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Interview with a Brazilian TV show　ブラジルのテレビ局とインタビュー

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October 1, 2014/by
Interview with a Brazilian TV show　ブラジルのテレビ局とインタビュー I got a email from a Brazilian TV show, MULTISHOW. They told me that they are launching a new TV program and it will suit perfect with my Underwater Healer Project. They wanted to interview me in person. ブラジルのテレビ局、ムルティショーのプロデューサーから連絡があり、来年の新しい番組に私の去年からしているキャンペーンがぴったりだと言う事で、サンフランシスコの私の家（オフィス）でインタビューがしたいというメールでした。 I was super excited to have people over from Brazil and I felt definitely flattered by it. I'm grateful to be part of the show and to share my story to inspire the world. もちろんオーケーを出してすぐにスケジュールをくみました。他国からも興味を持っていただけて私のストーリーが世界中に広がってくれるのはとても嬉しいです。 The director, Gustavo and the cinematographer, Manuel were super nice, interesting and professional. I talked for 40min. I'm a listener and usually don't talk much so I felt like I used up 1 year worth of my voice and tons  of calories! They had few shots of me editing photos and my mermaid decorations. I hope I told everything they needed to know... It was a great experience meeting them and talking in front of the camera!　ディレクターのグスタボとシネマトグラファーのマニュエルはとても親切でoおもしろくて、プロフェショナルでした。４０分ほどのインタビューで喋りまくり。普段は聞き手なので、一年分の声とカロリーを燃やした感じです。笑。その後は私が写真を編集している所を何ショットか撮ってくれました。彼らが知りたいことをすべて話せてたらいいのですが、少し心配です。 For the perfect composition....The cinematographer, Manuel is fixing my best friend's underwater portrait photo from Puerto Rico. 私のベストフレンドの写真の位置を完璧な場所に動かしているマニュエル。 AND it is a SMALL WORLD. Manuel and I have a mutual friend, Branca!! I asked Branca if Multishow really exist in Brazil (hahaha). Meanwhile, Branca was trying to meet Manuel to catch up! Crazy! He was too busy and they had no chance to meet up :( I hope three of us can meet...
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Hawaii Trip – Yoga Retreat, UW yoga photo shoot, Hawaiian Cancer Survivor and friends!

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February 13, 2014/by
I came back from Hawaii a month ago and I'm still keeping my Aloha spirit in me. I was on Maui and Oahu for 6 days! My main plan was to only relax doing yoga retreat at Lumeria with my favorite instructor Lisa Danylchuk. She also worked with me on one of the cancer survivor photo shoots with Erica Yee. The yoga retreat center, Lumeria was gorgeous! I loved the vibe and the architecture design. People are super duper x5 nice and sweet! I was like in the dream being in the nature, practicing yoga, dipping in jaccouzi, swimming in the pool and eating organic delicious food everyday. I was also working on my underwater images and it was my dream office to work at! I brought my camera gear to capture Lisa's amazing yoga poses and the cool yogoni gang we spent 5days with! They all loved the experience and I was happy to work with them. While I was in Maui, I made a decision to meet at least one Hawaiian cancer survivor for an underwater healer photo shoot. I contacted my friend Kimi Werner and she introduced me to Amber Noilani who survived from thyroid cancer when she was 20 years old. I made a spontaneous decision to go to there for 6 hrs to meet them. Due to the Friday traffic, we got to the pool late and we had only 30-40 min. in the water. But I've got to capture Amber's beautiful images and the moment of Amber...
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Happy New Year!!! Underwater healer project will be growing in 2014!

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January 1, 2014/by
Happy New Year, Everyone!! あけまして　おめでとうございます！ 2013 was an amazing, inspirational and evolving year for me. I felt like I was riding on a roller coaster emotionally and physically everyday. It was definitely fun and dizzy :) Looking back into all the underwater portrait photos in 2013, I had 23 portrait photo shoots including survivors, engagement, family and maternity! I was busy towards the end of the year especially working with 10 survivors in 3 states in 3 months besides my full time job! I managed my time to not lose myself and I think I made it through successful result! ２０１３年はとても刺激的で進化した一年でした。毎日、ローラーコースターに乗っているような楽しく、目まいのする、激しい毎日でした。一年を振り返ってみると、今年は２３の水中撮影を終える事ができました。サバイバーの人達、妊婦さん、婚約、ファミリー撮影、昼のお仕事の合間を探しながらスムーズにこなす事ができました。特に年末は１０人のサバイバーを３つのロケーションで３ヶ月で撮ったので風邪を引きましたが　自分を失わず、キャンペーンを成功する事ができたと思います。 My project, Underwater Healer About Face, helping heal cancer survivors through underwater portrait photography, was featured on CBS, The Huffington Post, The Huff Women, BuzzFeed, Weather Channel, IMDb, AsianWeek etc.  It was an exciting moment and I've never felt that kind of chill and goosebumps all over my body inside out. I loved that feeling. (definitely not good for your heart :) キャンペーンは色々なメディアに取り上げられ、多くの人達に見てもらえる事ができました。ドキドキして、鳥肌のがたち、心臓に悪い毎日を過ごしました。 I'm currently working on a book of cancer survivor underwater images with their stories. It'll be in English and Japanese. I'm hoping to extend my project all over the world and reach out to people as much as I can. This is my first book that I'm designing and I hope many people can read it and get inspire. 今はサバイバーのイメージコレクションの写真集をデザインしています。彼らのストーリーもそえてレイアウトしました。初めて自己出版する写真集。日本語にも訳してあるので多くの人達にみていただければ良いなと思います。 Thank you so much. I would not have been able to do this campaign without your support! I hope you all have a fantastic new year! 本当に皆様のご協力のおかげでここまでやって行く事ができました。ありがとうございます。２０１４年も良いお年をお迎え下さい。 Sincerely, Erena　下田恵玲奈 photo by Jeremy...
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The Huffington Post, Girls Talk HQ and Refinery 29

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December 6, 2013/by
Thank you so much, The Huffington Post, Girls Talk HQ and Refinery 29! This week has been awesome and I feel fortunate to get my work pressed by 3 different websites. The Huffington Post Mailet Lopez, a CEO of IHadCancer wrote a blog on The Huffington Post yesterday. I was very much happy to see my work on the website! Girls Talk HQ I contacted Girl Talk HQ by sending email about my work. Asha Dahya got back to me saying that she wants to feature my work on her site! She got all the information from 2 of my web sites and all the other pressed...
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NYC Trip Photos

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November 20, 2013/by
I'm finally uploading the  NYC trip photos! Arrived safely with my gear and welcomed by corn chips and Dunkin Donuts! Yum! Vicky helped me finding a pool for this photo shoot. We had to wake up early so only ONE beer to celebrate my arrival! She was my first subject. Getting ready in the early morning is brutal but her eye brows were perfect! (how did you do that!) Emily Morrison was my second subject. She was so adorable! Her mom was cute too. I was so happy to make her dream come true! Brian (on the left) was my third subject. He flew down from Maine for the photo shoot. He wanted to have a bicycle theme! I wished I got a used bike for the prop! Next time! Mailet is a CEO of IHadCancer (in the center), the company I partnered for the campaign. She was my last subject for the day. Her hair was synchronized with the motion and the movement was so graceful. Everyone did incredible jobs performing in the water considering it was their first time. I can't wait to show you all the final photos! After the photo shoot, we all went out to have dinner. Anthony, a president of  a design agency, Squeeky, treated us with bunch of pizzas and fancy bottles of wine! I brought my laptop to have the preview of  underwater portrait session. They were thrilled to check them out. It's so interesting to see them criticizing their performances. I just loved seeing their smiley faces :) Last night...
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Underwater Healer About Face in NYC!!

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October 31, 2013/by
I'm getting ready to go to NYC! IHadCancer (the company I partnered for the campaign) is flying me out to take photograph of 4 people. I'm packing all the underwater gear in 2 cases just like the Seattle trip. I'm really nervous because this trip is going to be the toughest challenge I'll ever face in my life. 1. I'm photographing my friend Vicky who has been a great supporter for this project. I want to offer a complimentary underwater portrait session. 2. CEO of IHadCancer, Mailet Lopez is a breast cancer survivor. She wanted to create the community for cancer survivors, fighters and supporters connect. 3. Her friend, Brian is my first male survivor and he is flying in from Maine for this photo shoot. 4. Another friend of IHadCancer, Emily is going blind after multiple cancer treatments and a tumor on her optic nerve. She is only 25 years old. Everybody is important to me and I'll do my best work on each person. I'm SO nervous and excited to meet them specially, Emily. Please check out her TO SEE LIST, all the to do list before she loses her vision. Do you see underwater portrait in there? I'm so happy she found...
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IMDb, thank you so much!

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October 27, 2013/by
I was just searching my article on the website and I found this on IMDb's website! Thank you for the post, IMDb! Washington, Oct 15: A photographer, who is on a quest to help cancer survivors rebuild their self-esteem, recently conducted an amazing underwater photo shoot for six such survivors. Erena Shimoda told CBS News that after her father died in a car accident, she was physically and emotionally broke and she had to learn how to deal with herself. But by helping other people, she was able to overcome her painful experience, Shimoda said. Shimoda had started an Indiegogo campaign and collaborated with IHadCancer.com to raise 17,000 dollars so she could shoot 10 cancer survivors underwater. However, the money collected was just over 10,000 dollars. But Shimoda decided to go ahead with the project,...
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CBS NEWS!!!

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October 15, 2013/by
My heart was beating fast all day since they published an article about my campaign this morning. I've been waiting for this moment and I felt so relieved when I saw my work on their website! Thank you so much, CBS!! CHECK OUT CBSNEWS.COM I wanted to post few more images. I originally gave them 30 images but they only used half. You can view the 30 day campaign, Underwater Healer About Face. It seems so long ago.... This is Erica Yee. We are reviewing the poses to improve for the next shots. We both had a great time! Please view her beautiful images here! Setting the camera makes me nervous every photo shoot. I'm finally getting use to it! You can view the simple set up from my pitch...
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Underwater Healer About Face in Seattle!!

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October 2, 2013/by
I always get nervous about my camera gear. They are the most expensive babies I have in my life!!! I was happy to see them all in one piece at Seattle airport. The lady who took pic of me looked confused :) I met beautiful survivors, Lindsay Henderson and Lori stone at cafe before the photo shoot. We all had a great time working together. Photos are coming soon! Last day of Seattle at Seward Park. Beautiful park with healthy runners and dogs in the rain! Dogs here are big! Seeing good friends, catching up over good food and tasty drinks :) I enjoyed every moment. I went to Pike's place. The original logo of Starbucks was at the first location. I saw so many Japanese tourists saying, "sutar buckusu! sutar buckusu!" I know, I know!! hahaha- I love my people. I went to SAM, Seattle Art Museum. I was trying to get some inspirations... Came home in one piece!!! My babies got home with me. I asked a security guy to take the photo and he looked happy. He smiled when I complimented his photo skills :) A little blurry but it's okie! I had an awesome experience in Seattle doing this project, Underwater Healer About Face. Thank you so much everyone for your support! I'm heading out to NYC next! Stay...
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