Tag: Photography

Kapoho Tidepools Aerial 1

Kapoho Tidepools Aerial 1

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I just got back from another amazing trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. I was planning to spend most of my trip photographing humpback whales and also flying my remote controlled hexacopter. The whales and the weather mostly conspired against me, but my trip was long enough that I was able to take advantage of a few good days of weather between storms in order to fly my copter. This aerial image of the Kapoho tidepools is a beautiful example of the kind of abstract image that I have envisioned ever since I started flying copters. This intricate lava and coral reef system is located on the south end of the island in the Puna District. The interesting thing about an aerial image like this is that the scene looks better once the sun gets high enough in the sky to flood the terrain in high contrast light. I’m talking about the kind of light that would send a landscape photographer into a long diatribe about it being too harsh and unshootable.

Kee Beach Sunset 1

Kee Beach Sunset 1

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Over the years, I have photographed a few epic sunsets while on our family vacations, which in some instances have paid for the entire trip. I do occasionally get some push back from my girls for getting up too early or disappearing in the afternoon, but it’s the price I pay for being a husband and father that makes his living by selling pretty pictures. During our recent trip to Kauai, I returned to Kee Beach seven days in a row to shoot sunset. Wouldn’t you know it, but my best image was photographed on my first attempt. I guess I should have stayed at the beach more with my girls. Oh, well. While setting up for this dramatic scene, I got hit by a few waves and right at the critical moment as the sun was touching the horizon a large wave washed completely over me and almost swept me out to sea. Yikes!

Kona Sperm Whale 1

Kona Sperm Whale 1

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Since I am getting ready to fly back to the Big Island of Hawaii tomorrow afternoon, I decided to share an image from my last trip to Kona in November. I got very lucky several days in a row by experiencing my first encounters with sperm whales. This photo was taken moments after one swam directly at me to check me out and then inverted itself vertically in the water. I don’t know whether this image is epic or not, but it is one of my first sperm whale images all the same. What I like most about going out on the water in Kona is that I never know what I will encounter. Every day is different.

Alaska February 2014 Cover

Alaska February 2014 Cover

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I am happy to share my first Alaska photo cover! This image of a humpback whale breaching straight out of the water happens to be one of my personal favorites, so I am pleased that it is being published so prominently. I was fortunate to be able to photograph this amazing moment in July 2010. The weather was perfect and my father was also with me. We were in my small inflatable north of the Brothers Islands in Southeast Alaska when this whale started repetitively breaching for over an hour. It was one of my most memorable days as a photographer.

Wailua Falls Aerial 1

Wailua Falls Aerial 1

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My regular readers, fans, and friends are probably already familiar with my remote control aerial photography ambitions of the last 1/2 year. I’ve had some ups and downs, but if someone would have told me when I started this endeavour that it would require $15,000 and 1000 hours of my time, I would have told them that it was nuts! However, that is exactly what flying has required. At this point, I am fairly confident that my equipment is reliable, so I’ve been flying a lot over the water and treacherous terrain, as this aerial image of Wailua Falls on Kauai can attest. I knew that if I could get my hexacopter up and over to the other side from the tourist viewpoint, that I would be able to photograph this rainbow in the mist at the base of the falls. This was also among the first uses of my new camera gimbal. This still blows my mind every time that I fly my copter and watch how stable my camera’s live view feed is on my video monitor.

Kona Pilot Whales 1

Kona Pilot Whales 1

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Over the years, I have tried to photograph pilot whales while visiting Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, but been unsuccessful. However, during my recent visit I had a close encounter with this pod. After observing them logging (resting) on the surface, I cautiously entered the water and photographed this curious mother and calf. It was an exhilarating experience, especially given the unpredictable reputation of these large animals.

Kiholo Bay Aerial 1

Kiholo Bay Aerial 1 & Drone Photography

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In the last 6 months, I have spent a lot of time reconsidering my overall photography ambitions while also healing my back injury. It has not been my most productive 6 months, but I have also been doing this full-time for 13 years now, so I can live with a little bit of ebb and flow to my ambitions. During this downtime, I have invested way too much time and money learning to build and fly remote controlled hexacopters. Call it a drone if you must, but I find this word leads to negative connotations due to the media’s overemphasis on scaring people. I find the new technology fascinating and am excited to explore an entirely new world of possibilities creating images that no one has ever seen before.

This is a recent aerial photo that I created of Kiholo Bay located on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. I have previously visited this location to create a traditional landscape photo using a tripod, but been unsuccessful. The biggest limitation has been that it just doesn’t look that interesting from shore. So, I decided to explore this beautiful bay from the air. The photo that I envisioned was to show the beautiful turquoise color of the water and the coral reef surrounding the lava island.

My hexacopter is only capable of flying my camera for about 15 minutes at a time, so I used my early flights to scout for a composition. I did this by using the first person view (fpv) offered by using my camera’s Live View and video transmission system which sends the signal down to my remote monitor. Eventually, I determined that I needed to hover in this location about 20m up in the air. I found the color of the water mesmerizing and the shape of the lava island compelling. When I zoom in at 100% resolution, I can also see several sea turtles resting along the shoreline.

Popular Photography December 2013 Winter in Japan Article

Popular Photography December 2013 Winter in Japan Article

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I’m pleased to be able to share that my article “Winter in Japan” has been published in the current issue of Popular Photography. In my article, I offer advice about how to visit the best wildlife locations and technical information about how to photograph these amazing animals. You can read the full article online at, www.popphoto.com/how-to/2013/12/travel-photography-winter-japan. The opening double page image of the Japanese macaques, or snow moneys, was created during my Japan photography tour last winter. I highly recommend a visit to the Jigokudani Monkey Park to anyone traveling to Japan.

Beqa Bull Shark 16

Beqa Bull Shark 16

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During the second half of my recent Fiji scuba diving adventure, I worked with Mike Neumann of Beqa Adventure Divers to photograph sharks. He helped me get as close as anyone ever needs to get to upwards of 60 bull sharks at a time. I have been fortunate to be able to photograph a variety of sharks over the years and I have to say that this was my favorite shark dive that I have ever done. Since I was completely outnumbered by the bull sharks, I had to focus my attention on them rather than looking though my viewfinder. I became accomplished at shooting while holding my camera low next to my torso and constantly swiveling my head from side to side in the interest of self-preservation. This resulted in a lot of poorly composed and utterly useless images, but included in this agglomeration were a few keepers like this one.