Palm Trees At Waikoloa

One early morning we took a beautiful walk along the Big Island coast near Waikoloa, admiring the palm trees as we went. Wandering south from the Fairmont Orchid hotel there were so many small bays, some sandy and some full of lava rocks. It was the perfect place for a relaxing stroll in the relative cool at the beginning of the day.

I’m not sure why, but these trees are just so pleasing in photographs! Perhaps it’s because they just look so clean, with the slim narrow trunk leading up to such well defined leaves at the top. I don’t know! It’s not often you find trees that look so great as the single focus point of a photo, but I think the palm tree really pulls it off.

I used my Lightroom preset ‘Summer Sky’ on this shot, which I’ve been using a lot recently in photos where the sun is shining and the sky is just a plain blue. It just looks really boring without any clouds! Playing with the colour a little seems to make a big difference.

I’m thinking of putting some of my presets into a bundle and selling them online for a small fee. Would you be interested in that? I think I’ll try to sort something out over the next few weeks but I have no idea where to start!

Approaching Waipiʻo Valley From A Different Angle

Before I visit somewhere new I always try to spend some time researching shooting locations, so I knew I wanted to get something a little different to the common shots I’d seen of Waipiʻo Valley on the Big Island. Since we’d decided not to hike down to the black sand beach I had to get creative with some foliage around the lookout point.

Fortunately I found these trees which provided a fantastic frame for the beautiful coastline. It might not be the grand vista you can see with no obstruction just out of shot, but I always think putting something in the foreground that’s almost close enough to touch helps draw you into an image.

Whilst I enjoy scouting a place before I’ve been there, I love to see other photographers’ work of somewhere I’ve visited myself even more! It’s so interesting to compare and contrast the composition, the light and the weather when you’ve been standing in the very spot that a photo was taken from.

Short of taking a full on tour with a professional, I actually think it’s one of the best ways to learn and improve your photography. I’ve been on the lookout for photos of Hawaii ever since we got back, so if you have any of your own or have some favourites bookmarked please get in touch!

Driving Chain Of Craters Road On The Big Island

There’s no question that Hawaii’s Big Island is an amazing location for a road trip, and one of its most famous drives is Chain of Craters Road. Winding through the black lava fields created by many volcanic eruptions over the years was a humbling experience.

As we descended 3700 feet from the smoking Kilauea Caldera to sea level I was on the lookout for good spots to capture this barren, surreal landscape. The road has been covered several times by lava flow, so for me this shot represents the enduring battle that is so present here between humanity and nature.

The roads throughout the Big Island were fantastic for the most part, as smooth as they were scenic and fairly clear of any traffic. At times the low speed limits were a little frustrating, but for the most part I was just happy to be forced to slow down and enjoy the view. After all that’s what Hawaii is all about!

A Helicopter Ride Above The Na Pali Coast

Inaccessible by road there are really only three ways to see the Na Pali coast of Kauai – by helicopter, by boat or on foot. I wanted to see this unbelievable place from every possible angle! So during our five days on the island we tried all three, even if my stomach didn’t appreciate the helicopter ride all that much.

The practical nature of the safety briefing was quite refreshing, its clear and consistent message being simply “just get out of the damn helicopter!” Despite reassuring words from our pilot I was still a little nervous about our flight before take-off.

But as soon as we were in the air I was focussed on only one thing – capturing magical Kauai as best I could. As we flew along the Na Pail coast I could barely believe my eyes. Surely this is the most incredible coastline in the world?

Have you ever been on a helicopter tour? Maybe you’ve seen the Na Pali coast too? I’d love to hear from you!

Another Planet At The Mauna Kea Summit

Being at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island is the most otherworldly experience I’ve had. It didn’t matter which direction I looked, it felt like another planet. This is the creatively named Canada-France-Hawaii telescope, leaving little to the imagination.

Other partners include Brazil, Taiwan and China, who will also have scheduled time with the telescope. There is actually nobody in these things! They are all controlled remotely and we were told you can view delayed imaging online, although I can’t remember where.

I used Topaz DeNoise to reduce the noise in this image, shot handheld at ISO 1600. The rest of the processing was done in Lightroom. I was going for the “Mars” effect, which is really how I felt looking out at this scene. A most incredible place!

Where’s the most otherworldly place you’ve been? Maybe you know more about these telescopes?! I’d love to hear from you.

One Last Sunset On Maui

After three weeks in Hawaii, this was the perfect way to say goodbye. Whilst our time on the south shore of Maui was short, I was hopeful we’d get to see one last sunset over the ocean before it was time to leave.

Unfortunately our last day on the islands was plagued by an unusual amount of rain which kept us inside for most of the day. But the bad weather lifted just before 6:30pm. I rushed out from our hotel to the ocean at Mokapu Beach Park so I could shoot the sunset.

It didn’t take long for me to find some interesting foreground on the shores of Hawaii. There were fantastic lava rock formations almost everywhere we went. It was at this moment I realised how much I was going to miss the ocean once we returned to Switzerland, but also how lucky I was to even be there at all.

Poolside At Big Island’s Fairmont Orchid

One morning I was up early enough to try and get some shots of an empty swimming pool at the Fairmont Orchid on Big Island. It’s not often you see these places empty during the day, so I took my chance and did a full circuit around the water’s edge.

You’ll probably be unsurprised to hear that I’m not the kind of traveller who likes to spend their day sitting by the pool engrossed in a good novel. I find photography pretty relaxing for the most part, and when I need a break I’d rather find a beach and just listen to the ocean. While doing my utmost to remain out of the sun!

I wanted to try and evoke that classic Hawaiian postcard feeling with this shot. I boosted the temperature way up to around 13,000 for the entire image to get the yellow tint, and then played around with the hue, saturation and luminance of blue to get the colour I was after in the sky.

The Open Ceiling Na Pali Sea Cave

The Na Pali coast on the island of Kauai is full of beautiful surprises like this that you can really only appreciate from the air. Known as the “open ceiling” sea cave it’s actually a hollowed out lava tube. You can take a boat tour and enter from the ocean where there is an opening big enough for the smaller boats.

I had no idea this place existed before we took our flight, so it’s more luck than judgement that I managed to capture it here. Shooting from a helicopter is the most challenging environment I’ve encountered yet for photography.

The best tip I can think of is to sacrifice depth of field and make sure you use Shutter Priority mode. Set that shutter speed really fast. I was hovering around the 1/1000th of a second mark which left me at f4.0 most of the time. You may not get the entire frame in focus, but at least you’ll get something!

Watching Kilauea Glow At Volcanoes National Park

During the day you can only see a plume of gas rising from the most active volcano in the world. But as the sun starts to set a faint glow begins to emerge from the Halema’uma’u crater of Mount Kilauea. The lava lake is bubbling away about 50m below the rim.

We arrived at the Jagger Museum viewing point in Volcanoes National Park to find many photographers already lined up ready for the sunset. I had to get pretty creative with my tripod to get this angle!

I overheard one person say how they’d been there all afternoon to get their spot. That’s not how I want to spend my vacation! Hopefully this proves you don’t need to get there so early to take a good photo, we arrived about 30 minutes before sunset.

My First Hawaiian Sunset On The Big Island

Aloha! I’ve just returned from three weeks in incredible Hawaii, soaking up the sun and taking a ton of photos along the way. It might be a bit Hawaii heavy here on the blog over the next few weeks, so hopefully you’ll fall in love with the place as much as I have. And if you’ve visited the islands I hope to rekindle some fond memories for you!

Hawaii is famous for its beautiful displays of colour at sunset, with many people (both locals and tourists) taking the time to watch the spectacle pass each day. As soon as we arrived on the Big Island I was already looking forward to our first opportunity to take it all in.

The Fairmont Orchid was the perfect place to start our vacation, and this shot was taken just beside the hotel’s golf course. As we wandered towards the shoreline it was impossible to miss this great gazebo.

Fortunately the sun was setting just at its centre, so I lined everything up and hit the shutter. We then continued on to the shore and I got to work shooting amongst the lava rocks before dusk settled on the island.