Tag: Hawaii

Tunnels Beach Rainbow

Tunnels Beach Rainbow

Posted on

I photographed this dramatic rainbow over Tunnels Beach during my family vacation to Kauai in July. This amazing light only lasted for a minute, during which it was pouring rain. Of course, I forgot to bring an umbrella, but was fortunate that a nice local that I had befriended the previous day just happened to be out for her morning beach walk and had an one with her. I asked her if she would assist me in keeping my camera dry and she happily obliged. While she held her umbrella over me, I quickly set up my tripod, pulled my camera out of my Fstop backpack, and carefully placed my filter on the lens. I only managed a few images before this ephemeral rainbow disappeared. Also, it’s worth noting the overall amount of time required to create this image. I was staying with my family in Poipu which is located on the south shore of Kauai, but Tunnels is located on the north shore. So, in order to be at the beach at sunrise, I had to wake up at 4 am and drive 1.5 hours in the dark. I did this 5 mornings in a row before finally being rewarded with this image. By the time I returned to my family, it was late morning and they were just rolling out of bed. I invested over 30 hours of my time to create this image, but only experienced this magical light for less than 60 seconds. I hope that you will agree with me that it was worth my effort.

Poolenalena Beach Sunset 4

Poolenalena Beach Sunset 4

Posted on

Since I am flying back to the Big Island of Hawaii tomorrow morning, I decided to share one of my new Maui images from my last visit to the islands in December. Most of my recent trips have been dedicated to wildlife, but that does not mean that I have forsaken landscapes. I photographed this dramatic sunset from a quiet beach just south of Wailea. I wasn’t confident that the sun would shine through this hole in the clouds on the horizon until the last possible second, but fortunately it did. I also timed my exposures to record the gentle wash of the waves over the lava rocks in the foreground. I created this image using my Canon 5DmkIII, Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 ZE lens, and Singh-Ray LB Warming polarizer with a 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter. I processed the RAW file using Aperture 3, Photoshop CS6, and applied Nik’s Dfine 2.0 filter to eliminate noise in the sky.

2011 Pacific Life Annual Report Cover

2011 Pacific Life Annual Report Cover

Posted on

This past winter I was contacted by Pacific Life Insurance Company to submit images for their annual report. Guess what? One of my images was selected for the cover! This image is the only breaching humpback whale photo that I have from Hawaii and has never been one of my favorites, however, it just sold for a reasonable amount of money. The lesson here is that no matter how I might feel about a particular image, it can have more value than any of my favorite images. When I was in Alaska last month, I saw an amazing full body breach by an adult humpback whale, but of course I was still too far away to photograph it. After a lot of excited screaming of many expletives, I had a very interesting discussion with my crew. They asked me how many breaches I have seen? I guessed somewhere between 300 and 500 breaches in the last 10 years, but only 20-30 of them were photographable. That is a ratio of at best of 1 photographable breach for every 30 breaches I observe. It also means that I have spent a lot of time on the water around whales, which happen to be my favorite subject to photograph. I created this image with my Canon 5D and 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 2 and Photoshop CS4. You can enjoy more photos of whales in multiple galleries on the rest of my site.

Mauna Kea Snow Sunset 4

Mauna Kea Snow Sunset 4

Posted on

I finally had the opportunity to photograph snow on the summit of Mauna Kea during my February visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. After over a decade of trying, it was nice to finally be able to experience being at the beach in the morning and then driving up to the snowy summit in the afternoon. I’ve visited the summit during previous trips. It is a straightforward drive, but getting out of the car and walking around at 13,796′ above sea level is the real challenge. From the highest drivable point, it is only a few hundred yards and slightly up hill to the true summit. I put on every piece of clothing that I brought to Hawaii, including, thankfully, my winter hat and set out from the parking lot about an hour before sunset. Each step in the snow was a challenge, but after a short time I was on the summit. I was immediately drawn to this wind sculpted ridge slightly south along the summit ridge, especially since it did not appear to have any footprints. Once I settled into place with my tripod, I waited for the golden light less than an hour later. I got cold, especially my hands. I noticed the sunlight was causing some glare spots on my image, so I held my hand on the side of the lens to block the direct light. It’s amazing how quickly the sun sets at the equator. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII, Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 ZE lens, and 3-stop Soft Graduated Neutral Density filter. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

Honokohau Sea Turtle Sunset 1

Honokohau Sea Turtle Sunset 1

Posted on

My favorite location to photograph sea turtles is at the Kaloko Honokohau National Historic Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. After a long day boating with my friends, I photographed this small sea turtle resting on the lava shoreline north of the small boat harbor at sunset. I was lucky that the sky lit up like this, because the vog and clouds often block the magic light at the end of the day in Kona. My friend and fellow photographer Stuart Westmorland was using a flash next to me, which fortunately added a bit of fill light to the otherwise backlit turtle. I normally dislike flash, but in this case the fill-light is perfectly balanced with the ambient light. I might have to buy myself a flash. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII, Carl Zeiss 35mm f2 ZE lens, and 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

Kua Bay Shorebreak 1

Kua Bay Shorebreak 1

Posted on

While I was in Hawaii in February, I spent more time photographing shore break waves. It’s a lot of fun waiting for a big set to come in and amazing how fast 3-4 hours goes by. I’ve photographed in much more extreme environments, but never in a place where I get pummeled by my subject. This is my favorite tube from my efforts to date. I love the tube slamming shut and the light coming through the wave on to the shallow sandy bottom. My biggest limitation at this point (other than not living in Hawaii!) is that my camera only shoots 4fps. If I shoot video at 30fps and slow the action down, I can see all the images that I am not getting. In order to continue my wave photography ambitions, I am considering purchasing the new Canon 1DX which shoots at 12fps. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII and 14mm f2.8 lens inside my Aquatech 5DmkII housing with a Aquatech 8″ dome port. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

Hana Sunrise 1

Hana Sunrise 1

Posted on

Since I am flying back to Hawaii next week, I thought that I would share this image. I created it while visiting Hana with my family last month. This rugged lava coastline could be anywhere in Hawaii, but this location is near Kaihalulu (Red Sand) Beach. I was captivated by this small waterfall cascading off of the lava ledge, so I returned a few mornings in a row searching for dramatic light. After several failed attempts, I was finally able to photograph the dynamic scene that I had envisioned. I had to be set up early and confident in my skills, because this light only lasted for a fleeting moment before vanishing. I don’t normally like to shoot into the sun due to lens flare, but the sun was so low on the horizon that the wave actually blocked part of it. I also had to be willing to get my camera wet, which my recent $900 repair bill from Canon will attest to. I also like how the wave is rearing up and about to crash against the shore. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII, Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 ZE lens, and 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.

Hamoa Beach Shorebreak 1

Hamoa Beach Shorebreak 1

Posted on

Like most photographers, I like to challenge myself to create new images outside of my comfort zone. One of my favorite new shooting styles is photographing breaking shore waves. This style has been made popular in the last few years by Clark Little. I harbor no illusions that I am going to become as well known or specialized as Clark is at photographing waves, but I had a lot of fun trying during my recent visit to Hawaii.

I am fairly competent with an underwater camera housing, and I have done some boogie boarding during my lifetime, but it took a lot of dedication to fling myself into a breaking wave with my large housing in hand. I got thrown through the air and pummeled by waves more than you can imagine. My camera housing turned into a dangerous weapon during the out-of-control punishment inflicted by the larger and more photogenic waves. During one of my more memorable moments, I received a big gash to my right shoulder when my housing hit the bottom while I was cartwheeling through the water. I’m lucky that it did not hit my face. I shot several thousand terrible wave images that were almost immediately deleted. However, this fantastic wave breaking at Hamoa Beach near Hana is the most impressive from all my effort. I really like how I not only captured the breaking tube, but the wave momentarily looks like some type of prehistoric monster. I also like how I framed the entire composition in my normally recognizable wide-angle style. There is no doubt that I if I want to improve that I will need a camera that is capable of 10-12fps, rather than my 5DmkII’s inadequate 4fps. I also stressed myself out so much doing this, that I suffered 2 back-to-back migraine headaches. In spite of all the challenges, photographing waves is very addictive and I can not wait to do it again. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII and 17-40mm f4 lens inside my Aquatech 5DmkII housing with a Aquatech LP-VWZ  flat port. This image is a single-exposure which required a minimal amount of processing using Aperture 3, but I had to clone out a few water spots that were on my flat port using Photoshop CS5.

Garden Of The Gods Sunset 1

Garden Of The Gods Sunset 1

Posted on

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.

Papohaku Beach Sunrise 1

Papohaku Beach Sunrise 1

Posted on

I spent a week sea-kayaking Molokai‘s remote north shore 7 years ago and had always wanted to return. I finally had the opportunity when I took my family to Maui for our recent family vacation. Molokai’s tranquil charm is the total opposite of the tourist chaos of Waikiki or Lahaina. There really isn’t much to do, other than relax and do nothing, which is exactly what we did.

Hawaii experienced a huge tropical storm during our week-long visit, which was a bummer, especially for my photography ambitions. After several days of torrential rain, I finally experienced perfect landscape photography conditions and created this dramatic image on our last morning on Molokai. At almost 3 miles long, Papohaku Beach is the longest beach in Hawaii. Of course, since this was Molokai I had this beautiful location all to myself. I located these lava rocks embedded in the sand on the north end of the beach and knew that they would give some texture to the outgoing waves crashing into the beach. I also anticipated  that the clear sky in the east was going to allow the sunrise to light up the cloudy remnants of the previous few days’ storm just offshore. By taking extreme chances with my camera equipment and through trail and error, I created this dynamic image. From the silky water rushing over the sand and rocks to the breaking wave with the clouds billowing in the sky, this picture has an elemental, dream-like quality that I am completely enamored with. I created this image with my Canon 5DmkII, Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 ZE lens, and Singh-Ray 2-stop Hard Graduated Neutral Density filter on my tripod. It is a single exposure that required minimal processing using Aperture 3.