Ti Time

Ti plants, or Ki, has long been involved in Hawaiian history; these plants are utilized in many ways including use as food, medicine and clothing.  Of course my favorite use for them is as photographic subjects; the leaves come in a variety of colors and are absolutely stunning.

So whilst wondering around the other day I came across the most beautiful scene of golden evening light and ti plants.  The way the light was filtering through the leaves, creating shadows and texture was spectacular.  Instant inspiration was a given, and the following are the resulting images.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Which waterfall would you choose?

It’s so easy to get overly attached to your images.  “Killing your baby” is always the hardest to do, but also a very important process.  Sometimes it’s just easier to ask someone else, so I’m asking you…Which image do you prefer?

Both images were created along Maui’s beautiful Hana Highway.

Simplicity is Key

Silhouette of a palm frond.

Makamaka’ole Falls

Makamaka’ole Falls is on Maui’s northwestern shore; the location is absolutely beautiful!  A bit of a tricky spot to get to for the faint of heart but well worth it.

I have been experimenting lately with camera movement and the flow of water.  Instead of letting the water go soft, I decided to try and capture the water frozen in its descent.  I was working at about 1/15th of a second for both of the images, trying to become in sync with the water.  What do you think?

Blowing Bubbles

Went on a dive today for the first time in months!  Felt absolutely fabulous to get back under the water and blow some bubbles.  A few friends and I went to this spectacular dive spot, Makena Landing, Maui, and saw such amazing creatures!  Lots of turtles were out and about cruisin’ but we also saw eels, a nudibranch, (Phyllidia varicosa, I believe) and spanish dancer’s eggs!  My awesome bosses are nice enough to let me borrow their sweet underwater housing when I go diving and here’s my favorite image from the morning.  Enjoy!

Big World, Small Subjects & Nothing More To Say

I don’t post as much as I’d like because I feel I should say something about my photographs, but sometimes I don’t have anything to say!  Maybe I need to work harder on my writing or maybe that’s just a bunch of bull.  I’m just going to let these photographs speak for themselves.  You hear anything?

Dancing with the last light

Made it over to Moloka’i for the first time!

Had an amazing two days exploring the island, and I must say, it’s an absolutely breathtaking place!  It felt so fantastic to stomp around on some new ground for a few days.  I didn’t end up shooting much, with the exception of the first evening at Papohaku Beach on Moloka’i's western shore.  The light was gorgeous, the waves crashed roughly against the shore and I couldn’t resist playing with the light and water.  The flat rock beds in the sand made the water dance as it was drawn back into the ocean.  Such a magical place, hope this conveys at least some of it!

 

Bubbles & Fireworks

That was how I brought in the new year.  Drinking some good wine and messing with my new super tough underwater point and shoot, the Lumix TS3.

The first image was taken in my bathtub.  I filled up the tub, held the camera at the bottom, pointing up, and let the water run.  This “bathtub waterfall” resulted in the awesome mass of bubbles captured here.

The second image is from the fireworks set off that night.  The TS3 doesn’t have manual exposure settings so I used the shooting mode intended for photographing a night sky.  I quite enjoyed the resulting photographs and this was my favorite.

It’s quite cool that people have been enjoying the magic of fireworks for thousands of years, they’re so mesmerizing.

No Correlation

These images have nothing to do with each other but I love ‘em anyway.

They’re both created on Maui at very different times; the first was created soon after moving to the island on the Sugar Beach boardwalk, which spans between Ma’alaea and Kihei.  Just a peek over the railing and you’ll notice hundreds of spiders working their intricate webs throughout one another.  This particular spider was my favorite, it looked like it was just floating there in space.  Such patient little hunters they are.

This second photograph was created while I was living in Kihei out on my lanai (porch).  These Java Sparrows lived in a small hole in the side of the apartment complex.  Every morning they would be on the railing, chirping, chilling and looking way too cute.  I created quite a few images with the birds, but this was my favorite.  I just love how the palm frond frames them.

The North Shore

I created these photographs on Maui’s North Shore not far from the famous windsurfing destination, Ho’okipa.  I love these images, and someday soon I’d like to go back and shoot them with my 4×5 film camera.   I miss working with film and in the darkroom; no matter how amazing digital gets, it just doesn’t have that magical feeling of film!