*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1s, f/11, ISO800*

It felt to me that 2025 was over in the blink of an eye! Deciding to wake up with the 2026 sunrise was a tougher decision to make this year than last, but I’m glad that I did. I met up with my buddy Ryan to greet the New Year.

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 120s, f/11, ISO800*

We’ve been meeting up in Waialae for New Years lately because other locations around the island have gotten more crowded than we would like. I parallel parked near the park as per usual because the parking lot is usually closed this early in the AM, but Ryan texted not 1-minute after informing me that the parking lot was in-fact open! I didn’t bother moving the car because I already had the first shot in mind, this long exposure of the bridge that I always take pre-sunrise here just to get the juices flowing.

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 120s, f/11, ISO200*

I don’t want to say that I’ve been getting lazier as I age, but I only brought the X100VI camera and my tiny filter kit with my beefy tripod. I said “Hi” to Ryan and started setting up for the obligatory water-wall shot. This year I decided to take one from a high angle instead of being low-to-the-ground, having seen my buddy Dave do this in the past to great results. I liked the contrasting bright side/dark side vibe to this image.

As landscape got brighter, I turned the camera away from the sun for a moment to catch some of the beautiful island we call home. Unlike most mornings I’ve been here, the canal water reached the ocean, so the foreground here is that water.

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/125s, f/11, ISO800*

I finally decided to start using my brain to get a few more-creative photos, so this is when I took this frame and the title photo featuring Ryan being still for a whole second!

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/125s, f/4, ISO800*

Then it was time for the important decision… where to eat! The usual (Mokes) was closed for the holiday, and even local staple Zippys didn’t open till 1030am. After some quick phone research, we decided to try et al. I ordered the crunchy crab eggs benedict and an Americano. The food was pretty good, but I was hoping that there would be two benedict’s instead of of just one.

That’s all for New Year 2026. あけましておめでとう！

01.01.2026