Water streaks in the water off of Ka’anapali resembling a cartoon whale.

Back Story

This is another aerial shot taken during the Maui Photo Festival and Workshops in August.

We were just leaving the Ka’anapali resort area and I looked down and saw these jet skis and other watercraft making these lines in the water. I was focusing on getting in tight with the watercraft and keeping just a little bit of the shoreline in the frame, and at first I didn’t see anything special about the pattern they were making.

Later, when checking out the shots on the LCD during the drive back from the heliport, I noticed it looked like a cartoon whale, with the base station in the middle there as part of the eye. A whale spotting in August in Maui, who knew?

So what do you think, do you see a whale in this picture, or was the altitude and the wind from the doors being off getting to my head?

My son and I sitting by the ocean in Maui watching the Milky Way.

Back Story

The last time we were in Maui for the Maui Photo Festival in ’09, I spent the final night on the island shooting the stars one last time. In the process, I came up with the idea to shoot a self portrait of me and the Milky Way.

I thought it came out fairly nice.

Fast Forward

Now, well, I’m back here for the last night of the 2011 Maui Photo Festival, so I decided to re-shoot the self portrait, but only this time include our 9 month old son as well. Fortunately, I was able to try a few setups and get this shot off about 2 minutes before he woke up.

While I could have easily spent another hour out there getting shots and riding the creative ways, the shoot was called on the count of a screaming baby. I’m guessing the observatories on Haleakala and the Big Island don’t have these types of problems to contend with.

Photo: Iconic green palm trees against cloudless blue sky.

Grabbed this shot back in ‘07 while walking around the grounds of the Westin Maui Resort in Ka’anapali. We were just taking in the sights – as it was our first return visit to Maui – and happened to look up and decided to snap this one. It became an instant favorite.

A Different Look

I posted this image in a different form about a year or so ago when I was playing around with AndreaMosaic. Here’s another look at that image.

Click on the image to see a larger view on Flickr where you can see all the tiny little photos it’s comprised of. Seeing as I’ve been to Maui two more times since I last played with AndreaMosaic, I should probable give it another whirl.

Photo: A colorful Maui Sunset over the island of Lanai as seen from Maui’s west coast in Ka’anapali.

One of my favorite sunsets from Maui – and there are many to choose from.

No two sunsets on the islands are ever the same, so when you see the colors and clouds like this, you can’t help but grab a camera and try to capture it forever. You never know if you’ll see one like it again!

– Kris

Photo: The sunset from a sailboat out just off shore in West Maui.

One of the things that captivates me about sunsets in Maui – which I’m sure can be said elsewhere in the world, too – is that no two are ever alike.  Compare this one to the golden sunset from yesterday, and you see exactly what I mean. If you check them out on Flickr, you’ll notice they were taken on consecutive nights. How’s that for variety?

There is so much variety, in fact, that sunsets even made it as its own subject on my Viewfinder page. Now, I’ve added quite a few images to my collection since that page first went up, including views like this this one from Door County, so don’t yawn too loudly when you read that page. I promise to update it when I get more time.

Your Favorite Sunset

Do you have a favorite place for enjoying the sunset? Perhaps you have a spectacular image of your own to share? Leave a note and a link in the comments, I would enjoy viewing and reading about them.

– Kris

Photo: A pure golden sunset looking west from Ka’anapali, Maui facing the island of Lana’i.

I’m sure they have stunning sunsets all over the world, but the place I first truly learned to appreciate the majesty of day’s end and night’s arrival was, of course, Maui.

Of all the trips we’ve taken there (5 and counting), this has to be in the top 3 of my favorite sunsets.  Particularly, I love the distinct shape of the sun and the glowing rim it places on the most adjacent clouds.  Team that up with the strong orange hues and the higher clouds at the top, and you have a pretty nice image (in my opinion, anyway).

Don’t Try This At Home

One of the things that continues to strike me every time I see this image on a computer screen is just how bright that sun is in the capture. It’s almost as if you need to wear sunglasses just to view the photo.

Then it dawns on me (pardon the pun) that I was probably an idiot for looking directly towards the sun to get this shot. Not to mention the fact that it was shot at the long end of my 70-300mm lens, either. It might even be a small miracle that I still have my vision!

In any case, grabbing your longest telephoto lens and running out to shoot the sun is not something I’d recommend without doing research and taking safety precautions first. While shooting the sun close to the horizon is a little less intense than shooting it at high noon, it’s still dangerous and should be approached as such.

After all, the last thing you want to lose as a photographer is your vision.

Sunrise vs. Sunset

On the topic of the sun, I was thinking of trying to find an interesting location to shoot the sunrise while we’re up in Door County this weekend. I’m by no means a morning person – unless you consider still being up at 2am “morning” – so it may just continue to be one of those things I say I want to do but never get around to. Hey, it happens.

Whenever the topic of sunrise and sunset come up, I’m usually reminded of the following post from my favorite Hawaii travel blogger over at Go Visit Hawaii.

Are You a Sunrise or a Sunset Person?

Check out the comment thread and feel free to leave your own opinion if you’d like. In the context of Hawaii, it’s an interesting take from people on both sides. And if there ever was a topic where people were very content on agreeing to disagree, this is probably it.  After all, you’re in Hawaii!

– Kris

Photo: A starry sky on a perfectly clear night above Black Rock in West Maui.

Another reminiscing photo from my first ever attempt of shooting the skies back in ‘07. Call it beginner’s luck, or having the perfect canvas to work with.

We’ll be heading back up north to Wisconsin later this week, and I’m starting to think of some of the shots I want to work on this trip.  We have seen some great night skies that far north in previous visits, and especially in the winter if the skies are completely clear.  Sure, there’s about a 60-70 °F difference between this image and anything I see this weekend, but layers just aren’t for Photoshop, you know.

Into the Night

Maybe not as favorable for stargazing, we’ll be staying right near downtown of the biggest city in Door County, WI (that’s Sturgeon Bay for anyone playing along at home).  Still, I’ve been getting more socially active on Flickr lately and some of the night shots I’m seeing in the Night Images group pool have me itching to stay up late and shoot.

I mentioned that a little bit back in September when I said the night was my new golden hour, so it won’t be too far out of my norm.  Plus, we’ll be staying right on the bay, walking distance from where I attempted this shot in Sept. ‘08.

As I like to think that both my field skills and my talents in the digital darkroom are now much improved since this shot, I get excited about the new possibilities this trip.

And, seeing as it’s the middle of January, I don’t think I’ll be worried about getting washed out this time, either.

Back to the Stars

Getting back to the original photo, if you’d like to see more of my night shots of the heavens, click through to my Astrophotography Portfolio. The one of me and the Milky Way is starting a little bit of chatter on Flickr, at least compared to my other images in the past.

Photo: The Milky Way in the western sky above Black Rock outside the Sheraton Maui Resort in Ka’anapali.

This is the very photo that enticed me into astrophotography in the first place, and was an instant favorite. Possibly a once-in-a-lifetime shot given what little I knew about shooting the night sky 2 1/2 years, but after about a dozen shoots under the starry heavens, this image is still one of my best works.

I had to check 3x to see if I had already posted this image already, and am still surprised that I haven’t so far. Well, here it is.

The view you’re seeing here is of the island of Lana’i off of Maui’s west coast. It was taken from the Sheraton Maui Resort in Ka’anapali, and that rock formation in the mid-ground on the left hand side is the popular Black Rock.

This shot was from our first Maui trip – back when I still knew very little about my first DSLR). I guess it goes to show you how amazing some of the cameras in “Auto” mode were even back then (2006). It immediately was one of my favorites, and actually was displayed in a conference room at one of our old offices that my company used to use. That was kind of neat.

Read More

• My Favorites – Lana’i from Maui
• Comments on Flickr
• Sunday Photo at Ka’anapali Dreamin’

I was going through the site and the blog looking at all the things I’m still looking to add here, and that left me feeling just a little overwhelmed.

I came across this image I created last year using AndreaMosaic that I had written about on my Software page. It was composed of hundreds of the photos I’d taken of Maui up to that point, and it was pretty neat to play around with. Seeing that I have photos from 3 other trips since then, I might have to dust if off and give it another go.

If you’d like to see a few more examples of what I did last year, check out this post.