We were asked to photograph another charity photo event last Wednesday night at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There were five different categories we were asked to document. This was the second event we helped on the Shaka Project, which is making a documentary on the origin and history of the shaka, a Hawaiian gesture of friendship. Here’s a link to the documentary: Shaka, a Power of Aloha, which is expected to come out next year.

We worked for food. In exchange for our photographs, we were invited to a luau, a traditional Hawaiian feast celebrating a major milestone on the film. We started with a piña colada, a buffet, local entertainment, and the world’s first Shaka Contest, with 10 styles of Shaka. The special entertainment was intended to be included in the final documentary.

The guests all arrived walking down a Yellow Carpet, before being signed into this private event. We positioned ourselves along that carpet for awhile, and got images of people as they came in. As you can tell from the umbrellas, it was raining at the time, though not very heavily.

Evelyn and I then went backstage and photographed people working behind-the-scenes. Some were the professional video company that is sponsoring the movie (all except top-right and bottom-right). Some were of other photographers from our EOH (Eyes of Hawaii) club (upper-right), entertainers or contestants of the Shaka contest, waiting their turn on stage (lower-right)

Of course a central theme of any luau is the food, and there was plenty to keep everyone happy. We started out with non-alcoholic Piña Colada drinks (which were delicious, and we had refills simply by raising our hand with the Shaka gesture !). You can see the staff filling the pineapples (upper-right) and wheeling them out to the guests (middle-right). Everyone seemed to enjoy the drink (middle-left).

Any luau must have a pig, and we had two (middle). We then had a buffet bar, where we could choose as much as wanted of a wide variety of culinary treats (upper-left). There were also stations to deliver the pig and fish (lower-right). Twice during the night, the power went out (lower-left) as the extra load of the professional video lights overwhelmed the circuit breakers.

The music and dance of this luau was unlike most such Hawaiian luaus, due to the intent of using the performances for the movie. There were five young girls who danced hula and other dances (top), and Henry Kapono, a famous local Hawaiian musician providing much of the music (center-right and bottom). One of the times the power went out, the hulu young girls were teaching audience members how to hula. After no more than a moment’s surprise, they continued with their lessons by the light of audience phones (center-left).

The bulk of the time was spent on the world’s first shaka contest. Before we go on… what is a shaka? There are several ‘origin’ stories, but the most widely believed is that there was sugar cane worker who used to wave at tourists as they passed by. In an industrial accident, he lost his middle three fingers. That never stopped him though. He continued to work the sugar cane, and continued to wave at people driving by. However, now he only had his thumb and little finger, with the other fingers missing. Now, giving a “shaka” means waving with the three middle fingers retracted, showing only the thumb and little finger, as a way of saying “hello,” or “welcome,” or “thanks” in Hawaiian fashion.

The second half of the Shakacon show was a competition. They created 10 styles of shakas — all made up for the movie — and had 6 people compete for the best shaka in each category. These categories included Train Jumper (upper-right), Right on the Kini Popo (top-middle), Buddha (middle and lower-left), Hang Loose (lower-right – unique toe shaka! ☺ ), beauty pageant (lower-middle).

Everyone was encouraged to give shakas during the night, and we caught as many of those as possible. We also caught a few special images, such as the contestants taking a selfie of themselves on stage (middle-right). One of the contests in the Military Shaka was a man who had lost both of his arms from an IED (upper-right). Though he could not give a traditional shaka, he received a standing ovation and was awarded the top prize for the military category.

As we left the event and headed for home, we saw the statue outside the Polynesian Cultural Center, where this was held. It seemed fitting to include (lower-right).