Category: Lanai

Puu Pehe Aerial 2

Puu Pehe Aerial 2

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Now that I have been successfully flying my hexacopters during my recent travels, I am trying to move beyond the novelty of flying and back to focusing on creating beautiful images. I am especially excited about returning to my favorite landscape subjects and exploring them from this new perspective. This aerial image of Puu Pehe, or Sweetheart Rock, on the south shore of Lanai is a perfect example of the possibilities that I am achieving. I launched my copter from the top of the cliffs on the left, then flew it approximately 200m out and 25m above the ocean to compose this dramatic scene. When I say compose, I do mean compose. While flying my copter, I am viewing the Live View from my camera via a wireless transmitter on my 5″ LCD screen. Once I decide to hover my copter in a particular location, I then remotely trigger the camera to take a picture. Of course, I am still looking for all of the normal compositional elements that I would if I were using a tripod to take a picture, including wave action, dramatic light, and dynamic clouds.

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Puu Pehe Sunrise 1

Puu Pehe Sunrise 1

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I photographed this dramatic scene while camping with my family last December in Hawaii. Puu Pehe, or Sweetheart Rock, rises from the ocean between Hulopoe Bay and Manele Bay on Lanai‘s south shore. Hawaiian legend tells a tragedy of two lovers. Makakehau took Pehe from her home near Lahaina back to Lanai and hid her in a sea cave at the base of these cliffs. One day while gathering supplies, he noticed a storm brewing and started back, only to find Pehe drowned by the waves. Stricken with grief, he gathered her in his arms and cried out to the gods and his ancestors to help him climb the steep rock where he buried her. He then jumped from the 80’ summit to his death.

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Garden Of The Gods Sunset 1

Garden Of The Gods Sunset 1

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After spending 2 adventurous weeks in American Samoa at the beginning of December, I flew back to Hawaii to meet my family for our winter vacation. The first island that we visited was Lanai. I had camped at Manele Bay several years ago and had always wanted to return. It is a fantastic campground for anyone interested in visiting Lanai, but doesn’t feel up to spending the money to stay at the nearby Four Seasons resort. I spent most of my day relaxing at the beach, but set out to photograph the surreal landscape of the Garden of the Gods in the late afternoon. These unusual rock formations are located high in the center of the island down a winding 4wd road. This is one of my favorite images after several visits. Every afternoon, the clouds built up over the center of the island, but the horizon was mostly clear to the west. This weather combination allowed me to photograph this scene with dramatic light. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII, Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 ZE lens, and 3-stop Hard Graduated Neutral Density filter. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

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