Hawaii - David Mathre Photography

Monday (16-December-2024) — New Jersey

Fifteen-Years Ago Today. Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach Park. (16-Dec-2009, Maui)

Image of the Day.

For the image of the day, I select an image from the past taken on this day of the year. I now have over a million digital images going back to 2006 when I got my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D200 for a cross-country road trip. I have a few other digital images from a Polaroid PDC 700 point and shoot from before 2006.

The “Surfer Girl” image was taken while in Hawaii for a Pacific Chemistry scientific meeting. I had the morning off and went for a drive along the coast. I stopped at Ho’okipa Beach Park and went to a section overlooking the beach. It was windy and there were some big waves. I could see some folks surfing the waves at a distance of 300-400 feet. For the trip, my travel camera was a Nikon D3x with a 70-300 mm zoom lens. At that time the 24-megapixel sensor was state of the art — great for landscapes or portraits with a steady tripod. But it was slow, not really suited for fast moving sports. Maybe 2 shots/second burst rate that quickly filled the buffer. I took a number of shots of the surfers out on the big waves.

It wasn’t till I downloaded the images later that evening that I realized I captured this great shot out of a 15-shot sequence taken over 8 seconds. Having a 24-megapixel image allowed me crop and zoom in on the surfer. I posted a cropped image on my photoblog and on Google+. A print of the image won an award at a Photography Show in Florida. I posted it on my photoblog and on Google+. Later, I found out it ended up in some surfer sites and it had been used in time-share and condo rental advertisements. Probably, my most stolen image.

Below, I show the original image sequence along with reprocessed versions of the sequence with currently available tools. DxO Pure Raw (Camera/Lens correction), Capture One Pro (Levels and High-Dynamic Range), and Topaz AI (sharpening).

Original RAW Image Sequence (2009, NEF)

Image Sequence Processed with Capture One (2024, TIF)

Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw (2024, TIF)

Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw and Capture One (2024, TIF)

Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw, Capture One, and Topaz AI (2o24, TIFF)

Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw, Capture One, and Topaz AI (2o24, JPEG)

Four-Years Ago (12-January-2016) — Hawaii

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 8: Hawaii. Oahu Field Trip .

Although not a “Birding Field Trip” I did capture the images of several birds. A Black Swan in the Boydo-In Temple grounds at Hawaiian Memorial Park. Several Red Junglefowl and Red Crested Cardinals at Mālaekahana State Recreation Area. A Hawaiian Coot swimming in a shrimp pond at James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge. Several unknown birds at Sunset Beach Park and Haleiwa Beach Park. And finally, three House Sparrows outside the Dole Plantation tourist center.

alt_title. (David J Mathre) — Black Swan at the Boydo-In Temple, Hawaiian Memorial Park. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (12-January-2016) — Hawaii

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 8: Honolulu and O’ahu Hawaii.

The first port on our Spring 2016 Semester at Sea voyage was Hilo in Hawaii. The real reason for the stop was to bunker to take on more fuel before continuing the voyage the rest of the way across the Pacific Ocean to Japan. The MV World Odyssey was only going to be in Hawaii for 14 hours so we were not allowed off the ship unless with a Semester at Sea organized Field Trip. I originally signed up for the Pearl Harbor Memorial tour, but that trip was canceled. (The last time I was in Honolulu to give a talk at the Pacific Chemistry meeting, the US Government was shut down and the Pearl Harbor Memorial was closed. Same problem today!!!). I switched to the North Shore bus tour. In the 14 hours we had I managed to take over 3000 pictures. First stop was at the Byodo-In Temple. Then stops at some regional parks and beaches. Lunch was at a roadside shrimp shack. The last stop was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

Panorama of the Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe on the island of Oahu. Composite of six images taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite panorama created using Kolor AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Litterbugs in paradise -- were they locals or tourists??? Malaekahana State Recreation Area on the north shore of Oahu. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/6.4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre) — Litterbugs in paradise — were they locals or tourists??? Malaekahana State Recreation Area on the north shore of Oahu. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/6.4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Student being photographed with Mokoli?i (Chinaman's Hat) in the background. Kualoa Regional Park on the north shore of Oahu. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre) — Student being photographed with Mokoli’i (Chinaman’s Hat) in the background. Kualoa Regional Park on the north shore of Oahu. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Green Turtle viewing the Sun at Sunset Beach. Image taken with a Nikon N1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 90 mm, f/4.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Eleven-Years Ago (19-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 2: Kailua Kona and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historic Park.

I took this image of a small yellow bird in a palm tree while attending a workshop with Thom Hogan in Hawaii. Ultimately, I identified the bird as a Saffron Finch — which is not native to Hawaii. Later in the morning we went to a beach to work on an assignment to find something interesting and photograph it. We spent the afternoon till sunset at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historic Park. Lizard (Gecko?), Tiki, Green Turtles, and Sunset.

Saffron Finch in a Palm Tree. Kona, Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). (David J. Mathre) — Saffron Finch in a Palm Tree. Kona, Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). (David J. Mathre)

Eleven-Years Ago (18-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 1: Kailua Kona.

After checking into our hotel, a few of us walked down to the beach for sunset. I hoped to see the “Green Flash” like I did the last time I was in Hawaii. The conditions were not right, but I did get some good sunset images. I processed these images using newer, current tools. You can see earlier versions here.