Summer Sunsets
Summer sunsets on Oahu, Hawaii crowd my memories even though ski adventures of today fill my spare time (little of what I have, and thus no special photo updates of late).
With January almost out of the way here this year, how is your 2010 coming along? Whatever you do - make it the best day today for you and your family.
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Exposures: 7xp JPG, handheld
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50mm
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Sunset Waves
I just can’t win. During Winter I dream of Hawaii, and when I’m in Hawaii, I’m dreaming of snow. Well, all I know is that I don’t want to leave these Sunset Waves behind. On a beautiful afternoon at Sunset Beach on Oahu’s North Shore, surfers are carving it up, and I’m enjoying the time with the family playing in the water. I think I got it - I have the best of both worlds!
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Keeping It Green
Turtle/Laniakea Beach is famous for having sea turtles visit during the warm hours of the day to dry themselves out, get some sun and rest up a bit. To tell you the truth, it’s not the place to snorkel and see these beautiful creatures in the water, as the waves are usually rough, the current strong, or the visibility is poor in comparison to Shark’s Cove, just down the road. But it’s possible.
On this particular day, there were three turtles on the beach sunning, and one in the breakers looking for a boyfriend before her 500 mile trip back to the French Frigate Shoals where she’ll lay some eggs if she finds a male before then.
I couldn’t decide which crop I liked best, so here goes another one on Flickr (see below).
Have a great week!
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1 JPG photo
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Haleiwa Sunset
Looking over Haleiwa Bay we went out as a family to watch the sun go down. Our trip is coming to an end, but not before we go surfing and eat more shave ice!
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Turtle Blue
Snorkeling at the North Shore’s Shark’s Cove was one of the highlights of our trip. We’d be there for a few hours each day swimming around with turtles, seeing Hawaiian Monk seals, and enjoying all of the other sea life. It was magical!
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Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000
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Volcanic Wave
One morning on the North Shore, the ocean was choppy and the waves big. Big enough to wait it out for a few hours until the weather and conditions changed for the better.
This is a photo standing out on Pūpūkea Beach Park. Lots of beautiful beach, and also lots of volcanic rock. Be sure to bring the ‘slippers’ or some water shoes so that you don’t get cut. These rocks aren’t forgiving!
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Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
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Exposure Bias: 0 EV
1 RAW/NEF exposures
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Where’s the Seal?
A big surprise to us this trip was seeing a special species of wildlife close up on the beach of our favorite snorkeling spot.
The Hawaiian Monk Seal is on the "critically endangered species" list, as since 2008 it’s believed that there are only 1200 of this particular kind of seal left around the Hawaiian waters. This seal is indigenous to Hawaii and in 2008, was declared Hawaii’s State Mammal.
This female was about 7 feet long, and must have weighed somewhere between 4-500 pounds. She would dig in the sand with her nose, rest, she burped once (which smelled like 1000 foul breaths) and as pictured was rolling over onto her side, covering her eyes for some reason. She let everyone know when someone got too close - she definitely liked her space.
Not too soon after this photo, the Monk Seal fashion police showed up and got everyone much farther away from her. Isn’t she cute!?
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Fiery Sunset
Nearing the end of our trip, we had dinner with some new friends at Shark’s Cove Grill which sits across the street from Shark’s Cove and Pupukea Beach Park on the North Shore of Oahu. As I was eating my wonderful skewers I looked up, dropped my food, excused myself from the table and headed across Kamehameha Hwy with my camera. Mother nature was putting on a show that night.
Although I love the natural rays and palm trees, this shot was tough to process because of camera shake from shooting hand held (after running) and the blue cast in the left of the frame almost made me toss it completely. Anyhow - here it is. I hope you like it!
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Just Keep Swimming
One of the most memorable swims I had at Shark’s Cove was with a juvenile sea turtle, who while fighting the waves and current, would eat mossy seaweed attached to large lava rocks.
After one particular wave came crashing in, both myself and the turtle would swim against the surge, and in the particular photo I caught it just right with the bubbles of the wave and light from above. It looks to me as if the turtle is about to hit warp speed!
EXIF:
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
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1 RAW/NEF exposure
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Last Sunset
Well, not “the” last sunset, but close to one of the last that I took while staying on the North Shore. Being a visitor for a short time on the North Shore, the environment is idyllic, and I can’t imagine it any other way. I’m sure it gets a lot busier in terms of traffic, than what we have experienced. But when your surfing, laying out in the sun, snorkeling, or eating good food in paradise - It’s All Good!
Which reminds me - Check out Jack Johnson’s, “You and Your Heart” when you get a chance.
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ISO Speed: 200
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7 JPG exposures (-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3)
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Lunch Time
A juvenile sea turtle hunts for green mossy seaweed to eat during lunch time on the North Shore of Oahu in Shark’s Cove.
Snorkeling is such a blast. On this day, the waves were quite rough, and tossed this sea turtle back and forth 20-30 feet with each surge. I’d lose it for 30-40 seconds sometimes.
Hope you’re having a wonderful summer!
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ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
1 RAW/NEF exposure
DiCAPac WP-S10 Waterproof Bag
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Endless Summer
Another Hawaiian sunset
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ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
5 JPG bracketed exposures (-2, -1, 0, 1, 2)
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Aloha Sunset
A month or so back I had the opportunity to go play at Oahu’s North Shore and had a great time snorkeling. I initially was there to surf, but it was flat, and when the swell’s going, I’m not that good anyways - so it’s a hit and miss for me. Either too big or too small.
But the snorkeling, shave ice, and meetup with world famous pro photographer Sean Davey was super awesome, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day in paradise. Sean has been on my list of pros to meet, and he was kind enough to oblige. Be sure to check out his work. He shoots in cool places like Hawaii, Australia, Tahiti, and at most of the other famous surf spots around the world, but is also an amazing landscape photographer (where he actually got his start).
The above photo is over-looking Sharks Cove, one of the best places to snorkel. The area on the left is completely protected water, and a great place for families, where the area on the right goes out to the open ocean. Everytime I’m there, I see something new, and this time it was an octopus. The turtles were out and about, and of course tons of fish and the usual sea-life. Last time it was a Monk Seal and more turtles!
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