the santa cruz trek, peru (revisited in bw)
In the spring of 2014 Naomi and I travelled to Peru for three weeks. We walked around Lima and went to some cool cafes. We stayed in Cuzco and got sick in Cuzco (the altitude is for real!) and went to Machu Picchu. But for me, the highlight of the tip was our hike through the Cordillera Blanca on the 5 day Santa Cruz Trek. The Santa Cruz trek was just awesome. What follows are a few pics from our trek. Some of the photos you may have seen in the travel gallery on this website, but I think all are new (in black and white) here.
The first two photos are from our "warm up" or acclimatization hike to Santa Cruz village, just outside of Huarez. Huarez, by the way, is a great little mountain town. Lots of cool cafes with good eats and delicious beer. Our favorite place was the Cafe California. We had pretty much everything on the menu (non-meat dishes) and it was all scrumptious! Coffee, too was excellent. You'll have to ask Naomi about the tea!
Near the beginning of the most amazing hike I have ever done-- Laguna 69 Trail. If you do one thing in Peru, do this! Awesome hike to one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen-- Laguna (lake) 69. I want to go back just to see it again. Camp out there and photograph it all day long!
Enroute to Laguna 69. Climbing and climbing through the valley, higher and higher above the falls. This is one of my favorite shots from the entire trip. From this point, there's about 1 mile left before the beautiful blue lake 69.
Early morning, day three (I think). Brilliant clear skies. I forgot the mountain's name.
And in the other direction, this mountain, too.
Definitely different from Kauai!
The Punta Union Pass (elevation 4,750 meters), highest point of the Santa Cruz Trek. This was a long day. A long hard climb with rain chasing us the entire way. The views were, of course, breathtaking. We stopped here for a quick lunch before descending down into the valley. This was a very long, hard day. Longest of the trek, if I remember correctly, and definitely the hardest.
View of Alpamayo from the Punta Union Pass. Many in Peru will tell you that Alpamayo is the most beautiful mountain in the world.
Day 4, 6:26 AM. Looking back at the mountain that guarded over the Punta Union Pass.
The last bridge, and your out of the valley.
Peru was awesome. I wanna go back.
Aloha,
lee
north shore days
I've been hanging out on the north shore these past few weeks and i've got a miscellaneous mix of pics to share with you here.
Coconuts at moloa'a bay. As you may know, Naomi and I live in moloa'a, and I often walk or jog to moloa'a bay. It's a fun place to hang out and an easy-to-get-to place for me to shoot. On this particular day, the coconuts grabbed my attention. They were rolling around on the beach like little footballs fumbled in the surf. Happy island scene.
The next couple of shots from moloa'a bay are from a morning with a sun that rose slowly with a hint of color, but not much illumination. I was hoping for a stronger sunrise to light up the jumping waves.
There was a warm and gentle glow on the horizon, but no waves to go with it! Ah, sometimes that's the way it goes. Alas....
File away for another day..... :-)
Next, is a shot from a morning spent walking hanalei bay. Sometimes, Naomi and I will stop and get coffee at Hanalei Coffee Roasters in hanalei town before heading out to shoot at the bay. Here's one form our coffee and chai morning at the bay.
Next up is a shot of aliomanu beach. While driving home, I noticed this blanket of clouds on the eastern sky. Unfortunately, it didn't reach to the north western horizon. Because of this I gave up on tunnels and ke'e and drove out to aliomanu beach, hoping that the blanket of clouds would catch the light from the distant sunset. Directionally, the conditions were a little off, and I only was able to see faint pink hues. Nothing epic, but it was good to get out and it is always good to try.
And finally a few from tuesdays short hike to hanakapi'ai. I had planned to hike to Space Out Rock, but the weather was poor, the trail was wet and rain was definitely coming so I turned back at hanakapi'ai beach.
Rainbows appeared and disappeared the whole way out to hanakapi'ai.
Cairns and a faint rainbow at hanakapi'ai beach. There were a lot of cairns at the beach on this day. Here's a few more....
And a pic of the trail. Pretty typical conditions for the fall and winter. Wet, muddy and green, wet, muddy and green....
Two different plants growing together along the kalalau trail. I like this one. Healthy and happy.
Aloha,
lee
the authentic that surrounds you
"Only the real can know the real, the true can know the truth, the authentic can know the authentic that surrounds you." OSHO in talks on emotions
As a photographer, an artist and as a man living life this is to what I aspire. I hope my photography helps us to know the real; to know the truth; and to communicate the authentic that surrounds us all. I have had experiences in nature that were quite simply spiritual. These moments when the power and energy of the natural setting made me forget who I was or why I was there. These moments of clarity and insight into the real, the truth of experience. Tibetan buddhism calls these moments mahamudra or the great sign or the great seal. They can be likened to epiphanic moments where the divine from without speaks to the divine from within. And in these moments there is no separation, there is no within and no without. There is only being. Beautiful being.
this side of the shore, polihale, kauai
Colors.
I should probably study up on Kandinsky's color theory before discussing such a lofty topic, but rather than discuss the emotive connections of various colors, I'll just say that colors and their divine shades are part of the authentic that surrounds us. We just have to be attune to the real and the truth to see it.
lehua and halo, polihale, kauai
ajana chakra (the third eye), polihale, kauai
la and lehua, polihale, kauai
visions of the divine, polihale, kauai
I feel like I have a lot more to say about the topic, but I just can't get my head around it all. I do know that when I select photos for the gallery, I will keep the quote by OSHO in mind and ask myself if that criteria has been met: does this photo communicate the real, the truth and the authentic? Will this photo help me and others become more aware of the real, the truth and the authentic in the world that surrounds us?
And at some point I'd like to use the same criteria for the viewer as well. In a world that has become so far removed from the Romantic ideal that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" how can we know the real? When what is often presented as beauty is far from the truth, where is the authenticity? And where is the belief?
favorite t-shirt faded, polihale, kauai
Aloha,
lee
wave watching at polihale
Last tuesday i packed the camera and gear in the fj and drove out to polihale. I wanted to play around in the sand, shoot some waves, and then see what colors sunset would bring. First, i drove out to Queen's Pond, but i didn't see any tide pool so i gave up on that location. Next, i drove all the way out to the end and parked in a full lot at the pavilions. Wow, i was really surprised at all the people. This spot was a no-go as well, so i let some air and drove on the dunes, looking for a little stretch of beach without people, but with waves.
25 psi is good to get to you going, but if you stop you ain't going again. Driving on the sand is all about keeping momentum and avoiding building piles in front of the tires. After stopping here and there-- momentum lost-- i stopped completely. Wheels where a spinning, so i let out more air. This time, i lowered the pressure to 20 psi, which did the trick, but 15 is probably better. I decided to set up just below the first camping area where i didn't think anyone would be in the frame.
The area i chose looked to have a strong rip current where receding white water would meet oncoming waves in a rush. It was important that i get the pali in the frame as well, as i wanted to hint at-- and in some instances tell-- the location.
I have some good wave shots from ke'e withe pali on the left side of the frame so I thought it would be cool if i could get some wave pics at polihale with the pali on the right. Kinda like bookend shots, together they show the beginning (and end) of the napali coast.
The waves at polihale have such power. The sand is very fine and thick, and the shells that you find there are often nothing more than faded pieces.
Sailboats and catamarans ply this western coastline on snorkeling and sunset napali coast cruises.
A frothy little shack at polihale hangs suspended in the late afternoon light.
The waves preform some kind of strange dance or celebration like popping the champagne to commemorate a special event.
A line of color falls and jumps at polihale. Now, to get ready for sunset.....
Aloha,
lee
emotions (and a few more from shipwrecks)
taking in the view, shipwrecks, poipu, kauai
We went down to shipwrecks for some sunset shots last week, and although the sunset wasn't really happening I did get a few ideas on what i would like to shoot the next time i was down in poipu. Initially i wanted to shoot the rocky point at keoniloa bay, but the top was just too busy with hikers and sightseers taking in the view.
Looking away from the point and straight out to the horizon, i noticed the soft and beautiful colors of the sand and sea. File away for another day.
And further down the beach as the surfers, body boarders, locals and tourists were all having a good time in the glow of sunset. The sand at shipwrecks has such a softness of texture and a color that is pleasing to the senses and soul.
same view as the shot above, only this one is the next day at dawn. Sometimes a location pulls at me and i feel a need to go back on consecutive days. It's like a calling that i can't explain, but one that i love to explore.
a few minutes later and the strong pinks have turned to cool blues.
looking back the other way, towards the point at keoniloa bay. the surf rushes in like light rays.
One of my favorite teachers is OSHO. I am reading one of his "books" now. It's about emotions and in it he brings up a really good point by looking at the etymology and construction of the word. Emotion. E-motion. Motion. Movement. They are always changing. They are moving like the waves. And we just need to watch them come and go, form and break. Run and play. Motion.
south swell, shipwrecks, poipu, kauai
I want to thank all of you who gave feedback on my recent Facebook post about this shoot. Your comments were insightful and will help me choose a new image for the gallery. In reading your comments, I found that some liked the waves and sense of power and motion while others preferred the warm reflection and it's sense of compositional space and energy. I think this shot offers a nice compromise of the two. Any thoughts?
Mahalo and aloha,
lee