Hawaii Photo Gallery

Unfortunately, it was my first time there in September -- I hadn't expected the temperatures to be quite so high. Some of the activities I had been planning to do were not possible for me because of the heat. But I still managed most of them, including experiencing a spectacular night sky on Mauna Kea and an eight-mile hike in the summit crater of Mt. Haleakala.

When I was done, I'd shot over 1500 frames. I probably averaged four hours a day behind the camera. On a typical day, I took around 100 shots. Almost all of them were carefully thought out and composed; I rarely succeed when I "shoot from the hip" and on this trip I had deliberately planned to take minutes rather than seconds per shot. Nearly two years later, I still think it's some of my best photography.

The collection of over 1500 CRW files has been winnowed down to a "mere" 780 JPEGs to make this gallery.

(The gallery is divided into groups constituting -- usually -- one day's worth of photography from the trip. I haven't attempted to caption these pictures beyond indicating on which island they were taken. So just enjoy them as pictures -- and if you have been there and seen it, say hello to an old friend.)

Come take a virtual tour of my favorite spot on Sol III: these are my photos of Hawaii. (Or as the Hawaiians would say: "Ka`u mau ki`i o Hawai`i keia.")

In July of 2005, I returned to Hawaii and to the island of Hawai`i (a.k.a. "The Big Island"). I caught a couple of sights I missed and found Kilauea more active than on my previous visit.

This time, I wasn't specifically going for photography, so I only shot 200 pictures :). Here are the best 75 of those:

The 2006 trip was to the Big Island over the July 4th week. More of a fun trip than a photography expedition, but I still managed to shoot a number of pictures. Here are the best 200 of those:

In May of 2007 I spent six nights on Oahu and six on Maui. I went there to relax, not to take pictures. So I think I shot some of my best photography on that trip. Here are the 100 most impressive of those:

I just can't seem to stay away from our 50th state! I spent a week on the Big Island in September of 2007. Not only was Kilauea erupting but there was a slack key guitar festival. That was all the excuse I needed. Naturally, I packed my camera. Here are the 150 most impressive of the pictures I took that week:

My July 2008 vacation was nine nights on the islands of Kauai (which I hadn't been on since 2004) and Maui. I packed my camera, as usual. Here are the 140 best pictures from that trip:

My October 2008 vacation was a spur-of-the-moment seven-night trip to Oahu. Of course I packed my camera! And I brought back these 250 images:

My July 2009 vacation was a five-night trip to the Big Island. And I brought back these 70-odd (some odder than others) images: