Landscape, nature and underwater photographs, tutorials and workshops.
The clouds were all set up to flare nicely during sunset this evening, but it didn’t really take off the way I imagined. Still, it’s hard to beat a Maui sunset, and it gave me a chance to do some experimenting. Comments are welcome. Enjoy…
Traditional technique, 3-stop hard ND grad.
HDR, no filters, 8 exposures, artistically rendered.
A great evening to all the dads out there. Aloha…
When my friends Kim and Craig invited me to their house for the Premiere Party celebrating Season Two of Self Made in Hawaii, in which our Social Media Users Group was featured, I couldn’t resist asking if I could come early to shoot the sunset from their roof. When they built the second story addition to their home, they included a spiral starway leading to their rooftop so they could enjoy their South Maui vistas from a higher elevation.
As always, I was hoping for a lightshow in the clouds, but there was too much moisture (as usual) and it didn’t happen. However, the softbox effect on the horizon did allow me to get great shots of the fireball that powers our world from 93 million miles away, and follow it down to the slopes of Lana‘i on the horizon.
After living on Maui for a few years, you do tend to take these sunsets for granted, but I try not to. There aren’t many places in the world that offer views like this.
No matter what I tried with the earlier shots, I couldn’t get rid of the lens flares, so I decided to do some artistic renderings of the scene in HDR. This one consisted of six frames processed in Photomatix Pro 4.0, and finished in Lighroom 3.4.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not your typical dinner guest. If I know I’m going to be at a location with superb views, I’ll show up with a car full of gear. It’s a good thing I have understanding friends.
Last night, my wife and I had a lovely pizza making party with our friends from Kula Fields, who do actually live in Kula, on the slopes of Maui’s Haleakalā volcano. We were headed for a pretty clear sunset, but the clouds started rolling in just as the sun neared the horizon.
A mentor of mine once told me that a sunset isn’t over until all the light is gone, so I kept watching. Turned out, the clouds added a wistful, mysterious feel to the scene.
From the beach near our house in Kihei. Consolation prize for not being able to get a supermoon-rise. Haleakala is all socked in.
You know, iPhoneography is cool. It’s a lot of fun and you can do some pretty amazing things. Having followed digital photography from the beginning, I have to admit I’m hooked.
But nothing beats taking my DSLR out, putting it on a tripod, setting it up with an ND grad to get shots like this. I’m still a big camera guy at heart.
Aloha Sunday. Hope you have a great week.
Sometimes, it takes a second look to really see a photo. I blew right past this one looking for images to post on New Year’s Eve, thinking it wasn’t all that interesting, and just found it again today while I was doing some cleanup on my catalog.
A little late, but enjoy. Happy Valentine’s Day!
New Year’s Eve sunset, Keawakapu Beach, Maui, Hawai‘i. Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2011.
Aloha 2010…
Last Friday, I took a couple of friends from the mainland with me to shoot the sunset. On the way to Makena Cove, it started raining, so I turned the car around and headed toward North Kihei. We set up and started shooting, but then the clouds decided to follow us and we got sprinkled on there too.
We packed up the gear and called it quits. My friend Meliezza asked me to drop her off at Keawakapu Beach so she could meet up with some friends, so I started heading that way, and noticed that it was dry in that area. The rain clouds must have traveled right through it from Makena to North Kihei.
So we set up again and started shooting. Not the best sunset in my portfolio, but you never know what you’re going to get in the islands. Because the sun was behind the dark clouds most of the time, I was able to slow the shutter and get down low with the tripod to get some good motion in the water.
Happy Aloha Friday…
Sunset, Keawakapu Beach, Maui, Hawaii
Sunset, Keawakapu Beach, Maui, Hawaii
There’s something about Makena Cove that lends itself to slow shutter shooting. Every time I go there, I have the urge to capture the movement of the water as it ebbs and flows.
Yesterday evening, I was there with my friend Meliezza Walker, who was visiting from Texas. She’s a portrait shooter but wanted to learn more about landscapes, so I handed her a tripod with a ballhead and we set off for the beach.
We explored some of the nuances of slowing the shutter at various settings to see what changed, then I showed her how to use an ND grad to shoot the sunset. We had a lot of fun.
So who’s up for the next photowalk?
Water play at sunset at Makena Cove, Maui, Hawaii
Water play at sunset at Makena Cove, Maui, Hawaii
Water play at sunset at Makena Cove, Maui, Hawaii
Water play at sunset at Makena Cove, Maui, Hawaii
Sunset at Makena Cove, Maui, Hawaii
Winner of the 2009 Monterey Bay Aquarium World Oceans Day Photo Contest
Enjoy a slideshow of images I made for the first ever TEDxMaui over the weekend. … [Read More...]
Our Mele is mesmerized by our Christmas tree. She hasn't attacked it yet, … [Read More...]
The Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby (Canthigaster jactator) is one of our more common … [Read More...]
