Tag Archives: water

The Lanikai Pillbox Hike

Posted on January 5th, 2015 by

Every Time I Visit Oahu

If there is time, and usually there is, I do a morning hike to the Pillboxes overlooking Lanikai. It’s an easy hike, as far as hikes go in Hawaii. I wouldn’t suggest taking any little ones up unless you are confident of their skill. There are points that can be treacherous in muddy conditions and plenty of opportunity to plummet to your death if you don’t take reasonable precaution. Make sure to have reasonable shoes, though I have seen everything from hiking shoes to flip-flops. One trip, I was passed by a man doing sprints up the path, he was wearing trail runners.

The mountain has little opportunity for shade, so it can be exceedingly hot at times. The best part is the beach waiting below. Lanikai beach is my favorite beach in Hawaii. The black sand beach in Maui comes in close, but it’s not quite as comfortable and further away by car from where you will inevitably stay. After a hot hike, there is nothing like the calm waters of Lanikai…it’s what they mean when they call Hawaii, heaven. I can’t think of a more perfect morning.

The Lanikai Pillbox Hike
The Lanikai Pillbox Hike

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Servizio Gondole Venice Italy

Posted on December 22nd, 2014 by

Good Luck in Venice

I couldn’t believe my luck in Venice. Not only was the weather warm (for January) the sunset had been spectacular. Despite my worsening bronchial infection one I knew would require antibiotics, I didn’t want to leave St. Mark’s Square for the hotel. I continued to wander around as darkness overtook Venice the city began to show its other side. It’s a side of Venice I didn’t have time to find…one of dimly light, ancient cobblestone streets and masked figures.

Servizio Gondole Venice Italy
Servizio Gondole Venice Italy

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Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Posted on December 15th, 2014 by

It was freezing cold and the snow had begun to fall again. I guess you don’t have much to complain about when you go to Geneva Switzerland in January. It was my last night and my last opportunity on this trip to get a photo of Bâtiment des Forces Motrices … I had to go, despite the weather.

The former hydroelectric power plant on Le Rhone caught my attention when I first arrived. It has a stately sort of appearance, one from those bygone eras I love so. It’s now a concert venue and this very night while I was pelted with sleet and show, shivering outside, The Chamber Orchestra of Geneva played Mozart to warm music lovers.

Outside I struggled to keep the water off my lens and a bevy of drunken Swiss youth loitered all to close for my liking given how dark it was on the bridge where I took this photo. I feared what I captured this night was unusable and it took me almost two years to revisit what I had done that night in January 2013, but like I learn again and again with travel…leave your expectations behind and embrace what comes.

Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland
Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 20 January, 2013
  • Focal length: 23mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Location: 46° 12.262′ 0″ N 6° 8.3207′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 25s
  • Title: Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Kauai Sunrise

Posted on December 1st, 2014 by

One morning I followed the beach around away from the resort on Kauai and found this wonderful beach to watch sunrise. I met a WONDERFUL character who was here fishing and also photographing sunrise. We chatted about life and his feelings of Kauai and Oahu and discovered his family lives in Missouri…but that is perhaps another story (ask me sometime).

After parting with my new friend, I photographed a bit longer. I was so enamored with the sky, I forgot the importance of elemental balance, the ocean was all but too kind to remind me it too is a powerful force. I ended up completely soaked on my right side. I just got off this photo before yanking my camera to safety!

Kauai Sunrise
Kauai Sunrise

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Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

Posted on November 24th, 2014 by

Sunny Sailing

Truth be told it was pretty cold this day. It was spring in Italy, but Lago di Como has some good winds that whip through the canyon over the lake. It undoubtedly makes for great sailing as this boat wasn’t the only enjoying the hazy, but sunny day. I was glad I had a warm insulating layer or I would have frozen to death.

Did I Just Steal the Train?

Coming home for Varenna, the train station was closed. A number of people got on at the same time I did, and insisted you could just pay the conductor. There was no conductor. I later found out the bar in Varenna sells tickets (of course it does) after the train station closes. Luckily I didn’t get myself in a bunch of trouble as my Italian isn’t so good and Italians are SERIOUS about their train etiquette!

Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy
Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

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Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy

Posted on November 6th, 2014 by

Sighs at the Bridge in Venice

One of the most recognizable symbols of Venice, Italy is the Bridge of Sighs. We have a black and white poster framed on our wall of this monument, and I have wanted to replace it with my own photo since I bought it. There is something about the light in that other artists rendition that is too harsh. Perhaps the severity is appropriate given that this “bridge” connects the Doge’s Palace to the prison across the canal. Lord Byron allegedly gave the passage its name suggesting, “that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.” (wikipedia).

To me the architectural beauty of the bridge needs to be highlighted rather than its function. I’m not sure if this one will be “the one” to end up on my wall, but I really love the romantic morning view. Morning is also about the only time you can see the Bridge of Sighs without a mass of tourists in your shot!

Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy
Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy

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Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy

Posted on October 30th, 2014 by

Venice

To encapsulate my feelings of Venice would be impossible. Perhaps this discription from one of the must read books before any trip to Venice, Watermark (by Joseph Brodsky), helps in one sense:

A reflection cannot possibly care for a reflection. The city is narcissistc enough to turn your mind into an amalgam, unburdening it of its depths. With their similar effect on your purse, hotels and pensiones therefore feel very congenial. After a two-week stay—even at off-season rates—you become both broke and selfless, like a Buddhist monk.

This quote from the same text, however, gives another glimpse of the more wonderful feel of the city:

You fling the window open and the room is instantly flooded with this outer, pearl-laden haze, which is part damp oxygen, part coffee and prayers.

Despite its flaws, Venice in two quick days became one of my favorite destinations in the world. There is something wonderfully artistic, dark and oppressive all at the same time. It is though you stand at a precipice to another world in Venice, one that perhaps you don’t want to enter, but it exciting just to be there.

Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy
Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy

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Sunset on a Lava Rock Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

Posted on October 20th, 2014 by

After Glow

After the sun sets with its magical rays and the light starts to fade, some photographers pack it in. The sunset watching crowd, all the time complaining that the people and their electronics don’t really SEE the sunset behind those gadgets, start to wander home. I tend to stay around and see what’s left very often there is a surprising calm or a last burst of light that makes your trip. Maybe that’s another of those good life mottos, stick around you never know what you will find.

Sunset on a Lava Rock Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
Sunset on a Lava Rock Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

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Waikiki Beach Pier Sunset

Posted on October 6th, 2014 by

I have visited pier on Waikiki Beach many times in the past. It’s not the main crowded pier, but one to the East that hardly gets any attention. This location always looks different to me and in much the same way my photos look different each time I sit down to work on them. The previous was bright and colorful, this one dark and moody. Perhaps my current temperament effects my processing decisions more than I think or perhaps I am drawn to darker images in the first place when I am feeling less than chipper. Despite the duality, I love both images and it’s a great reminder how different days create totally different moods, both in photography and in life.

Waikiki Beach Pier Sunset
Waikiki Beach Pier Sunset

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Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset

Posted on September 22nd, 2014 by

Perfect Moments

It was January on the water, I had a respiratory infection, and the sea air seemd to do me no more good then it did for Gustav von Aschenbach in the novel Death in Venice. I actually spend a good deal of time later this night contemplating if my breathing got worse, how would I get to a doctor…does a water ambulance come and take you to the hospital? Luckily, my problems were run of the mill sick, nothing like the plague, but you can escape that history either when you visit Venice.

All of these problems and dark thoughts one would think could drag down anyone’s spirits, but not me…not in Venice. It is a jewel, one that specifically requires blinders, but even the most amazing gemstones have flaws. The people who built this city undoubtedly understood the sea, its power and majesty. They must have also been a bit mad, but standing on that pier looking at the sunset, I believe we have the same heart.

Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset
Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset

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