Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 3: Haleakala National Park.
I left the meeting early to get to the Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park for sunset. When I got to the parking lot I saw this bird, which I later identified as a Chukar. The elevation is about 10,000 feet, and as the sun went down it got windy and cold fast. The thermometer on my GPS indicated 30°F, and I only had a light windbreaker. I didn’t think to carry cold weather gear for the trip to Hawaii. I did get several great images of the sunset over the nearby Haleakala Air Force Satellite tracking station and observatories.
Chukar, Haleakalua National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Sunset over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). Photomatix HDR (5 images) (David J Mathre)Sunset Panorama over Haleakala Satellite Tracking Station from Pu’U’Ula’Ula peak in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, f/16, 1/10 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 1: Haleakala National Park.
While attending a scientific meeting in Hawaii, I had the afternoons free. For the first day I decided to drive to Haleakala National Park to check out a good location for a sunrise or sunset photo shoot on top of the volcano for later in the week. It is amazing going from sea level to Pu’U’Ula’Ula (Red Hill) the summit of Haleakala at 10,023 feet. There were not many bicycles riding up, but many riding down. It looks like the tour operations bring you up the mountain and then let you ride a bicycle down. Up at the summit, I got some images of the rare Haleakala Silversword plant (one in bloom), and the Haleakala US Air Force Satellite Observatory Station. Going down the mountain, I stopped at the Kalahaku Overlook to take a panorama of the volcano crater. Further down, near the visitor center there were a pair of Nēnē (Hawaiian Goose) at the side of the road. The Nēnē is the state bird of Hawaii. I had previously seen Nēnē on the Big Island of Hawaii during a photography workshop with Thom Hogan.
Haleakala Silversword Plant. Image taken in Haleakala National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 220 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec) (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 1: Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach.
This was the only day while in Maui that the surf was good. After coming down from Haleakala National Park, I spent a the later part of the afternoon at the Hookipa beach overlook watching and taking images. This image was taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). This is a significant crop (1873 x 1249 from the original 6048 x 4032) as the action was quite a distance from the overlook. I was very impressed with sharpness the 70-300 mm lens.
Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec) (David J Mathre)
