Growing up on the big island of Hawaii, I was accustomed to a slower pace. When I moved to Oahu to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, it took me a long time to get used to the faster paced life of the city. It also took me some time to get past the overdevelopment of Honolulu and see what a truly beautiful island Oahu is. I discovered that I simply had to go for a drive and get out of the city. The mountains and the ocean became my haven. Hiking in the mountains brought me inner peace and an escape from the stresses of life. Swimming and surfing immersed me in the ocean, where I was regenerated by our planet’s driving force. With both activities I found a balance of solitude and exhilaration.

In school I directed my studies to an Environmental Studies major and shifted my focus towards conservation of our unique natural resources. I now work in conservation for Oahu Army Natural Resources, managing endangered plants and animals on Oahu, in a multitude of different environments, from wet forests to coastal communities. Many of our endemic species are so rare that only a handful are left and are threatened by a host of threats from loss of habitat to the introduction of invasive species. Through photography, I hope to share some of these experiences with you, and to inspire others to join in the effort of conserving Hawaii’s rare and unique natural resources.

I have expanded my photographic scope to include portraiture and weddings. I find great reward in documenting and capturing milestones in people's lives. Photography allows me to capture moments in time that either can’t be described with words or that occur so fast that they have come and gone within the blink of an eye, or the click of a shutter. Being able to freeze a moment and share it with others is a surreal concept and my ultimate goal with photography.

~Aloha

Will