad spirit lived on it so the cross is there to protect the village and keep all the bad spirits away. It looks beautiful and peaceful looking down over the village.

In the distance you can see the village and to the right is the coast line. The high school is called the Tununak Coasters with the pointed coast line as their mascot. Tununak is also known for their fishing cannery. For a few months a year when the ice has melted away they gather fish that is transported to the lower 48 states to be sold. This is one of the few jobs available in the village. When I was there, all I was able to see was the fishing houses and hanging racks. They still were a beautiful site against the sea.

Well that's all I believe I have time for on Tununak, Alaska. Next up I will tell you a little bit about my day in Bethel, Alaska for their cultural festival. If you would like to contact me further regarding my travels or my photography I'd love to hear from you! Kristen@Herber.com or look me up at Facebook.

TUNUNAK, AK {ESKIMO VILLAGE}

TUNUNAK, AK {ESKIMO VILLAGE}

Part 2:

So the last time I wrote about Tununak, I told you a bit about their traditional dancing as well as a little about how they eat. Today I am going to tell you about their NYO Games {Native Youth Olympics}.  NYO is extremely important to the villages of Alaska. The youth train all year and compete against neighboring villages via skype throughout the winter preparing for the big Olympic competition held every year in Anchorage, Alaska. Youth are taught 10 events. These different events represent skills that have been passed down through generations of Alaskan Native people as a way to test their hunting and survival skills. They also help to increase strength and endurance, agility and the balance of mind and body. Not many athletes in other sports could accomplish what these youth can do in these activities.

The One-Foot High Kick


Considered the headline event of the games, competitors jump off both feet and attempt to kick a ball suspended high in the air with one foot, landing back on that same foot.

 The One-Hand Reach


A game to test a person’s control over their body. Competitors balance the body on both hands in a squat position. Once the balance has been attained they will reach out with one hand in an attempt to touch a suspended ball. Then the free hand must return to the floor before any other part of the body.

The Alaskan High Kick


Perhaps one of the most acrobatic events, the athlete tries to kick a ball suspended overhead while balancing on a single hand in an event that demands the mind and body work in harmony to maintain control. The athlete who kicks the target at the highest height is the winner.

The Seal Hop

The EskimoStick Pull

The Wrist Carry

The Two Foot High Kick

*Special thanks to Anchorage.net for being a resource for some of the facts provided on this page. 

http://www.anchorage.net/articles/nyo-games-alaska

 

TUNUNAK, AK {ESKIMO VILLAGE}

Part 1:

In March of 2011, I decided that the freezing cold winter was the perfect time to travel farther NORTH all the way up to a little alcove along the Bering Sea to an Eskimo Village known as Tununak. This was truly a once in a lifetime adventure being that the general public could never be able to enter these villages without a specific reason or invitation. My invitation was to come and photograph the village. I have a friend from college who was a teacher in the village and without this connection such an opportunity would never have been possible. So, how do you get to a secluded village located in the tundras? Well that alone was a trip of a lifetime.  By a little 4 seater bush plane. I flew from Minneapolis to Anchorage and then from Anchorage to Bethal. From Bethal I took this bush plane where the entire trip all you see is tundra for miles and miles. The day I flew in the weather was terrible and I was the last flight to arrive in the village for 4 entire days! That means no food, supplies, medial equipment or emergencies for that entire time can be attended to until the weather is flyable again. It is so dangerous that the have a TV show on cable about it called Fly Wild Alaska. Yup, that's who I few with, and the village I went to have been featured on the show.

This is me in front of a larger 6 seater bush plane I took going home.

The first few days of my stay there, the neighboring village was having a cultural festival so most of Tununak hopped on snow machines and drove miles through the open windy tundras to go watch the other village dance their traditional Yup'ik dance which is called Yuraq (pronounced: u-huck). I even learned some of their dancing while I was there. Yuraq is a very important part of their culture and is practiced by the adults and children many times a week. Each song they dance to tells a story about their culture. Their dance moves are very strategic, each one representing a word- sort of like sign language. Traditionally, the women stand up and dance, young boys sit on the floor in the front and dance, and the men sit in the back on chairs beating on drums while singing or chanting the words. The drums are made from the intestines of whales and  use sticks made out of the bone of a whale.The women wear fancy headdresses and use dance fans. Family members wear matching Qaspeq's (pronounced: gus-bucks) which is what they call their traditional Yup'ik clothing. The songs are very catchy and even though I don't speak Yup'ik I find myself humming the songs around the house quite often. Here is a photo of one of the elders dancing at the festival. The festival is held in the school gymnasium which is the only modern building in the village. It was build by the government. Most of the villagers live in shacks or huts.

As I mentioned, many of the villagers still live in old huts and shacks. This village is very undeveloped and if it wasn't for the government recently coming in and building them a school they would have very little knowledge of the outside world. They still dress traditionally, however you will see some students who are starting to conform to popular styles of clothing if they can find a way to own it. Most of their diet revolves around what they find on the land and in the ocean. Whale, seal, muskox, fish, salmon berries; they only have a few months a year where there is not snow on the ground so not much grows there for vegetation. There is a small grocery store in town about the size of my bedroom that supplies some packaged goods but only 10% of the villagers hold a job so money is a huge problem for these people. I have traveled to many places around the world. Many poor places. Here in the United States is where I found one of the poorest places I have ever been.

Tununak baby in traditional clothing

Pauline Pitka, Tundra grass weaver