The Future…

 
It’s been pretty difficult to put in to words the amount of emotions and feelings that are all mixing around inside me so without further ado I am over joyed to announce;
aFeinberg Gallery WaileaThis 1,422 sq ft space will not only feature the Hawai’i portfolio but images from all of the travels will start to be released; update New York in Autumn, southern Utah slot canyons, Yosemite….
I am truly humbled to be able to announce this today and thank you all so much for your support and encouragement and so excited to have you along for the ride. More details about the opening will be shared in the coming weeks. Buckle up!
<3
aF

Beyond Venus…Maui Adventures

 
“Beyond Venus” (unreleased)
 
This particular shot was taken after my last post with my photography adventures at sunrise down at the Venus Pools on the East side of Maui.  You can read the full (wet) story here.  As the sun played with the clouds I decided to put on a strong ND filter (basically a black piece of glass to stop light), and do a couple of longer exposures.  One of the problems with using this filter is that once it is on it is near impossible to see the composition as everything goes dark!   Then of course is the guessing of how long the exposure should be and dealing with the bright and dark parts of the image.  Luckily…in this case, I guessed right 🙂  The combination of filtered light and all the colors from the clouds/water/reflection mixing together gave this image a unique feel.
 
Maui offering up some more magic!
 
Thanks!
aF

Long exposure seascape at sunrise with rock stacks in the ocean on Maui.
“Beyond Venus” (unreleased)

Maui, a Sunset and a Parking Lot

“Pau Hana”
 
So after spending a day running errands and exploring I ended up settling on this small park south of Lahaina.  As I got out of the car I knew photographically it would be a bit of a tricky place.  Even though these palms were pretty there was a property just to my side.  However being the most dramatic composition I careful positioned myself just to the side.  By chance the sun was setting in the perfect spot and was able to get a couple of exposures that ended up working well 🙂   Pau Hana in Hawai’i usually refers to the after work beer that most like to partake in and this spot seemed to collect quite a few for just that occasion.  Perfect end to the day.
 
Much thanks!
aF
 

Sunset along the Lahaina coast with palm trees reaching in to the sky
“Pau Hana”

Queens Bath at Sunset

“Bathed In Light” (unreleased)
I find it funny for as many times as I’ve been there and photos I’ve taken around it….I have very few of Queens Bath itself.  One of my favorite locations on Kaua’i it can be tremendously beautiful, or extremely dangerous (think 30′ waves).   On this particular afternoon I was out on a private workshop and were exploring the coast.  As we worked our way down and finally got to the Bath itself we noticed that the waves were just big enough to occasionally refill a pool of water up hill, which would then filter down in to the bath.   With the sky to the west clear I had the feeling that the light would be perfect to possibly illuminate the pulsing water.   The next key factor was, of course, a wave filling the pool above when the sun was in the right position.  For anyone that has been around the ocean, shooting or not, it does not always cooperate.  As the sun got lower the client and I were doing our voodoo dance for that one wave….then…”look out!”.  The biggest wave of the day came through (not dangerously…just shocking), which caused us to pick up our tripods but woah there was a lot of water!  Quickly reset the tripod and started firing off exposures.  The light lasted about 5 minutes.  We assessed our other photographic possibilities then the victory hike back up to the parking lot.   Just another afternoon chasing light (and waves)!
 
Come join Kory Lidstrom and me in March for a 6 Day Workshop on Kaua’i!  More info here!
 
Much thanks!
aF
 
 
 

Queens bath at sunset with a small waterfall in the foreground.
“Bathed In Light”

Great Sand Dunes National Park….fireworks?!

 
So about mid August I had the opportunity to visit the incredible place known as Great Sand Dunes National Park.  This crazy place is located south of Denver and just a bit west in the San Luis Valley.  Nestled up against 14k foot mountains, these sand dunes cover 30 sq miles and rise, at the tallest, about 700ft.  Meeting a friend from college the day before we headed out to our date with the dunes.  Arriving later in the afternoon (maybe a bit later than planned), there was only one thing to do…climb the dune, aptly named “High Dune” of course.  Climbing at altitude is one thing, the dunes start at 8500ft, but climbing up a hill of sand AT altitude….exhausting!  That combined with the fact we were a bit late and hustling to make it up for the good light (ok I was trying to make it up for the good light…he was just along for the ride) made for some huffing and puffing.    Arriving at the top there were a few people already collected to watch the sunset and the monsoon storms that had started to pop a bit.  Then, as sunset wore on, blam!….lighting across the valley.   Luckily…right before this trip I had purchased a Lightning Trigger on the oft chance I would have the opportunity to photograph some lightning.  Quite pleased with that decision 🙂   Setting up the camera and composing the trigger did its job, firing the camera when it sensed lightning.  How?  I can only say SCIENCE!  As the sunset wore on the lightning continued across the valley, approximately 50 miles away.  Then another storm to the south of that as well.  What a scene to watch!   As the color started to fade and the storms seemed to start to move around a bit we made the DARK hike back down the dunes, which made for an adventurous hike.  A few light rain drops hit us as we made the bottom and got back to camp.  Checking my camera I found this set of bolts that came down all at once and knew I had something special.
 
And that was just the first night 🙂
 
Much thanks!
aF
 
 
 
 

Lightning across the San Luis valley as seen from Great Sand Dunes National Park
“High Voltage” (unreleased)

 

To Infinity…And Beyond…

 
 
For those of you who dont remember…I had a massive data corruption in January and have been mostly out of commission since then working normally. Yes, I had a Drobo (4 drive RAID backkup) and also was pushing to the cloud via CrashPlan. However the corruption was also pushed to the cloud before it was caught.
Now…8 months later via some magic I dont quite yet understand….the drives have been fixed and we are back up and running
I tell you this now as there will be some exciting/big/important news next week and this all seems timed perfectly.
Here comes the future….

aF