DENNIS ODA, HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN FROM HAWAII 24/7 Kyra McGlinn-Fo, avoiding the problem of tan lines, comes to Kailua Beach with mother Kari McGlinn whenever mom is between classes at the University of Hawai'i. Kyra's ancestry counts Japanese, Native American, and Portuguese strains, but those McGlinn genes demand SPF 30 sunscreen.

Isle pages

New releases from
Hawaii authors

"Hawai'i 24/7"
Created by Rick Smolan
and David Elliot Cohen
(DK Publishing, $24.95)

Smolan and Elliot, masters of epic stunt photojournalism -- they came up with the fabulous "A Day in the Life of America" and subsequent volumes -- are back with an even bigger project. "24/7" assigned more than 3,000 professional photographers and tens of thousands of amateurs to document their neighborhoods over a week's span last spring. The result is 50 separate books, one for each state, plus an omnibus greatest-hits collaboration that's nation-wide. The only criteria was that, for the first time, only digital cameras could be used. This greatly increased the speed of transport, editing and layout, and the books were ready with lightning speed. These projects, which had their start in the University of Missouri photojournalism department's small- town photo essays of the 1970s, depends as much on the ruthlessness of editors as on the keen eyes of the field photogs. The result is rather sunny and cheerful, aided by the NatGeo-style photo captions that impart both data and a sense of place to the image. The "Hawai'i" book is no exception, and the images are exceptional. Naturally, the work by newspaper photogs Dennis Oda, George F. Lee, Jeff Widener and Deborah Booker is fabulous, but I also much liked the technical adventurousness of Richard A. Cooke III, the zen timing of Sergio Goes, the intimacy of Monte Costa and the humor of Brett Uprichard. The pages are rimmed with thumbnail images of pictures that didn't make the final cut -- they're all so good it gives you an idea how much hair the editors of this project must have pulled out in the process. Smolan and Cohen's next project will probably be called Photopalooza!

SERGIO GOES FROM HAWAII 24/7 When he isn't riding his longboard, famed Makaha water man and patriarch Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana promotes proper respect for the ocean. In 1977, he started Buffalo's Big Board Surfing Classic, a competition that revived the graceful art of Hawaiian-style surfing. Between Buffalo, his six children, and 10 grandchildren, the Keaulana clan owns more than 100 surfboards.

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