Filming Hālau Ka Pā Hula O Hīnano’s May Day Celebration on Kauaʻi

Recently, Kanakanowelo had the opportunity to film Hālau Ka Pā Hula O Hinano during their May Day event held at the beautiful Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa.

This production was especially exciting for us because it marked the first time we deployed all three of our Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro cameras together for a live event production.

The evening featured Kumu Hula Troy Allen Lāzaro and his hālau, alongside incredible Hawaiian music, beautiful lei, elegant aloha wear, and an atmosphere that truly reflected the spirit of May Day — or Lei Day — celebrated every year on May 1st throughout Hawaiʻi.

Capturing the Spirit of Lei Day

From the moment guests began arriving, the venue was filled with color and culture. Many attendees wore stunning Hawaiian designer clothing, adorned with fresh lei and floral arrangements that added to the beauty of the evening.

As videographers, events like this are special because they are more than performances — they are cultural gatherings filled with ʻike, tradition, emotion, and community connection.

Throughout the evening, the hula performances were powerful and beautifully executed. The live Hawaiian music elevated the entire experience and reminded us why we enjoy documenting Hawaiian events so much.

The music lineup included talented musicians from Hawaiʻi’s music community such as:

• Glenn Mayeda

• Kaulike Pescaia

There was also a newer musician performing that evening whom we had only recently seen online, and the music throughout the night was excellent.

One meaningful moment shared during the event was when Troy Allen Lāzaro mentioned that one of his students is currently going through the uniki process and graduation ceremony. Everyone in the room was excited and supportive, making it another reminder of how deeply rooted these traditions are within the community.

Our First Three-Camera Blackmagic Studio 6K Setup

This event was also a major milestone for our production workflow.

For the first time, we used all three Blackmagic Studio 6K Pro cameras simultaneously to capture multiple angles throughout the show. Each camera recorded directly onto its own SSD drive, allowing us to maintain separate camera angles for editing flexibility and archival purposes.

We chose to shoot in 6K instead of 4K because the 6K mode provided a wider field of view. Shooting in 4K introduced a crop factor that we wanted to avoid for this type of live event coverage.

One thing we appreciate about the Blackmagic ecosystem is the ability to maintain high image quality while still recording manageable file sizes directly onto SSD storage.

Powering Cameras with EcoFlow Batteries

Because of the venue layout, some of our cameras were powered using EcoFlow portable power stations, including the smaller River 2 unit.

The setup worked well for most of the event, but toward the end of the show, the EcoFlow River 2 battery ran out of power, causing one camera recording to stop earlier than expected.

Live productions are always learning experiences, and situations like this help us refine our future workflows:

• Better runtime calculations

• Larger backup batteries

• Redundant power solutions

• Improved power monitoring during performances

These lessons are all part of improving reliability for future productions.

Learning from Live Audio Challenges

Audio is one of the most important parts of live event videography, and this production reinforced another valuable lesson for us.

For most of the night, the audio sounded excellent and was captured clearly. However, near the end of the event, power was disconnected from the audio recorder before the recording was properly stopped.

Unfortunately, this caused the final portion of the audio file to become corrupted and unreadable.

This experience reminded us how important shutdown procedures are during live productions. Going forward, we plan to:

• Clearly label recorder shutdown instructions

• Ensure recordings are fully stopped before disconnecting power

• Personally monitor recorder shutdown procedures immediately after performances conclude

Every production teaches something new, and improving systems after real-world experiences is a major part of professional event coverage.

Why We Love Filming Hawaiian Cultural Events

At Kanakanowelo, we always enjoy working with Hawaiian groups, Hawaiian organizations, hālau hula, immersion schools, and cultural programs throughout Hawaiʻi.

These events are important to document because they preserve moments of ʻike, celebration, music, language, dance, and community connection for future generations.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to help capture these experiences through video and storytelling.

Hire Kanakanowelo for Your Next Event

Whether you’re organizing:

• Hula events

• Hawaiian cultural programs

• Concerts

• Live performances

• School events

• Community celebrations

• Conferences

• Documentary projects

Kanakanowelo provides professional videography, livestreaming, multi-camera production, and storytelling services throughout Hawaiʻi.

Visit:
https://www.kanakanowelo.com

Let’s capture your story together.