Photo journal from earlier this year.
A very lovely afternoon spent at Fogama’a Cove with friends. We sat in the shade, stayed hydrated, chit chatted, snorkeled a bit, and sat in the water the rest until our fingers and toes got as wrinkled as raisins.
Ok now for the next stop on Gabby’s errands, where I brought my camera and shot these mostly candid photos… we went to Samu’s Ice Cream shop in Utulei. We were actually there in hopes that they would have poke bowls, since the fish market ran out of poke, but while they didn’t have any poke, the homemade ice cream flavors are perfect for hot days. We ran into Gabby’s cousin Toa, who owns and runs the shop, and he showed us the new kitchen they’re working on for the shop. It’s always so cool to see someone young, our age, running a business and expanding it too.
[02.26.2021]
The next stop on Gabby’s errands was a visit to Pago Plaza to drop some items off at Ruby Red Cafe. I snapped these photos in the short 10 minutes we were there, and actually, I love these!
[02.26.2021]
I’d say the Fagatogo Marketplace is probably one of the best spots to play around with street photography in American Samoa. There are brightly colored handicrafts, beautiful faces, fresh produce, and local food that make for a picture-perfect postcard of what life on the island is like. Plus, the bus depot next door is a great spot to capture the infamous aiga buses, in different shapes, sizes, colors, and art. The First Fridays (and Third Fridays) of each month at the market are fun to check out too because there are more food options, and local entertainment, but they’ve been on pause since last March due to COVID.
I had fun shooting these pics… mostly in manual mode so I could practice. Hopefully over time, I can overcome the stage fright of carrying my camera around in public too!
[02.26.2021]
I braved the stares from strangers and brought my camera with me while running errands with Gabby last week Friday. I definitely felt awkward at first but it felt liberating to pretend like I didn’t care what anyone thought.
Someone we bumped into actually told me they thought I was a tourist… which is impossible because borders have been closed since last March, but I found it funny that just because I had a camera, I was pegged as a “tourist”. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but a quick lookup in the dictionary defines a tourist as “a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure”… which I totally vibe with! I’ve been starving for new travel adventures… so I’ve embraced that notion.
Anyhow – I’ll be spamming the interwebs with some of my attempted ~StReEt PhOtoGrApHy~ hahah… I say it like that because ever since I was in high school, I was obsessed with street photography… particularly street fashion photography. And while I’m not on the streets in American Samoa for the fashion, I did want to capture the local flair candidly. Plus, I’ve also been refueling my creative juices and I just want to shoot as much as possible whenever it makes me happy!
Which brings us to the Fagatogo Fish Market….
Open only on Fridays from 10am until whenever they sell out (usually within just a few hours), and located at the Fagatogo Market, the Fagatogo Fish Market is owned by our friends, Dustin and his wife Tumuai. They’re good people who appreciate great quality food, and I love to get out and support them by eating all the yummy food. They get all their fish locally, and they have an array of options from fresh raw fish loins, to sashimi, shoyu/spicy/California poke, and sushi rolls, then there’s Samoan oka, smoked fish jerky, and baja fish tacos… all made fresh! My favorites are the California poke and the baja fish tacos… mmmm.
When Gabby and I got there at near-noon, they had pretty much sold out of almost everything including my usual favorite, the California poke, but we were lucky to get baja fish tacos and oka (thanks Gabby!). I also picked up a couple of wooden tealight candle holders, from the Tropical Trees and Seas mini-booth. They’re made from local hardwood and are perfect to be given as gifts. We had lunch up at Gabby’s parents’ house and scarfed down our meal like nobody’s business.
[02.26.2021]
Going back through my photo archives from 2020, and can’t believe I forgot about these gems!
I snapped these photos of the night sky in Ofu-Olosega in September 2020 during my weeklong trip with Ian.
The weather fluctuated while we were there, so when it finally cleared up on this night, I asked Ian to take me to the beach and to the bridge to take photos. I wanted to practice my astrophotography on my Sony A7III and originally wanted to capture the Milky Way with one of the island’s iconic mountains to frame the shot, but our galaxy was tipped in another direction of the horizon so I couldn’t position the Milky Way and the mountain in a single shot. Still, I had to try to capture these enchanting diamonds of the sky. We didn’t stay out for very long because it was the night before I had to fly back to Tutuila and we wanted to wake up early for a last adventure, but after finagling with my camera and waiting for the shutter to sound off multiple times, I looked down at my brightly lit LCD screen and I couldn’t help but beam… I loved it! These shots were such a picture-perfect reminder of the magnificence and awe I feel every time I have the pleasure of staying in Manu’a.
