Kauai 2013.

Hello everyone,

I'm back, but my body still in Hawaii time.  In this trip, I had so much fun on the water activities, and did not have much time for photography.  My body still recovering from the zip-lines, stand up paddle boarding, boogie boarding, and hiking.  I think I'm just too old for these activities.  Well, I finally found some time on the last day to drive up to Kalalau lookout 4000' elevation to capture the sunset of this amazing place.

Ho'opi'i Falls.

Star Trails and Nightscapes

I made this video with all the images it took to make the star trail photos I have posted. I also added a few single photos that I have taken while out shooting the star trail photos. I hope you enjoy it.

Split Decision

 

Just another farm field in Kansas. I wouldn't want Tex's eyes glazing over from another Hawaii photo, at least not today!

Totally Busted!

My step-son Jake and I set out to get some Eagle pictures on a beach where you regularly see Eagles. First we setup his GoPro and then put out some salmon in front of the GoPro. Then we waited, me up in the logs with the Sigma 120-400 on my camera and Jake with the remote control for his GoPro. And waited, and waited...

Finally this Raven comes over, very timid at first, totally ignores the salmon and eventually works up the courage to checkout the GoPro! Who says birds are dumb!

Still no Eagles! Eventually Jake goes out and gets the GoPro and we pack up our gear, I take the big lens off my camera and we head up the beach to the truck. Sure enough then the Eagles show up!

I did manage a few Eagle pictures from allot further away than I wanted and with the wrong lens... Oh well, just have to try again another day I guess!

St. Boniface Church

 This is St. Boniface Church, the first corner stone was laid in 1882, at the same time a monastery was also built. I didn't get the exact picture I was looking to capture. The clouds moved in and didn't allow for it. I will be revisiting this place, hopefully on a clear dark night, and attempt to get the photo I was looking for. 

'Aha

 

No, I didn't figure out where Jesse James buired his treasure, 'Aha is the Hawaiian name for this "flat-tail needle fish". Also known as the "platybelone argalus".

 

Why is it that scientists use a language that nobody speaks anymore to name things?

 

These were taken along a reef near Honokowai on Maui.

 

Now lets get back to blaming Paul for these Hawaii photos! LOL

Ron started it!

Surf's up!

This is all Paul's fault!

 

I wasn't even thinking about Hawaii (for once) until he mentioned it!

 

Sunset over the pool at the Hyatt Regency Resort on Ka'anapali Beach on Maui. It's a great place to sit and have a cocktail and enjoy the sunset.

 

Field of Dreams

 

Not that I would ever spend time day dreaming when I was supposed to be working.

Red sky at night...

Sailors delight! And sure enough true to the ages old saying the next day was pure blue sky and 90 degrees!

Color Match

Shades of Red

Nature provided a close color match between the Finch and the red tipped bush!

Basking on the beach...

As long as we're posting pictures from Hawaii...

One Particular Harbor

 

Any guesses?

 

Yes, that's right, this is in Hawaii, Lahaina on Maui to be exact. Q's trip has me daydreaming of palm trees and sunsets, and maybe a mai tai or two!

An Observation!

Risky Business!

Sitting in my sunroom having coffee one morning just after daylight.  I found this Male Finch in a Heck of a Pickle! He's the one with the Red Face.

The hatched youngsters had just Flew the Coop!

Seemed to me He was getting the "What For" from both of the girls on either side of him.

Beings I don't talk Bird: Just took a pic thru the window! Mr. Redface will have to do his own 'Splaining'!!! 

Swirls & Curls

I took this in one of our fields a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was going to rain but the clouds just kind of dried up and went away about an hour later.

A couple Eagle pictures.

Looking through some recent pictures I came across these two Eagle shots and thought they might be worth posting... Anything besides more of Paul's silly wildflower pictures from Canada eh. Ha ha!

Bringing out the Big Guns

 

With the photos of different ships Paul has been posting he inspired me to post a few of my own.

 

These are of the battleship USS Alabama permanently docked in port in Mobile, Alabama. These guns shoot a shell that is 16 inches in diameter and five feet long. They say that when the ship would fire one of the guns it would push the ship sideways in the water from the recoil.

Star Trails, Lightning Bugs and the Milky Way

 As you know Ron was gone for a few days so I borrowed his other D300. I set mine up with my 17-55mm F2.8 lens up on a time lapse to do star trails and took his with my 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 and took other photos while I waited for the other camera to do its thing. 

This shot is with the 18-135mm @ f3.5 and a 20 second exposure. I used a led flashlight to light the bridge.

 These two are taken with the 17-55 @ f2.8 and a 20 second exposure. The larger aperture really allows for more of the Milky Way to show up in the photo. The cabin is actually lit up by the running lights on my truck when I left to go get Ron's other camera.

This is a 100 picture composite, stacked in StarStax program. Same settings as the above picture. I used a led flashlight to light the cabin and then the running lights on my truck also lit it up part way through the process of taking the photos. There were a lot of lightning bugs out that night and a few of them show up in the picture as yellow streaks. 

No more monkeying around

 

At least for a few weeks. I'll have to be like everyone else and work for a while. Unless Q keeps sending me texts from Hawaii and then I may just have to jump on a plane and make him buy me a drink!

 

In case you're wondering, I actually took the photo of the gorilla with the plane and then photoshoped it into a picture of the Empire State Building I found on the web.

 

The gorrila was on top of a wax museum in Branson, MO.

Noisy City.

On the 3rd. picture is the Church that built in the early 1800's just across of John Hancock building.  After, 2 hours of walking on the Michigan Ave., I have decided to take myself out of the noisy street to a quite place before my head exploded.  About 20 min. sitting there, it's amazing to see hundred of tourist rather taking picture of the Hancock building instead of this beautiful Church.  I guess, all of the modern buildings in this city standout from those historic landmark.

This is my last post for awhile, we are heading out to Kauai tomorrow for 9 days, and hopefully I will have some more pictures when I get back.