Take a Hike

The Island of Oahu has many great hiking trails. In my neighborhood there are four (five if you include the walk out to Makapuu Lighthouse). The hike to the top of Koko Crater provides a 360 degree view of East Honolulu and across the Kaiwi Channel to Molokai and Maui.  Many people reach the summit walking up the tracks of the incline railway.  The railway was built in WW II to move soldiers manning the observation/radar site.  It’s a steep hike in parts plus there are sections of the railway elevated above the ground and you must step carefully from railway tie to tie. I got this shot when I carried my Maxxum 7D up to the top a few years ago.  On the left is the main area of Hawaii Kai with Kuapa Pond next to Maunalua Bay.  From this height you can see up the coast to Diamond Head and some of the of the buildings in Waikiki

Cool Winter Morning

You wouldn’t know from looking at this photo, but the morning was chilly in Hawaii Nei.  Low 60’s BRRRRRRR!

Morning Panorama

October in Hawaii

  Just like on the Mainland, October is a transition month in the Islands. Unlike the Mainland we don’t have foliage changing colors.  Instead, we have a period of muggy weather because the trades go away.  Usually the result of a storm to the north of the Islands that will eventually reach the Pacific Northwest. Which means the North Shore is the place to be if you’re a good surfer.

I do mean good.  North Shore surf is not for the beginner.

 

 

                                                                               This how it looks out my back door when it’s dead calm.

Black and White Sunrise

360 POV

This evening was a Sunset Photo Op.  I got some nice ones from the Koko Head promontory near my neighborhood.

 

However a photographer should keep their head on a swivel.  You never know what might be going on behind you.

Koko Head Panorama

View of East Honolulu from Diamond Head on the left to the Halona Coast on the right.
Hawaii Kai is in the center.

Vog is back

We been living with Kona trades the past few days. Bringing vog back to our neighborhood. Fortunately it hasn’t been as bad as three weeks ago. It does make for sunrise photo ops. Like this view out my back door.

I’ve been playing with the different features of my Sony A700 to understand its capabilities. I used the D-Range Optimizer for this picture. It’s a feature designed to capture more detail in shadow and high contrast situations.

This is a versatile option. Not only is there a default setting. There’s an Advanced Auto and an Advanced:Level. The level allows you to adjust how strong to make it. Plus there’s a bracketing option. You take one picture and it creates three copies of varying optimization. And there’s no lag. Well there’s nothing more high contrast than a sunrise. Except a sunset.

But for sunrises all I have to do is set my tripod on the lanai and start shooting. I’ve used ND filters, bracketing and Photoshop to tease out decent pics. Of course the biggest problem is reducing/hiding the noise in the shadows without turning the detail into mush. So much for Photoshop (just kidding Adobe).

This is a versatile option. Not only is there a default setting. There’s an Advanced Auto and an Advanced:Level. The level allows you to adjust how strong to make it. Plus there’s a bracketing option. You take one picture and it creates three copies of varying optimization. And there’s no lag.
I can’t say I’ve noticed a big difference between Level 1 and 5. This shot was used with Level 4

Aloha!