Archive for the ‘Landscape’ Category:
Desolate Shelter
It doesn’t get any more accommodating than this, folks! This, and a 2-story outhouse (yes, really) are all that greet you when you make the brutal 4-mile hike to Ka’aha. It isn’t much – it’s a three sided lean-to with dirt floors that is home to all manner of beasties that want to get out of the direct sun. All the same, it’s a very welcome break from that same sun that tends to make the black volcanic rock pretty warm.
The view from that three-sided lean-to is spectacular! When you look south out of the shelter, there is nothing between you and Antarctica.
That two-story outhouse? It seems it’s pretty tough to make an hole into volcanic rock – so they had to build a tank sitting on the rock. The second story was to ensure that you were on top of that tank. It also made a pretty good midday shelter – complete with throne.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 40mm ISO 100, f/10, 1/40 sec.
Ka’aha Waves
Here is a beautiful dawn image from Ka’aha in Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. This was taken during my recent photo trip to Hawaii with Jon Cornforth.
Jon suggested this area since it’s pretty and it’s pretty tough to get to. It was only a 4-mile hike, but in the four miles there is a 2400 foot elevation change between the trailhead and the campsite. 1800 feet of that elevation change takes place in the first mile. As you would guess, that’s pretty much straight down a cliff. The big wall in the background of this photo? Yep, that’s the big wall we hiked down and had to hike back up.
This photo was taken right at dawn the second day of our backpacking trip. It was just above our campsite on the plateau where the first rays of dawn light would hit these rocks. I took this picture because I love the rainbow wave texture in the volcanic rocks and I think it contrasts well with the lichen (or mineral) splotches on the foreground rocks.
If you can find this rock again at Ka’aha – look for my bubble level. I lost it when I took this shot!
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L ISO 400, f/22, .8 sec.
Kohala Valley
“Do you ever think to yourself: Why the @#$^ doesn’t my good camera take pictures this nice?”
-Jon Cornforth, near Hawi, Hawaii
This picture was made on the iPhone using what was easily my iPhone photo app of the year – Autostitch. Autostitch is an app that takes several iPhone images The results that this program delivers are stunning – and it couldn’t be easier.
To make a panoramic picture with your iPhone and Autostitch, take several shots with your iPhone that overlap slightly (about 25% seems to be fine). Use Autostitch to select all the component images and press the “Stitch” button. Once it’s done – and it’s done VERY quickly with the latest version – select the ‘crop’ gizmo to automatically slice off the rough edges. The resulting image is pretty big – not hard to believe since it is several pictures stitched together.
It does a beautiful job of lining the pictures up and correcting for warp. It doesn’t do as well with things moving right on a merge line – and there is some of that in this image.
At the end of the day, it creates a beautiful – though not technically perfect – image… and that’s what it’s all about.
Vital Stats: 4 iPhone pictures + Autostitch
One Last Evening in Paradise
On my last evening in Hawaii, Jon and I made our third trek out to Place of Refuge (known locally as Pu’uhonua O Honaunau). The conditions and satellite predicted that we might not get the daily onslaught of vog, so we made a point of being in position if the light conditions materialized. As we did our 1.5 mile hike across the rough lava to get to this location, a large cloud filled the sky blocking any sun. Our hope was that it was still clear on the horizon.. so we might get a narrow window of golden light from the sun before it set.
I’m set up a little farther up the coast than I was on previous nights. If you look carefully in previous pictures, you can actually see this rock formation in the background. What appealed to me about this spot is a couple of things – the interesting shelves on the rock that water would cascade off after each wave and the very random way water would stream off the big rock in the foreground.
As predicted, the sun popped out from the clouds 15 minutes before the sun sank below the horizon bathing everything in a deep orange glow. Since it was so low in the sky, things were very dim requiring some long exposures. I knew this would do great things for the water patterns – but I honestly didn’t know how great until I got home and downloaded these pictures.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 17mm ISO 200, f/22, 2.0 sec.
Kapoho Tidepools
Patience and persistence does pay off!
I’ve been in Hawaii for a week and had yet to see an interesting sunrise – until this morning. Jon and I got up at about 5:30 to drive down to the tidepools in Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii. It had rained quite a bit overnight and the sky appeared to be a wall of gray as we drove to the oceanfront. Just when it looked like we’d get skunked again – we saw an orange band breaking through the clouds on the horizon. We sped up to make sure we got in position when the sunrise occurred.
Getting into position was another story – we had to clamber over the rocks you see in this picture – plus many more. Though the lava looks rough, it’s actually extremely slippery. I had to plant each step carefully since I didn’t want to go for a swim with my camera gear – or suffer all the abrasions from the lava.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 25mm ISO 100, f/22, .6 sec. Other gear used: Manfrotto tripod + ballhead, B+W circular polarizer, Hitech GND filters, a remote shutter release, and Jon’s spare bubble level (mine never left Ka’aha).
The Ka’aha Coastline
For the past couple of days, Jon Cornforth and I have been backpacking to an area called Ka’aha in Volcanos National Park. It is a spot that isn’t often photographed because it’s very difficult to get to. The 5.5 miles to get to this spot is some of the most unforgiving terrain Hawaii has to offer. The first mile is down a 2000 foot cliff with a precarious switchback trail winding down to a plateau. The plateau is about 3 miles of sunbaked lava and thorny grass that constantly needles your feet and legs. Then, it’s a short steep drop to the campsite. Once you reach the campsite, you still have 1.5 miles to scramble over broken up lava to get to where this picture was taken.
Once you get here – it’s gorgeous. It’s very remote and pristine – and you’ve got it all to yourself. There are tidepools teeming with fish to swim in, ancient ruins, and scenic vistas. Best yet – lots and lots of things to photograph.
This shot was taken just before sundown on Friday as the sun was peeking in and out of the clouds behind us. Within minutes, the sun would go behind the clouds never to return that day ending any chance of an epic shot.
We walked out of this location this morning the same way we walked in – in 85 degree heat and no shade. It was still worth it!
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 17mm ISO 200, f/22.0, .4 sec.
One Dark and Voggy Evening
No.. Voggy wasn’t a typo. I frankly had never heard of “vog” until I got to Hawaii either. What’s “vog” you say? Well, it’s really an Al Gore-style inconvenient truth, Mother Nature-style. The word is a mashup of “volcanic fog”.. or VOG! All the volcanoes in Hawaii constantly belch greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide, and a bunch of other stuff into the air that gets trapped low to the ground and makes it really hazy. For the past couple of days, we’ve been skunked at sunset by the vog making it too hazy to get a really clear, dramatic shot. Since we couldn’t shoot in the vog, we went to the Kua Bay at sunset to hang out.
When we got there, the haze in the air made the coolest coppery sunset above the black lava rocks on the shoreline. Even though I didn’t have all of my gear with me – I did have my camera. I picked my way across the uneven lava risking waves to line up the shot. Since the conditions weren’t great – I truthfully didn’t know whether I had anything useful until I got home to edit it. After a little tweaking – I ended up with a pretty cool shot that I think really conveys what we were seeing at dusk tonight.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 24-105mm f/4L @ 55mm ISO 400, f/4, 1/60 sec.
Place of Refuge
Here is the first shot from my latest trip to Hawaii with Jon Cornforth. We’re out here for 10 days on the Big Island doing a landscape shoot in some of the most dramatic and beautiful regions the US has to offer. Yesterday we scouted and shot on the coastline near Place of Refuge National Park near Kona. Jon has been out here many times but had never been to this area before. We spent the afternoon hiking over very rough lava to get to this spot which had waves exploding against it and shooting up through blowholes in the lava.
After a brief break for coconut pie and some snorkeling, we hiked the 1.5 miles back to this spot to set up for dusk. We had to be very careful where we were setting up because the waves were huge and were crashing against the rocks were were sitting on. At times, we had to grab the cameras and run back a few feet when a bigger-than-usual wave hit soaking the very rocks we were using. After a few practice shots, a couple of perfect waves came in and I got this image of the water cascading back off the rocks.
The other problem with shooting at an area like this at dusk? The walk out from this spot was in the dark over very rugged lava. That was interesting to say the least!
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 22mm ISO 100, f/22, .3 sec.
Michigan Tidepools
Can you really have tidepools on a freshwater lake? I don’t know actually.. but if you could, it would be on Lake Michigan. This picture was taken right at dawn on the shore of Lake Michigan in Door County. The long erosion lines leading away bring your eyes on a journey into the picture and down the shore. Add to that great first light of the day, and it makes a great picture.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 17mm ISO 100, f/22, .6 sec
Last Rays of November
Now, why on earth don’t I get sunsets like this when I’m on a nature shoot? The late November sunsets right off of my deck have been spectacular lately – and yesterday’s was no exception. I was actually running out the door to go over to my wife’s cousin’s place when I saw this out the window. I grabbed my camera (which still had the Lensbaby mounted) and I caught this beauty.
Again, like yesterday – I’m using my new Lensbaby on this picture. It progressively blurs out from the ‘sweet spot’ calling attention to the focal point – in this case.. the farm.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Lensbaby Composer ISO 100, f/5.6 plate, 1/30 sec.