I have previously shared a number of sunrise images of Puu Pehe located on Lanai‘s south shore, but photographing this iconic location during a dramatic sunset has eluded me. The weather in this part of Hawaii tends to be some of the sunniest and driest of the entire state. This is great for tourists who come to enjoy beautiful Hulopoe Beach, but not so much for impressive landscape photography conditions. After dozens of attempts over many years of visiting Lanai, I was finally rewarded with this stunning image. Not only did the golden sunlight illuminate the rugged lava shoreline, but the sky was full of puffy, glowing clouds. I am also enamored with the beautiful, warm colors reflected on the wet sand.

This image was created along the drive down to the north shore of Lanai on the first day of my February visit. Though the main purpose for my trip was to photograph humpback whales breaching, I also photographed landscapes whenever I had the opportunity. I had arrived the night before and not yet assembled my inflatable boat to go out whale watching, but I still wanted to shoot the sunrise. I knew from my previous explorations of the island that there were large numbers of lava formations along the side of the road which would make an interesting foreground. As the sunrise approached, I parked, jumped out of the truck, and then bolted towards this prominent feature, barely setting up my camera in time to photograph this magical light briefly illuminating my subject as the clouds moved across the sky.

One of my favorite locations to photograph on Lanai is Keahiakawelo, which is more commonly known as the Garden of the Gods. This unique geological setting reminds me more of places in the Southwest than in Hawaii. It can easily be accessed by a 30 minute drive from Lanai City via four-wheel drive, as long as it has not recently been raining. During my January whale-watching trip, I took an afternoon off from the ocean in order to drive my travel companions out here to shoot the sunset. I composed this dramatic image as the clouds swirled overhead and the setting sun vividly illuminated the eroded boulders.

I have spent a lot of time on Lanai the last few years. It is a beautiful and quiet island, but there is not a lot going on and only one real road. Even though I have explored most of the island in search of new landscape images, I often find myself down at Manele Bay for sunrise or sunset since it is so easy to get to and iconic. When I frequently return to the same location, I get to the point where I only break out my camera when something particularly dramatic happens. This was the case during this brief but intense sunrise. I was driving down the hill from town to the harbor to go out whale watching when I observed this ever so slim hole in the clouds on the horizon in the pre-dawn light. I have been skunked plenty of times trying to photograph Puu Pehe, but I felt that this morning was worth the chance. As walked over to the top of the cliff, climbed down to the beach, and set up my camera for the umpteenth time in the dark, I watched the clouds move further in the wrong direction potentially ruining my sunrise ambitions. Just as I was thinking that it was not going to happen, an ephemeral beam of golden light began to pierce the veil of clouds and bath the sky in fantastic light. Perseverance and down-right luck are what lead to exciting images like this.