Haleakala and the Maui Air Force

hawkeye978

I got to spend 9 days in Maui on vacation and kept myself to only 1100 shots during that time. While I've just begun to process here are a few that I have worked up.

I went up to the top of the Mt. Haleakala volcano twice, once during the day and the second time at sunrise. It was a two hour ride starting at 3:30a. When I arrived at the edge of the crater to setup it was 40 deg F with a 'brisk' 40-50 mph wind. A little brutal even for someone from New England. I was dressed in jeans with a moderately heavy fleece jacket and a hat. Unfortunately, my hat was sacrificed to the volcano about 40 minutes into this exercise so by the time I stopped at 7:00a I was shivering pretty heavily. I may have gotten some worthwhile shots. I'm not quite sure how anything came out even moderately sharp with the wind. My bubble level seemed to be vibrating the whole time and I was always sure the tripod was just going to blow backwards at any minute.

#1 View from the edge of the crater approximately 40 minutes before sunrise



#2 View of the crater floor about 20 minutes before sunrise



And finally, yes I know it's not a landscape but I really enjoyed shooting the windsurfers at Hoo'kipa beach in Pa'ia. This is a world class windsurfing location with pretty constant 30-40 mph winds in the afternoon. My understanding is that starting in January the winds get even stronger which is when they hold competitions. I have seen these people referred to as the Maui Air Force and you can see why. Shot handheld with a 50-200mm lens in shutter priority mode. I kept the shutter speed set to 1/400 sec to try and freeze the action and overcome the wind bouncing me around.

#3 Maui Air Force



Others coming. More can be found here.

Thanks for looking.

Roaddog 52

Interesting light with subtle detail. I really like the action captured in #3.

Phil

hawkeye978

Roaddog 52 wrote: »

Interesting light with subtle detail. I really like the action captured in #3.

Phil

Thanks, Phil. The light is very strange at that time of the morning, especially at 10,000 feet. Very diffuse, especially in the crater.

dlplumer

Tom, I have looked at these several times. I really like the composition in #1, but it is too dark for my particular taste. This of course is highly subjective. If it were my shot I would brighten it up a bit, and reduce the contrast and sat in the sky a tad. Regardless, it is a fine image.:D

hawkeye978

dlplumer wrote: »

Tom, I have looked at these several times. I really like the composition in #1, but it is too dark for my particular taste. This of course is highly subjective. If it were my shot I would brighten it up a bit, and reduce the contrast and sat in the sky a tad. Regardless, it is a fine image.:D

Dan, thanks for the comment. I was trying to convey just how dark it was up there which is why I didn't brighten it more. Admittedly subjective. And believe it or not, the sky was actually that color. You're above the clouds and the air density is about 30% below sea level so what light is available doesn't scatter nearly as much so you get much more saturated colors.

jamesl

Very nice set of images! I especially like the first shot. My wife and I spent our honeymoon on Maui, and I have fond memories of getting up at 3 am to drive up to the volcano. Thanks for taking me back.

LouwPhotography

I like #1 a lot -- it feels looks like the landscape is about to wake up from the sun rising in the distance. Nice job having a 30sec exposure with that kind of wind!

Toonartist

I really like the first two, I have spent many nights on the summits of mountains and the first shot captures the peace and tranquility of the summits!!! very good!

Duncan

Marc Muench

Aloha Tom

Great to see you made it all the way to the top and were able to set up the tripod.......

Keep up the spirit even in the windy conditions

hawkeye978

Marc Muench wrote: »

Aloha Tom

Great to see you made it all the way to the top and were able to set up the tripod.......

Keep up the spirit even in the windy conditions

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Thanks, Marc