Taking a dive

Just some random shots from the water that I took on a couple of different days.

I really do need to get out and take some new photos!

Leiing on the Reef

Eagle eye!

I spotted this pair a couple of days ago and shot a couple pictures before the male flew off leaving the female to keep an eye on me while I took a few more shots.

Low Tide

I was playing with the GoPro 4 one evening just to see what kind of photos it would take. I mainly bought it for action shots and not things like sunsets but I was curious. I stepped out into the ocean at low tide and held the camera just above the water and took a few shots.

They were a little crooked, which wasn't any fault of the camera, but that was an easy fix in photoshop. For a tiny little camera it takes pretty good photos.

New Growth

We're just barely starting to see the spring growth around here but on the palm trees in the pacific they seem to grow all of the time.

I don't quite know how palm trees grow but this looked just weird enough for me to take a photo.

Taking a breath

Up to the surface, take a deep breath and then back down again.

The day in the life of a Hawaiian green sea turtle.

Lofty perch

Varoom!

Thank goodness for Photoshop!

Just for the fun of it I took a really mediocre picture from a dark and overcast day and did my best with it using Photoshop... Notice the ugly brown waves now have a slight green tint and the little rocks on the beach have a bit of color not to mention the clouds have more life to them. Now imagine what fun in Photoshop a person can have with a good picture to start with!

Thank goodness for Photoshop!

The color version

Just because Paul was curious!

Clouds

It was close but the sun set just before the clouds moved in and took over the sky.

It was nice sitting on the beach waiting to see what was going to happen though.

It's always Spring....

...in Hawai'i!

Just another reason to go there in the middle of winter.

Happy Spring everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted much of anything lately... Between one thing and another I realize I've been quite busy, much busier than I really want to be. It's definitely cutting into my hiking, fishing and photography time. Guess I need to learn to "Just say NO to responsibility"! :)

Making Waves at Sunset

I was sitting on the lanai one night having a cocktail and decided to point the camera towards the sun and take a few photos.

The sky wasn't good at all for a sunset so I was being a lazy photographer, shooting from my chair instead of actually going to the beach.

Attitude

Yep, I would say he has it. 

With a look like that he must have thought Paul was taking his photo!

I don't know what kind of bird this is. He was hanging around the palm trees looking for food.

Texas State Tournament.

This is my son Jonathan at the Tournament last weekend to qualify for the upcoming National Championship in July.  He brought home the Silver Metal, lost in the final round in overtime.  In the past 10 years between my 2 kids in Taekwondo, I have taken over 50K of pictures of them, and other kids in the same school.  I find it's very difficult to take good quality pictures of you own kids during sparing or miss all the good actions shot, but not on other kids!

shadows of the pacific

I actually looked at the shadows this time!

Another sea turtle

I told you they were everywhere this trip!

You can run but you can't hide

This turtle apparently got tired of me taking his photo so he headed off over the reef in shallow water where I couldn't follow him, at least not if I wanted to keep all of the skin on my body.

I followed a couple of colorful fish into a dark crevice one day and used the underwater strobe to light up the hole. After looking at my photo it occurred to me that sticking my face into a dark whole underwater might not have been the smartest thing I've ever done.

Sittin' by the dock of the bay...

Lahaina at night looking across the water from the marina.

Just a shot in the dark.

Comin' at you

I had nothing to do but stand in the ocean and wait for waves to come and knock me down. It was actually pretty fun!

More signs of Spring

I don't know if its the change in temperature, hours of sunlight or some internal clock thing that gets everything bursting back to life this time of year but it sure is a wonderful tonic for the Soul! 

Sure signs of Spring

Everything seems to be a little ahead of it's normal time to sprout, bloom or whatever everything does in the Spring. 

Basically we've had the mildest Winter over here on the West Coast in living memory and I asked quite a few long time residents if they remember such a non Winter, None of them had!

I even had to mow some of the lawn a few days ago, normally I don't even look at the lawn mower until the middle of April. 

Coming up for air

These first three were taken from the lanai of our condo one afternoon when I was being lazy and just enjoying being on the island.

A little help please?

I came across this turtle in the waters in front of our condo and he had some fishing line hanging from his mouth. I noticed it just after I took the photo so I reached down to see if it would come out and the honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle) actually opened his mouth like he wanted me to take it out.

Fortunately for both of us there was no hook on the end of the line and it came right out just by me grabbing the line and the turtle turning his head.

It wasn't any kind of big rescue by any means but it was a little humbling to know that this happens more than you know and it felt good to give a helping hand.

Propeller vortex

The fog had just lifted and the air was cool... Perfect conditions for "Propeller Vortex" pictures! The official explanation for this phenomenon goes something like this:

"The vortex created by a propeller can drop the local temperature below the dew point causing visible condensation to form."

A different kind of "bird"

This is a "DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver" bird idling out the bay on a foggy morning looking for a "blue hole" so it can take off. Sure enough a few minutes after I took this picture I heard the engine roar to full RPM and the plane was off into the "wild blue yonder"!