Kauai


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All the islands we visited had their own charm and beauty, however Kauai is the island that you think of when you think about the beauty of Hawaii. I was fortunate enough to spend my birthday here. We started off the morning with a sunrise shoot and then headed to Wailua Falls. You might recognize this falls from the television series, Fantasy Island. These first 2 shots are the view most visitors get to see. However, one of the other tourees and I began to discuss hiking down to the base of the falls. I told him I wasn't sure we had time. He reminded me that it was my birthday so I got to do what I wanted. I looked over at Mark and he just said, go ahead! There was another tourist that told us about another trail that was supposed to be less steep a little distance down the road. Since we had heard about how steep the one trail was, we headed to the 2nd trailhead and started our hike down. There were several steep parts of this trail as well, plus the added adventure of climbing along a rock wall. We had to stop a few times and take a couple minutes to analyze the situation and determine the best method to get across obstacles. Teamwork was important in a couple of the locations. Once down at the base, we were able to get photos from that angle. It was a fun challenge to get photographs of the mist bow. Each time the wind would change directions a little bit, we had an opportunity to snap quick for the bow. We only had a couple seconds each time before our entire camera lenses were covered with mist. The warm sun and cool mist felt wonderful. The last 3 photos on the first row are from Opaekaa Falls.
For our hike back up, we decided to try the steep trail. It was actually shorter and less of a challenge than the trail we had taken down. After enjoying the waterfall, we headed to Kilauea Lighthouse and Cove. Here we had a chance to practice our bird photography. We found NeNe, Albatross, Red-footed Booby, and Frigates.
After leaving the lighthouse, we headed out for our sunset shoot at Ke'e Beach. After our sunset shoot, we headed back to the hotel. We had decided to build a fire on the beach at the hotel and photograph the bonfire, full moon, and reflection on the ocean. On the way back, we stopped and my friends (fellow tourees) bought everything for S'mores, including S'more sticks. It was the perfect end to my birthday.
We started our next morning at Waimea Canyon. The sunrise was beautiful. As the sun rose and hit sections of the canyon, it seemed to make the landscape glow with color.
Ke'eThe first couple of photos below were taken on our first sunrise on Kauai. Our final morning on Kauai we had decided to shoot on our own little hotel beach. However, it was raining, so I just went out on our little patio and sat, watched, and listened to the rain. It was raining hard but there were small breaks. During one of the breaks in the rain, I noticed the top of a rainbow over part of the hotel. I grabbed my camera and headed to the beach to try to photograph it. About halfway to the beach I realized that I did not have a compact flash card in my camera...or a polarizer. So much for photographing the rainbow. By the time I got back to the room the rainbow had disappeared, however, I decided to take my camera and go down to the beach for a few minutes. This time, with polarizer and flash card...but naturally when I got there I realized the battery was about dead. With the last little bit of life in the battery, I was able to snap a few shots on the beach, and there was even a rainbow!
For the second time, an island said goodbye with a rainbow at the airport. Our last night in Hawaii, we were back on Maui. Lightchase Photography had provided another fantastic tour, getting us to all the right places at the right times. It's always great to spend time in these beautiful locations but what makes it even more special is the friends I've made. Shooting in these locations, joking around, and making the most of the time we have.