Hawai’i
This is my second trip to Hawai’i, and I was looking forward to seeing new things and taking some great pictures. Unfortunately, the first week it was rather drizzly, but we did see spectacular rainbows daily that week.
We covered most of Oahu, and I visited the “big island,” the Island of Hawai’i, for the first time. No lava flowing on this visit, but we will see the volcanoes nonetheless.
Maybe My Fav?
Sunset at Kualoa Park, on the North Shore of Oahu.
This was one of my favorites from the trip. It is an HDR, composed of four photos, taken at 1⁄100, 1⁄200, 1⁄400, and 1⁄800 seconds, all at ƒ/14 and a focal length of 15mm. The suggestion of symmetry from the two palm trees, and the sinuous jetty that bisects the light reflecting on the water make this a satisfying photo for me.
Sunsets
One of the better sunset photos I got, and it's from my phone out the car window.
This shot was among my top pick on this trip, and like many shots that I love, there wasn’t an abundance of forethought when I shot it. First, it was taken with my phone. Next, it was taken out the car window on the highway in the middle of Oahu. The sky did look striking, so there was intention, but I didn’t expect to see these sweeping lines and vague color blocking, with blue on the left and yellows on the right.
Sun peeks through the clouds at sunset
The last bit of light peeking through the clouds. Of course, the sunbeam is striking, but I love the shades of gray in this photo too.
Beaches
Keawaula Beach
A wave crashing at Keawaula Beach, on the west coast of Oahu.
This may be my favorite beach. I’m not a huge beach person, but I love the scenery, virtually absent of civilization for as far as the eye can see. I love that it’s never crowded (when I’m there, at least). The surf is rough, and it’s a little rocky in spots, so families tend to stay away. (By the way, the faint line crossing the frame is a fishing line.)
Punalu’u Beach
This is Punalu’u Beach, a black sand beach on the southern tip of the “big island.” Photographing black sand is almost as challenging as photographing snow. It takes some attention to settings and processing to prevent saturating the blacks. I suppose we were lucky it was a cloudy day.
Punalu'u Beach, the black sand beach near the southern tip of the island of Hawai'i.
Akaka Falls
Akaka Falls.
I wanted a nice photo of the falls, but the sun is in my face. I slapped on the ten-stop ND filter, and took this 10-second exposure.
Waikoloa Hilton
One of the buildings at the Hilton Waikoloa, on the big island.
A 15-second exposure at 10mm on a beautiful evening on the Kona side of the island.
Monstera
The monstera leaf, a flowering, tropical plant which is ubiquitous in Hawai'i. I like their quasi-symmetric holes.
A leaf from the Monstera plant. Not a ton of texture, but I love its holes. Processing it in grayscale, I could emphasize the leaf’s spine and see the dark holes.
Buddha Point
Buddha Point
Buddha Point, where a large Buddha gazes upon the sea.
Mural HDR
Waimanalo, a mural on the North Shore of Oahu
This mural was tricky because the light levels were low. I wanted to capture it and the background sky, which was pretty spectacular. I composed a two-shot HDR and needed to tweak the mask in Photoshop, but the result is exactly what I wanted. I was trying to better simulate what the eye sees—compensating for the limitations of the camera.
These are the two original photos that were merged to make the HDR.
Waimanalo, a mural on the North Shore of Oahu in low light to capture the sky.
Waimanalo, a mural on the North Shore of Oahu
Cattle country?
Who knew Hawai’i had cattle ranches? I certainly didn’t. This shot was taken from the northwest part of the island of Hawai’i. This island is very rural, but mostly craggy, volcanic terrain. This road climbs into an alpine-esque area, where it’s cooler, and there is green everywhere.
Up in the ranchlands of the Island of Hawai'i, looking south toward Kona.
This shot was taken on (and processed by) my phone. I did virtually no post-processing myself. These phones really do quite a lot of color work and smoothing—I’m not sure I really like that, but this one came out.
Bonus rainbow!
If you’ve read this far, this rainbow is for you…
It was a bit rainy on this visit. The upside: lots of rainbows.