Maui Anniversary Trip

jloden

All-Pro
Name
Jay
Thought I'd cross post this from FujiXSpot since it didn't get much exposure there (hah!), and I ended up using 4 compact cameras this trip :tongue:

My wife and I returned to Maui for an anniversary trip (we were married there 7 years ago), and I thought I'd share a few favorite photos from the trip. As usual, lots more are on my Flickr album of photos from the trip as well.

Fair warning: If you don't care for sunset beach photos, I'd probably stop reading here... there was a lot of beach and a lot of sunsets this trip!

Gearwise, I traveled with an X-E1 with a few lenses, X100S, and a Sony RX1. Don't ask me why I brought two 35mm equiv. fixed lens cameras, but I did. Somehow I used them both quite a bit, so I guess it worked out :p

Here I was playing around with something I'd read about a few months back in a photo mag about "miniature" landscapes and shooting details instead of always going for the big picture. I wandered the beach and tried a few less traditional landscape compositions. Fun to experiment and got a few keepers from it too.

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Kama'ole Beach by jloden, on Flickr


First beach sunset of the trip.

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Kama'ole Beach Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


Another area I've finally started delving into now that I carry a better tripod is long exposure landscapes. Obviously that's popular for seascapes but I have been using it lots of places since I started experimenting with a 10 stop ND filter. Still need to figure out a remote for the X-E1 though, as I was limited to 30s and would have liked to try some even longer bulb mode exposures.

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Kama'ole Beach Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


Quite possibly my favorite photo from the trip, another long exposure.

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Kama'ole Beach Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


I didn't use it as much this trip but the Fuji sweep panorama is really handy for some scenes. Here's one of the beach we were married on, from a sunset visit.

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Makena Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


Another from the same sunset:

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Makena Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


One of the nights, we mustered up enough determination to wake up at 2:30am and head to the top of Haleakala crater to see the stars and watch the sun rise. It was bitterly cold - I'd guess in the teens (Fahrenheit) or colder with wind chill. Fortunately I brought a down jacket and other warm gear so I was able to brave the chill for a couple of hours to get my first astrophotography shots. My wife ended up staying in the car until sunrise as it was just too cold for her. The things we do for our art, eh?

I have a ton to learn and probably need to pick up a tracking mount eventually, but I was happy with some of my astro shots for a first attempt. Photos aside, it was awe-inspiring to stand up there in the utter darkness and see so many stars overhead. I've been in a few remote locations and seen stars but this was special even so. The best endorsement I can give is that I was curled in a near fetal position on the ground, hugging myself for warmth and sheltering the tripod with my body... and I loved every second of it :)


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Haleakala by Night by jloden, on Flickr


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Haleakala by Night by jloden, on Flickr


It was also a unique experience seeing the sun just begin it's ascent over the crater, with the stars still clearly visible but slowly giving way to the orange glow of the dawn. Some of the deepest blue I have ever seen in the sky.

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Stars Give Way by jloden, on Flickr


The wind and omnipresent cloud cover create a surreal environment to watch the sun rise over the crater.

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Haleakala Sunrise by jloden, on Flickr



More sunset shots:

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Kama'ole Beach Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


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Kama'ole Beach Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


The one thing I didn't prepare for this trip was underwater photography. I had decided not to bother but after our first day snorkeling I ended up renting an Olympus TG-820 from a local camera shop so I could at least get some snapshots. I have always wanted to swim with sea turtles, and this time I not only got to swim alongside them twice, I was able to get a few photos to remember it by too! :yahoo:

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Swimming with the Honu by jloden, on Flickr


To mix it up a bit from landscapes here's some portraits with the Fujis. First is my (longsuffering) wife, who had to endure most of our beach walks becoming impromptu photoshoots, and endless long exposure sunsets, tripods, flashes, timers, and waiting for me to pack my gear.

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Beauty under the Banyan by jloden, on Flickr


This is Richard Roshon, who we met our last night. Very interesting guy with a lot of life experiences all over the world. Glad I had a chance to chat with him for a bit and snap a photo.

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Richard Roshon by jloden, on Flickr


And our last sunset before we headed back to the airport:

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Last Sunset by jloden, on Flickr


Thanks for viewing if you made it this far, hope you enjoyed! :2thumbs:
 
Thanks Christilou - glad you enjoyed and it's nice to know I'm not the only one that's done that, hahah. (y)
 
Super set (whole series on Flickr), Jay... especially love the variety and colors in the landscapes. It sounds like you had a great time! Happy anniversary to you and your wife!

Coincidentally, my wife and I just got back from Kauai a couple days ago... back on the island (went there for our honeymoon) to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. I only took one camera... the X100. I am struggling a bit on processing now (too many images, uncertain on what to do with some of the beach scenes).
 
Super set (whole series on Flickr), Jay... especially love the variety and colors in the landscapes. It sounds like you had a great time! Happy anniversary to you and your wife!

Coincidentally, my wife and I just got back from Kauai a couple days ago... back on the island (went there for our honeymoon) to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. I only took one camera... the X100. I am struggling a bit on processing now (too many images, uncertain on what to do with some of the beach scenes).

Thanks Kyle!

We thought about island hopping and finally visiting Kauai ourselves this trip but the logistics and cost ballooned so we stayed on Maui. Hopefully next time we make it out there we can see another island or two! X100/RX1 makes a fantastic "one camera" solution (at least when I can talk myself into traveling light). No bag or accessories needed, no worrying about focal lengths, just shoot and enjoy :)
 
Thanks Kyle!

We thought about island hopping and finally visiting Kauai ourselves this trip but the logistics and cost ballooned so we stayed on Maui. Hopefully next time we make it out there we can see another island or two! X100/RX1 makes a fantastic "one camera" solution (at least when I can talk myself into traveling light). No bag or accessories needed, no worrying about focal lengths, just shoot and enjoy :)

We wanted to at least get back to Kauai once, but we will probably go somewhere different, like Maui, if there is a next time for us. We like checking out new places!

It was nice and relaxing to only have one camera/FoV for the trip, but I did find a couple times that I wished that I had a weather-resistant setup. It was rainy often and the surf was really high for us on the north shore. It would have definitely been fun to also have a full waterproof camera for snorkeling (loved your turtles).
 
Yeah, that was a ton of fun! Next time we go somewhere with good snorkeling, I will have to figure out an underwater setup in advance.

Even if it's just renting something like the new AW1 or a housing for one of my cameras it would be great to get some better quality photos. The sea turtles were probably my second favorite experience of the trip, aside from the stars on Haleakala!
 
Been to Maui twice and never seen a turtle :( We were going to a place where we sure to see one on our last trip, but then that effing Tsunami came. So while I generally don;t care for the sunset photos of others, I'll always have a soft spot for ones from Hawaii. It's been one of my fave places to go, but I expect it to be eclipsed by Alaska whenever we get to go.
 
Oh Jay I love travelling with you....i meant. the photos!. great set man!. looks like you two had a blast. I love the first shot and the cloud on the crater. amazing!

But i will be the one thats going to ask, Why did you take two 35mm cams? and also, how did you find those tiny Olymps cameras for underwater photography?
 
Been to Maui twice and never seen a turtle :( We were going to a place where we sure to see one on our last trip, but then that effing Tsunami came. So while I generally don;t care for the sunset photos of others, I'll always have a soft spot for ones from Hawaii. It's been one of my fave places to go, but I expect it to be eclipsed by Alaska whenever we get to go.

Don't feel bad Luke - we have been 3 times now and this was the only time we had that kind of experience with sea turtles! Lot has to do with finding the right spot to see them, but even then time of day and surf conditions can mean no turtles :(

Oh Jay I love travelling with you....i meant. the photos!. great set man!. looks like you two had a blast. I love the first shot and the cloud on the crater. amazing!

But i will be the one thats going to ask, Why did you take two 35mm cams? and also, how did you find those tiny Olymps cameras for underwater photography?


Hahah thanks Chris.

And honestly... no really good reason :tongue: I was just going to take the 2 Fujis like I did last trip, but I've been shooting a bunch with the RX1 and didn't feel like leaving it behind. I only carried one of the two at any given time, but they're just different enough that I would pick back and forth between them.
 
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