Here’s a few more images from the last couple weeks in Hawaii… which is always bucket loads of fun (but our time spent there is never long enough). Joelle was completely stoked on the weather, beaches and warm water. We’re so thankful that she loves the beach as much as we do :) We really had a refreshing vacation and a lot of quality time spent with our local “family”. Can’t wait to see everyone again!
We had many many many highlights on this trip: Friends becoming prego, whales getting uncomfortably close, skinny dipping EVERYWHERE, swimming with manta rays, night diving (spear fishing), sushi date nights, sunset beach seshes & bbqs, surfing with the bros, testing out military grade underwater propulsion units (yeah, they were BA – sneak peak in the above image of us testing the units, you should see the vidoes), and we even survived the 6 inch “tsunami” that hit the islands ;) Among those highlights were having our family photos done in upcountry Maui by great friend Jenna Strubhar. CLICK HERE to see more of our family photos on her blog.
Here’s what we’ve been up to lately on our Maui vacation: Joelle and the West Maui Mountains (above), and below Joey is throwin’ sand on our lens – awesome :) Love me some sandy camera gear.
A few barrels here and there.
Did some whale watchin’
Got up close and personal with a pod of whales (PRESS PLAY below):
Some UNDERWATEROGRAPHY: Mike Woodard and Nate Strubhar. Cannon balls and belly flops.
It’s that time of year again… time for Team Christenson’s annual pilgrimage back to the motherland. Back to the place where Courtney and I lived, met, fell in love and got engaged… MAUI!!! The place that holds some of our dearest friends who are as close as family. This trips agenda is pretty much the same as all trips to Maui: eat our weight in sushi and dirty local food (Da Kitchen), visit the beach a couple times a day, watch many-a-sunsets and have many-a-brewskis with dear friends, straight kick-it with our STELLAR hosts the Woodard family (Shake & Bake 2nd annual extravaganza is goin’ down), catch up on some sleep, do some sailing, photograph some fun personal projects, off-road & boulder climb in our rental car, chase the surf ’round the island, scuba dive with sharks, swim with whales… you know, the “usual” ;) Needless to say, we’re completely amped about a couple weeks of vay-kay in one of our favorite places on planet earth to visit. If you’re “on island” we’ll see you soon, if you’re back on the “mainland” we’ll try and make it home sometime in the not too distant future :) Follow us ’round the island by keepin’ up on Twitter: 
Courtney and I just returned from a very inspiring trip to South Africa. It was a media gathering/creating venture for a ngo called Themba International. Jeff Johnson is the founder and was kind enough to take us along as he returned to his “home away from home” to continue researching eco friendly ways to help the people of South Africa. We traveled with a small media team who’s goal was to capture imagery and create multimedia that would tell the story of the South African people living in a township called Thembalethu. The stories, imagery and content are meant to challenge the viewer to “Consume with Conscience” and provide opportunities for the viewer to be about positive change in their communities in The States while impacting and providing jobs for communities in South Africa. While in country, we branded Themba, started working on some print collateral and the website, and scripted/produced several informational videos. Our media team was filled with outstanding individuals, Jeff’s vision for Themba is right on, and the people we connected and shared stories with were inspiring beyond words.
Well, we made it safely to South Africa and back again. What a great trip! We have TONS of content to go through and edit for Themba International (the nonprofit organization that we traveled and worked with (photo/design/video) while in S.Africa – we’ll post more about that at a later date). 
When we weren’t shooting, scripting, dreaming, filming or creating content for Themba, we were spending time in/near the ocean (it’s their summer season down there, so the weather and ocean were downright pleasant). The casa we bunked at was literally on the sand of a small beach called Herolds Bay (shown above), we enjoyed the beautiful ocean on a daily basis… taking in the smell, the breeze, the warmth and the ocean critters - a shark was even sited in the water during one of our surf sessions :) We spent a morning cage diving in one of the sharkiest places on planet earth – Mossel Bay - those crazy slow-motion shark attack clips in the series “Planet Earth” were filmed in that very same bay :) It’s home to a massive population of Great White Sharks.
We’re hoppin’ on a flight this evening that’s bound for NYC, then Johannesburg, and ultimately George, South Africa (just a few hours from Cape Town, the southern most tip of Africa). South Africa has a population of over 50 million, and has the second-highest number of HIV/Aids patients in the world. Around one in seven of its citizens is infected with HIV. Even though S. Africa has the continent’s largest economy, the country struggles with a crazy amount of racial tension, widespread poverty, and high crime & unemployment rates. For this particular trip to Africa, Courtney and I are part of a small strategic media team (film crew included) traveling on behalf of a launching ngo called Themba International. Much of the multimedia we create (videos, websites, print collateral) will be geared towards educating westerners on the issues S. Africa faces and how Themba proposes to help.
by Gary
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