JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, left, talked with Kaho‘okahi Kanuha on July 24 during the 10th day of protests against the TMT telescope on Mauna Kea. “I was fortunate to have been ready for Johnson’s unexpected and unannounced visit. It was really difficult to get a clean shot of him and protest leader Kaho‘okahi Kanuha, but it was a nice day, and going low was the way to go. I feel this was a different pictorial way of telling the story on Mauna Kea.”

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Firefighters extinguished an early morning house fire at 1234 Matlock Ave. in Makiki on Jan. 3. “I was asleep at home at 5 a.m. when I got a call from work about a fire in Makiki. I quickly drove there and parked nearby. An elderly woman offered to hold my cameras as I climbed over a tall fence to get closer to the scene. Then I saw the firefighters spraying water all over the smoldering remains of what was left of the house. The neighbors said no one lived in the home. The fire left the house completely destroyed.”

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Police with guns drawn crossed the street and prepared to enter a house at 3759 Likini St. in Salt Lake where a man had barricaded himself on Nov. 15. “I was told there was a hostage situation in Foster Village. That’s all I knew, so the first place I went to I only saw police closing access to the street. I moved to another place and saw two TV news cameramen at the police barricade, but I couldn’t see anything. After about a half an hour of waiting, I decided to find a better vantage point. I drove to the opposite side of the street and found an unobstructed view of the street. It was far away, but at least I could see the police canvassing the area. There were no other media. I had it all to myself. After about two hours, I heard a loud explosion, then I saw the police rush across the street with guns drawn and run into the house. They finally brought the man out without shooting him. When you see this going down, your heart’s pumping, but you have to remain calm and fire your camera. The natural thing to do is just watch, but if you’re a photographer, you have to concentrate on the scene, make sure it’s in focus and compose it properly.”

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

“I was assigned to the Kahuku side of the wind farm protest in October. When it was time, police crowded around the members of Ku Kiai Kahuku still sitting and started arresting them. Ilissa Aalona, of Hauula, quietly sitting, was lifted and carried to a waiting van.”

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

“I was looking to illustrate the fairly high surf that was pounding the south shore of the island that day (July 14). I stood at a vantage point to view the waves crashing on the Kapahulu Groin and captured several frames, with this being the best frame to tell the story.”

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

“While driving around Honolulu on Feb. 19 looking for wild art (stand-alone photos), I stopped at Kakaako Waterfront Park near the Point Panic surf spot. I saw a whale swimming near a tour boat that was heading out of Kewalo Basin and waited for the whale to surface again. After waiting for a while, an outrigger canoe crew came paddling by on a practice run, when the whale’s tail was again visible above the water’s surface. (It’s a little fuzzy because the subjects were far away.)”

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

“Irony has always been part and parcel of my trade and how I view the world. This is the back window of Happy Days Chinese Restaurant at the top of Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki. Taken in October, this photo shows a gentleman who was probably the cook averting his gaze from his smartphone to glance out the barred window as I photographed him with mine.”

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Kupuna Napua McShane Burke exchanged ha (breath) with Gov. David Ige during the ninth day of protests against the TMT telescope on July 23 at the base of Mauna Kea. “We always strive to make images that tell the story without any words necessary, and I feel this image is one of the few in my career that absolutely does that. A community in peril, an administration bound by rules and jurisdiction — all coming to a head in one moment. But the journey to make this photo wasn’t an easy one. I had altitude sickness from being on the mauna for extended periods of time, and I had to earn the trust of the kupuna and the community, all while being committed to tell the story in the most straightforward way possible.”

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Developer John Davenport and his Mighty Wo Fat LLC are redeveloping the historic Wo Fat building in Chinatown and turning it into a hotel and retail space. This image of the Wo Fat neon sign from a second-floor window was shot earlier this month. “In the mid-’50s, I used to bring my baby (pigeon) squabs from my Aala Lane home to sell to the owner. I thought he liked pigeons as pets, not to eat!”

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

“For as long as I have been a photojournalist, and even an aspiring one, I have studied and loved the masters of French street photography: Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Atget, Koudelka. Paris with its style, its color and people has intrigued me while on vacations there in 2017 and 2019. An image taken in April captured a pair of seniors waiting at a bus stop on the Rue de Rivoli in the 4th ­arrondissement, in contrast to the youth culture and action on the streets of that vibrant city.”

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

Kakuku residents and their supporters gathered to oppose the delivery of components for four wind turbines to be built at the Na Pua Makani wind farm at the Kahuku Agricultural Park Oct. 17. Pictured to the right is Samson A‘ea, the last to be arrested, as he was led to a paddy wagon by Honolulu Police Department officers. At the same time, AES Corp. workers, left, quickly dismantled a temporary fence to allow the trucks hauling turbine pieces through. A total of eight turbines were slated to be built. Kahuku residents say the turbines lead to health problems, which include migraines, nausea and other physiological symptoms caused by constant noises and lights from the turbines, along with posing a threat to the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat. AES Corp. contends that the wind turbines will have no ill health effects.