I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.

~ from Black Elk's Great Vision as recounted in John G. Neihardt's classic, Black Elk Speaks

I have always said that the soccer fields and basketball court in Hanalei must have the prettiest backdrop of any playground in the world. I've had this idea of shooting the Milky Way and basketball hoop for a while now and finally got the chance with a new moon occurring in late September. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't looking too good for the first few nights, but I made a go of it last night and came up with a few fun shots. 

swish!

Have a great weekend!

Aloha, 

lee

... Zen is a liberation from time. For if we open our eyes and see clearly, it becomes obvious that there is no other time than this instant, and that the past and future are abstractions without any concrete reality. 

               ~ from Alan Watts, The Way of Zen

One wave of many colors and sections flowing with constant movement. Each wave different, yet each wave is the same.

Ocean.

Wind.

Light.

Dependent on the other. 

Emotions are the energies of our mental states. Like waves, they appear when conditions ripen, and flow through us until they break.

We are not the emotions, just as we are not the feelings they bring. 

Watch them pass like waves hitting the rocks, and be the calm seas.

The period in the swell. 

I enjoy seeing the colors of a location change. The light and shadows move as if they were playing a game. This is one of the most interesting facets of photography. For this reason, I often don't move around that much after I arrive at a location and begin shooting. Usually, I don't feel the need or desire to pick up the tripod and move up the beach 100 yards or back up the trail 50 feet. Sometimes I'll shift the perspective, but most of the time I am content just to view the scene from where I first chose. Maybe I feel that this helps me appreciate the changes in light and color more than if I were constantly adjusting my location throughout the shoot. Sometimes I find the variety of light is more interesting than variety of subject. Take the two vertical shots above. They are nearly identical, but the shadow created by the breaking wave in the second image makes it completely different (to me, at least) from the image that proceeds it. That little diagonal shift is just awesome! 

All photos in this blog were taken at Ke'e Beach on Kauai's north shore. The first couple were taken with a 70-200/2.8 and the last few with a 24-70/2.8.

As always, thanks for visiting. 

Mahalo and aloha!

lee

A friend of mine sent me a text. It read, "... about .25 mile hike and then you are sitting on a rock in the middle of the canyon. It was quite magical." Forget that she didn't say where the .25 mile long trail began nor did she mention the size (or lack there of) said rock!

The search was on, and it coincided with our recent off road camping trip in The Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve. Day one was all about finding the trail, and after two false paths and a little more off roading we finally found it. Next came the hike, which  was really easy and really quick. You start at the Poomau Canyon Lookout Trailhead and sure enough, .25 miles away lies the "END" marker, and beyond that sits the rock. 

Now, between the END marker and the ROCK lies a narrow and eroded shrub-lined trail that may leave you more comfortable resting at the END marker. Being adventurous souls, we took our chances and carefully scurried down the trail to the safety (?) of the ROCK where we found the views to be quite magical.

Magical indeed.

But the mid day light was not. So successfully reconnoitered we called it an afternoon and went back to camp to relax in the hammock and plan the next morning's sunrise shoot.

Interlude

Up at 5am and in the FJ by 5.30. On the trail by 5.45 and sitting on the ROCK at 6, where we sat for 2 and half hours. It was a small rock and a hard rock.  And when Naomi dozed off and almost fell off the ROCK it scared the shit out of me! I still don't know how I managed the tripod and at what angle I sat at in order to peer through the viewfinder. All I know is that my back and butt hurt for two solid days after our sunrise vigil to the photography gods. 

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After two days at the lookout, I'm still unsure as to when the best light would be. Sunrise was a little weak. But once the sun came up, the shadows were strong. Midday saw a lot of overexposed clouds (time for a graduated nd filter???) and sunset you would be shooting directly into the light, and once the sun went behind the western wall of the canyon, i'm sure a lot of shaded areas would be hard to bring up. Yes, I still find Waimea Canyon one of the most difficult places to shoot on Kauai. 

I loved this section of the trail. Giant cedars (Japanese Sugi) in the morning light.

And on the way back to Koke'e these other scraggly trees under radiant blue sky.

Mahalo mama Kauai!

Aloha,

lee