MIRA's August 2009 Lightbox

MIRA's August 2009 Lightbox sent out to art buyers features this recent image of mine from Hawaii:

Male snorkeling in Hawaii

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Oahu, Hawaii Panoramic Photography

Until recently I would stitch together a panoramic and then crop it to whatever dimensions it happened to be. I've recently started cropping all of my panoramic shots to a 3 by 1 ratio. I really like the consistency it has added, even though some of my pans could be 5 to 1 or 6 to 1 ratio. The later is really too much actually. I will still shoot it as wide as possible, but then forcing myself to crop it to 3x1 makes me select the most important part of the image.

Hotels filling the skyline of Waikiki on Oahu, Hawaii

Kahanamoku Beach section of Waikiki Beach in Oahu, Hawaii

Hotel skyrises along Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head on the right in Oahu, Hawaii

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Napali Coast Aerial Photography from Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of beaches along the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Aerial view of the Napali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii

Visit my Hawaii photography gallery for more Hawaiian punch.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Waterfalls of Kauai, Hawaii

Here are some waterfalls shot from a helicopter over Kauai. This first one has the nickname "Jurassic Park Falls", because it's the waterfall when the helicopter first approaches the mysterious island in the original movie.

Manawaiopuna falls waterfall otherwise known as Jurassic Falls on the island of Kauai in Hawaii

Manawaiopuna falls waterfall otherwise known as Jurassic Falls on the island of Kauai in Hawaii

One of the many amazing things about the waterfalls in Kauai is how the cascades flow one into another into another, like Namolokama Falls:

Namolokama Falls cascading waterfall in Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii

Mount Wai'ale'ale is the wettest spot on Earth. Basically, clouds always cover the mountain, and it always rains. It's also one of the coolest places on Earth you can visit from a helicopter. Cool in both ways. The temperature drops several degrees as you enter the crater as well.

Cascading waterfalls inside Mount Waialeale crater, the wettest spot on Earth, on Kauai, Hawaii

Cascading waterfalls inside Mount Waialeale crater, the wettest spot on Earth, on Kauai, Hawaii

Waterfall inside Waialeale Crater the wettest spot on Earth. Kauaii, Hawaii

This Kauai waterfalls link will take you to a search results page on my website where you can see more. You can also visit my Hawaii photography gallery.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Waimea Canyon, Hawaii Photography

Some credit Mark Twain with calling Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, but my guidebook, honest to the point of boredom, says he actually never visited Kauai. Oh well, it's still a big hole in the ground. This panoramic image shows the view from the public overlook:

Waimea Canyon on Kauai Island, Hawaii

To the left is Waipo'o falls:

Waimea Canyon State Park and Waipo'o Falls waterfall on Kauai Island, Hawaii

This an aerial shot of Waipo'o Falls from a helicopter.

Waipoo Falls waterfall in Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai, Hawaii

This shot of the canyon is one of my favorites from Kauai. I love the light and dark contrast looking down into the canyon.

Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai Island, Hawaii, USA

You can view more of my Hawaii photography by clicking the link.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Red Dirt = Nice Landscape Photography

One afternoon on Kauai I set off in the rental car to do some landscape photography. Along the way up Waimea Canyon Drive I came across one of the many things Kauai is known for, it's red dirt. They actually dye and sell 500 T-shirts out of just one bucket of the stuff. My guidebook, in retrospect, said "Kauai's infamous red dirt has ruined many new pairs of Nikes in its time." That, I can attest, is true! In fact, there are still red dirt stains on my Nikes to this day.

Red earth of Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

Waimea Canyon Drive is a twisting, turning road straight up. It's also a fun ride back down, after dark, and driving as fast as you can. I squealed the tires on the rental car on more than one occasion.

By the way, this shot would look great with a red Ferrari digitally comped into it. If you're an automotive advertising image buyer, by any chance, give me a ring!

Vista across Kauai to the Pacific Ocean along Waimea Canyon Drive, Kauai, Hawaii.

I had pulled over to the side of the road and immediately heard the water from this little water fall (more like a tiny drip, drip by Kauai standards):

Waterfall and red earth in Waimea Canyon State Park in Kauai, Hawaii.

I'll be posting images of Waimea Canyon and Kauai's waterfalls later this week.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Watch Your Coconuts

I finally wrapped all of my editing from Hawaii. I'll be posting Hawaii travel photography all of this week.

Caution Falling Coconuts sign at Salt Pond Beach Park on Kauai, Hawaii.

Sheraton Kauai Resort on Kiahuna Beach, Kauai.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith. All Rights Reserved.

Photography of the USS Arizona Memorial in Oahu, Hawaii

I recently finished up editing my photography from Oahu including these pictures from the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Hope you enjoy them.

USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Hawaiian Surfing Dog

This dog in an original member of The Beach Boys, Canine Chapter.

Woman surfing together with Pug dog on surfboard on Kiahuna Beach, Kauai, Hawaii, USA.

On our last morning on Kauai before flying home later that day, I got up early with plans to drive to a nearby botanical garden and get some shots of the beautiful Hawaiian flowers and fauna. Much of Jurassic Park (as well as dozens of other movies) were filmed on Kauai and at least one of the scenes was filmed in the botanical garden just down the road from our hotel.

In slow motion, it seamed like, I got my photo backpack together, grabbed the tripod, and made sure to pull all the memory cards out of my laptop from the night before and then slogged down my tired body down to the rental car one last time to get some parting shots only to find... that the car wouldn't start! The battery was dead. So while I felt blessed that I was finding this out a few hours before we had to get to the airport on time, I was still very worried about getting the whole mess straightened out, whether we would have to exchange rental cars, etc. The rental car company was great though. I have to give Budget credit. They sent someone out fast to jump start it and all was good.

While the Budget guy was jumping the car battery the Pug dog that you see here ran right past me like he owned the whole beach. He knew exactly where he was going! (No swimsuit either. Very confident in his dog-inity!) Then I noticed the girl with the surfboard go by and shortly thereafter saw the dog get ON the surfboard!

After everything with the car was straightened out, I had to make a choice. Should I continue on to the garden and get photos that any photographer with a tripod and macro lens could capture, or take a shot at the surfing duo and hope I might get a model release?

I had to give it a shot. I put on my Nikon 70-200 VR lens, walked down to the beach, and started shooting. As it turns out, a lady came up to me on the beach asking about my lens and she turned out to be a professional photographer from California. A bit later she asked me to take shots of her son and daughter who had been taking surfing lessons. I didn't mind and she was more than willing to sign model releases for me in exchange for prints. (I also provide models with the images online where they're able to order prints at cost with no markup on my part.)

I was able to get some great shots of them. I might post a blog of those pics in the future. I started focusing mostly on the two kids but every now and then tried to get shots of the girl and dog. She had not gotten out of the water though, so I had given up at that point on getting a model release from her. It wasn't until I started walking back to the hotel to start packing my bags that I noticed she was paddling on her surfboard in the same direction and about to get out of the water.

I waited for her to shower off and then I approached her about signing a release for me. I admit that even though I've shot plenty of people before whom I've only just met and gotten releases from them, most of the time, in fact nearly all time, I ask beforehand! It's a bit intimidating to approach a beautiful woman in a bikini who you have been photographing from a distance and explain yourself! Luckily though, she didn't mind at all, and she even mentioned she had been wanting prints of her and her dog. (Sorry, I don't remember the doggie's name.)

In hindsight, I would have taken hundreds of pictures of the two of them surfing and really wish that I had done so. As I started editing the pictures I found I had a lot fewer shots than I thought, especially ones without other surfers in the frame. I suppose the lesson learned from this experience was to never assume you might not get a model release. Shoot like crazy and hope for the best.

By the way, the doggie was a surfing animal! (pun intentional) Every now and then she would go out in the water without him and he (or she) would pace back and forth on the shore watching her every move! Waiting to go again! The waves would come in and he would run toward the ocean as the waves receded and then run away when the next wave crashed on the beach!

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.