Champagne cruise

As Capt. Ted joked on our Zodiac cruise the day after I took this picture, these Catamaran cruises along the Na Pali Coast are often called the "Champagne Cruise". This Catamaran, the "Lucky Lady" is heading toward the spectacular Na Pali Coast. The ride is pretty easy on these boats compared to the Disney ride we had on the Zodiac. But we got to go into some sea caves and these cruises don't. BTW, if you zoom in, you'll see some of Frank's favorite ocean scenary.... ;-) This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an expsoure of 1/500 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 with a circular polarizer.

Beach foam closeup

As the wave rolls up onto the beach, it is quite foamy as this closeup shows. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/3200 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Crashing waves at Kekaha Beach

With the island Ni'ihau on the horizon in the background some 23 miles away, the waves crash into Kekaha Beach. This image was taken at 76mm focal length with an exposure of 1/3200 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Kekaha Beach

This view is looking across Kekaha Beach on Kaua'i as the waves roll up onto the sandy beach. The colors of the water varied considerably based on the sandiness of the shore, the reefs and underwater landscape and the presence of rivers nearby which wash soil into the ocean. This beach is very sandy and has a brownish color near the shore. This image was taken at 149mm focal length with a circular polarizer and an exposure of 1/1600 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

The blue ocean

Another view from the balcony of the Kaumauli'i Royal Suite over the beach which fronts the hotel. The blue ocean in the distance and the nearer shallower green is pretty much a constant around the "Garden Isle" of Kaua'i. This image was taken at 34mm focal length with a circular polarizer and an exposure of 1/1600 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 400.

View through the palms

A view of the crashing surf off the beach in Poi'pu as viewed from the balcony of the Kaumauli'i Royal Suite. This image was taken at 55mm focal length with a circular polarizer with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Another view from the Honeymoon Suite

Here's another view from the balcony of the Kaumauli'i Royal Suite in Poi Pu, Kaua'i. Gotta love the color of the ocean! This image was taken at 18mm focal length with a circular polarizer and an exposure of 1/1600 seconds at f/3.5, ISO 400.

Moonrise at Port Allen

The nearly full Moon rises above the Earth's shadow shortly after sunset at Port Allen. The waves crashing on the volcanic rocks was quite pretty as we headed back to the car. This image was taken at 33mm focal length with a circular polarizer and an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.

Wedding Photographer at work

Here is Mikey the wedding photographer (and friend of the new Bride & Groom - his girlfriend was the lovely Maid of Honor and a fellow photography nut). Don't step to your right! This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye but cropped about 50% as I was way too far away for the best shot with it. The exposure was 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

The Bride & Groom

This one is for Dave who wanted a picture of the Bride & Groom. I wasn't he official wedding photographer, but I did have my nice camera and took a few photos as the official photographer worked. Here's my favorite. The lighting was difficult in the late afternoon in a beautiful Hawaiian Garden next to a pond (and yes, one wedding guest fell in, though I didn't see it). This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/2oo seconds at f/8, ISO 200. Converted to B&W in Picasa with a green filter.

Sunset at Port Allen

Watching the sun set from Port Allen. A boat set quietly watching the sunset as well before he headed into Port Allen. This image was taken at 55mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Sunset flute

My sweetiest plays the flute as the sun set behind her near Port Allen, Kaua'i. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/8k, ISO 400.

Moonrise wave

A wave crashes over the lava rocks just outside the entrance to Port Allen as the nearly full Moon rises in the background. The splashing waves were quite spectacular, especially as the sun began to set and magic hour progressed. This image was taken at 33mm focal length with a circular polarizer with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Beach View

This fisheye view is from the balcony on the Kaumauli'i Royal Suite where John and Nali stayed for their honeymoon at the Hyatt in Poi'pu. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/11, ISO 100.

Na Pali coast and clouds

The eastern flank of the canyon below the trail to Piheo Vista is a rugged eroded wall. The hike in rarely had clear views thanks to lots of fog and clouds in the canyon. Unfortunately, I put a fingerprint on my 10mm fisheye, so I'd put the wider lens in the bag. The advantage of the 18-55 kit lens was that I could use my Polarizer which really made the ocean pop and the greens get really green. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Rugged Na Pali cliffs

You can see just how rugged the cliffs into this Na Pali canyon really are with huge steep slopes. Some of the cliffs approach 2,000 feet in height! You can also see a couple of the Na Pali coast tour boats offshore. We took a zodiac tour a few days later into this area of coastline. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Na Pali Coast

The day after the wedding, we hiked up to Pihea Vista at the top of the road up Waimea Canyon. Along the trail, you get spectacular views like this one down an eroded valley along the Na Pali coast. These huge cliffs are thought to have formed from an early structural collapse of the sheild volcano which formed Kaua'i which is rather common amongst the Hawaiian archepelago with huge debris flows being found off of all the islands. Since that time (probably 4-5 million years ago), the coast has eroded partly due to the large amount of rainfall on the summit of Kaua'i, as well as to the continuous action of the elements and gravity. About every 2 minutes we were presented with views like this and a continuous stream of "Oh wow - look at this view!" followed us up (and down) the trail. This image was taken with my 18mm lens and a circular polarizer with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

John & Nali

I've been in Kaua'i for the last 10 days and I have only 4 left. We came not just for vacation, but for my nephew John's wedding to Nali. Here's a picture of their "charriot", properly decorated near the end of their reception. This image was taken with flash at 1/60 seconds at f/2.8, 24mm focal length.

In the parking lot at last!

Andy guzzles the last of his warm water as Fred looks down into a stream in Madera Canyon after arriving at the parking lot after our 3 day, 2 night backpacking trip to Mt. Wrightson. While Frank and I met 31 years ago during our first week as freshmen at the University of Arizona, I've been hearing about Andy and Fred for years as Frank talked about his various ventures. Having spent a weekend backpacking and another day showing them Kitt Peak, I can now call them both friends. We all had fun and the three of us have a lot in common, often ganging up on our friend Frank. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/5, ISO 200.

The last 2 miles....

Andy and Fred trailed Frank and I down this stretch of trail. I always need to remember to stop and take pictures looking back up the trail at friends hiking down behind you. It looks better than taking pictures looking up the trail at friends backsides ahead of you on the trail.... This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/5, ISO 200.

Relaxing in camp

Andy relaxes in camp before our hike down from Josephine Saddle. We were on the move less than 20 minutes later. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/40 seconds at f/5, ISO 200.

Breakfast in bed

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Frank enjoys his breakfast before packing up to hike down from Josephine Saddle on the last morning of our backpacking trip. I sure hope he cleaned all the mess up around his bag.... :-) This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/25 seconds at f/5, ISO 200.

More fire damage

As we continued down the Super trail, we saw the full extent of the fire damage in this area. Small brush and grasses were flourishing around the trail, but all the blackened trees showed the path of the fire. Ahead is Riley Saddle and on the left of this image is Josephine Peak. I remember in about 1980 a hike that Frank and my old buddy Mark and I took when we took a right off of the Super Trail and relaxed in a lush green forest on a floor of pine needles somewhere near Riley Saddle a little left of center in this image. It will be a long time before its a lush green pine forest again there. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/11, ISO 200.

Backpacking on the Super Trail

Andy and Frank stop to wait for Fred and I to catch up. Fred and I were slower during this part of the descent. We'd prefer to stick to our story that we were stopping to take more pictures than they were. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 200.

Surveying the fire damage

Descending on the Super trail that wraps around the south side of Mt. Wrightson, we hiked through a huge area burned during the Florida Fire in 2005. It was hard to imagine how pretty this area was just 4 years ago. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/11, ISO 200.