Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival

When we first moved to Pleasanton, California, my wife and I watched the hula performances at the Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival, held annually in November at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. We actually have an Ia 'Oe E Ka La hula festival poster from 1995 hanging in our dining room. Little did I know, my future daughter, yet to be an itch in her daddy’s pants, would be competing in this hula competition decades later.

I photographed the halau performing at the last few Ia 'Oe E Ka La competitions. This year, I asked my daughter if it was okay if I didn’t photograph during the performance. I wanted to sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance. Sometimes as photographers, we need to set down the camera, enjoy the moment, and just be a parent. Ironically, photographing an event and being able to view the photos decades later helps bring back memories, but often the actual real-time experience is lost behind the viewfinder. Parents are not alone in this phenomenon. Kids (and adults) are often too engrossed in taking pictures and videos on their cell phones, uploading it to social media, and tweeting/texting their friends about the event, that they don’t actually experience the moment.

This year, I enjoyed the performances with the wide-angle perspective from my two eyes (and not the tunnel view via my viewfinder). It was beautiful!


Here are a few photos from the 2014 Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival.



After each performance, the parents all rush outside to take pictures of the girls. This year, I decided to stay out of the gaggle of photographers, deciding instead to capture the multitude of iPhones and DSLRs via this photo. Who needs "the same photo" as everyone else!



This is Kami after her wonderful performance.



Kami's friend, Caitlyn, joined us on Sunday to watch the performance.