Tag Archives: hawaii
Capturing Hanauma Bay
Hanauma Bay was created about 32,000 years ago. I just learned that. Oahu was created by the Wai’anae and Ko’olau Volcanos between three and four million years ago. Then the Honolulu volcanic series saw the birth of Hanauma Bay. Unlike the relatively gentle lava flows that are building the island of Hawaii as your read this, the volcanic activity that built Oahu was violent and dramatic. Explosions built cones of ash and vaporized the sea floor. Hanauma was once such cinder cone. Eventually the south eastern wall was breached by wave action and Hanauma became the sanctuary you see today.
Capturing Hanauma Bay
I first saw Hanauma Bay from the perspective you’ve seen in my photos in September 2012. I love climbing the rim trail in the twilight before sunrise and capturing the seascape as the sun saturates the reef and landscape. Unfortunately, I didn’t own a “real” camera (aka, SLR) at the time and I couldn’t capture the breadth of the bay. It wasn’t until October that I finally took the plunge and decided that I would be a photographer and ponnyied up the dinero on a Canon 5D Mark 1 and lenses.
On this first capture, I climbed the rim trail and met a fellow photog, George Chan of ChanKane Photography, after not sleeping for the entire night only to realize that I left my tripod in my trunk! Crap. If you don’t know, I broke my back in the military and faced a tough decision: go get my tripod and suffer the pain for the next few days or, sit a watch sunrise and enjoy the moment. You know, I truly feel that capturing a moment takes me out of the moment and I lose that intimate connection with what ever is happening before me. BUT, I ran for my tripod anyway.
The Hanauma Bay Rim Trail is a favorite sunrise hike of mine. I always bring my camera, naturally.
This sunrise was captured on October 29, 2012
on an especially beautiful morning.
Sea Arch, Moving Meditation
I don’t get to look around much while I’m driving, I’m surprised I saw it. I was cruising up the Kamehameha Highway headed west, past Wainae and past Makaha to bring my little sister out to a big cave where a sea god used to bring captured men into his dwelling and eat them when I spotted a picturesque sea arch out of the corner of my eye. I found a spot to U-turn and bam, I has found an exciting pit stop for west side adventure seekers. I call it Warrior Arch.
This photo is available for print 12×18 for $250 to 40×60 $1600 prints on aluminum and canvas.
