The waterfall featured in the movie Jurassic Park, Kauai, Hawaii.

“That is the stairway that Jack Black was filmed on in Mission Impossible” says the manager of a rooftop restaurant in Honolulu as he graciously blocked open a door to a fire escape to that I could go out on the roof for some photography.  And thus started a theme.  Everywhere we went in Hawaii there would be a reference to some show and movie having been filmed at the particular location we were visiting.  Like in this case, our pilot explained that this waterfall was featured prominently in Jurassic Park.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the Jack Black film, Jurassic Park or any of the other shows referenced so it didn’t mean much to me.  I understand the latest George Clooney movie The Descendants was filmed in and around Hanalei Bay in Kauai.  Hanalei Bay was one of my favorite parts of Hawaii – might be fun to see that film just for the chance to see Hanalei Bay again.  Then the next time I’m there, I could be the one saying ” Hey, I remember seeing this in the movie The Descendants!”

Sunset at Ohe'o Gulch aka Seven Sacred Pools in Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii

Janine now has our website updated with our new photos from our Hawaii trip.  Here is our new section of Hawaii photos.  We also have new sections from Maui, Haleakala National Park, Kauai and Oahu / Honolulu.

I shared a similar photo to this awhile back.  I like the composition of that image a little better, but like the sky in this one better!

Aerial of waterfalls, Kauai, Hawaii.

So, we now have an entire new section on our website of Kauai, Hawaii photos.

Before we went to Hawaii, many people told us Kauai was their favorite island.  I’m glad it lived up to the expectations – it really is beautiful there!

Coast off Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii.

If our blog seems like a contrast lately as I jump between photos of Alaska winter and Hawaii, so does our life right now – living in a winter wonderland while working on photos and videos from a tropical wonderland!

Sunset from the infinity pool at the Sheraton Waikiki, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii.

We now have a new section on our website of our Honolulu, Oahu photos.

Ke'e Beach at the beginning of the Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.

A couple of kids playing on Ke’e Beach in Kauai.  This beautiful beach is at the beginning of the Na Pali Coast.

This was with my Canon 5D II and 24-105 at 67mm.  Exposure was 1/50 of a second, f/10 at iso 500.  The aperture of f/10 gave me the depth of field to keep the kids and the background both in focus.   I needed to bump the iso to 500 to get enough of a shutter speed to freeze the movement of the kids and the waves.  Like in my last post, I used aperture priority – but in this one I actually dialed down the exposure compensation to – 1 stop to keep the waves from being blown out, and the black rocks dark.  Goes to show, gotta always check the historgram.

Sunset from Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii.

Another new one from our Hawaii trip – we just adjusted this last night.

Aerial of Kalalau Beach, Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.

Greeting!  I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

We just adjusted a few more images of this dramatic coastline along the North Shore of Kauai in response to a magazine request, so I thought I would share one here.

Looking towards the Na Pali Coast from Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii.

Another new photo from our recent travels to Kauai.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii.

I thought this was a fitting image given that today is the 70th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Even though you know what you are going to see when you visit Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S Arizona memorial, and you can prepare yourself mentally – it is still a very somber and moving experience. We don’t want to ever forget the people who have fought for and sacrificed so much for our freedom.

The Park Service recently spent $58 million dollars to reconstruct the visitor center and museum – the exhibits and videos are extremely well done and educational.  Any visit to Honolulu should include Pearl Harbor.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Waialeale Crater, Kauai, Hawaii.

This crater portion of Mount Waialeale also know as the Wall of Tears or the Weeping Wall.  This location averages 452 inches or rain per year and is considered one of the wettest places on earth!  It is easy to see why there are so many waterfalls.

A one way bridge over a waterfall along the Hana Highway, Maui, Hawaii.

The road to Hana has got to be one of the more spectacular drives anywhere!  It is a narrow winding road with over 600 curves (I guess someone counted) and 59 bridges of which 46 are one way.  There are even some stretches of road that are so narrow they are effectively one way.  And if that wasn’t interesting enough – it travels through spectacular tropical rainforest, along the rugged coast crossing over endless streams and waterfalls – the one pictured above it just one of many!  There is a photo opportunity around every curve, everywhere you look!

If you are to drive this road, and you should, bring your patience.  The road is the destination so enjoy it.  There is a good chance it will be wet and raining.  Couple that with the narrowness, locals in a hurry and tourist who aren’t and you have a dangerous combination.  In fact the morning we drove the Hana Hwy. we came across two head on accidents – and we were there during a slow time of year early in the morning.  But, it definitely is worth it!  And, you can continue on around the island past Hana, and except for a rough 10 mile stretch, the remaining road as you circle the Southern part of the island is some of the nicest on Maui, so the return drive is much faster and easier then having to return on the Hana Highway.

If you are thinking of driving the road, I have two strong recommendations that I though I would share.

First, I would stay at least one night in Hana.  This gives you time to explore the Seven Sacred Pools and other attractions in the area,  and breaks up what otherwise would be one really long day of driving.

Second, I would make sure I had a guide book, preferably Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook.  Actually all the Hawaii Reveled  books are excellent if you are visiting other islands, I highly recommend them.  So why is a guide book so important?  Even though you will drive past many spectacular waterfalls and sights, many of the best ones are out of sight from the highway – in some cases, just out of sight.  But, the guide book will tell you right where to park, and where to walk to see some wonderful sights that you would otherwise miss.  Not only waterfalls, but some great little side roads that bring you right down to the ocean in some really neat places.

The Maui Revealed folks also sell one of the best smart phone apps around – perfect compliment to the book.

As we drove the Hana Highway, we found that the same people kept stopping at the same odd places we were – it became very apparent who had that book and who didn’t.  I even asked people, and sure enough, the had Maui Revealed.

Hotels along Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii.

This was a sunset earlier on during out recent trip to Hawaii.

Janine at Wailua Falls, near Hana, Maui, Hawaii.

This beautiful waterfall is just along the side of the road a few miles past Hana – one of many.

They do pay their price for all this lush beauty.  A wet year in Hana can bring over 200 inches of rain, and a wet month of March can bring almost 60 inches!  And I thought we got a lot of precipitation!  A bit north of Hana it is even wetter.  I know a few times we had our window wipers on high and still couldn’t see because so much rain was coming down.  On the plus side, all the waterfalls in the area were really pumping!

Seven Sacred Pools or O'heo Gulch, Haleakala National Park, near Hana, Maui, Hawaii.

Well our last few days in Hawaii were busy.  Two days down in Hana and a couple of trips up to the Haleakala Crater.  Gotta say the drive to Hana was beautiful!  But, the highlight was a visit to the Seven Sacred Pools just a short distance past the town – just flat gorgeous!  As is the hike above the pools to Waimoku Falls. Both should be at the top of any visitors list of things to see while in Maui.  While there, we were lucky enough to have one of our few sunsets.  If you look close you can see the highway just above the upper falls.

This was Saturday night.  We are now back in Alaska where the forecast is for lows down to zero and winds of 50-60 mph.  Standing in this stream in my shorts and sandals seems like a different life time!

A surfer at Ho'okipa Beach, Maui, Hawaii.

My plan was to post a beautiful sunrise photo from the top of Haleakala this morning.  Well, we got up at 4:00 a.m. and drove to the top only to see thick clouds, heavy rain and wind.  O well.  At least I wasn’t one of those people who got up just as early and paid big bucks, to coast a bike down the mountain in the blowing rain.  They didn’t look happy.  Too make it worse – off to the West, you could tell the beaches were in nice sun.  I wonder how many of them uttered the words “we could be laying on the beach right now!”

So, I decided to post this photo from yesterday afternoon.  The waves were pretty good – lots of surfers and windsurfers – fun to photograph!

This weekend we head to Hana before flying home on Monday.  Might make one more try for sunrise on the mountain before we fly Monday morning.

Sunset from Haleakala Summet, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii.

This place is famous for it’s sunrises, but sunset can be spectacular as well.  Having clouds above and below you at the same time is really cool!

Kahekilli Beach, Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii.

Finally, our first sunrise / sunset!  Clouds are helpful for a sky of color – we have just had too many of them.  Except for this evening in Maui on Saturday night.  We had just enough for a bit of pretty color.

I actually stacked two graduated neutral density filters for a total of 5 stops in order to bring out some detail in the foreground.

Kalihiwai Bridge, Kauai, Hawaii.

As you drive towards the rich green North Shore on Kauai, the scenery just gets greener and richer.  This bridge reminded me on the canopy tours in Costa Rica, only this one was big enough for cars!  This was a classic stretch of road I just had to go back and walk in for a photo.

Nukoli'i Beach, Kauai, Hawaii.

Janine at sunrise on a beach in Kauai.  See, I still know who my number 1 model is!

This is one of the things I loved about Kauai – huge areas of undeveloped beaches and land.  This was in front of the first place we stayed – here, you could literally walk or run for 3 miles before you came across another building, or at times even another person.