Wizard’s Touch…a Workshop adventure

 
Day 1.  Actually not even more than a couple of hours after meeting our Workshop clients we found ourselves at the first stop of the 6 days we were to take exploring and photographing the island.  Given that the waves were up that day, and Ke’e Beach the destination, we made a pit stop over at Lumahai just past Hanalei.  I knew from pictures and reports that the beach and shifted tremendously over the winter.  Massive westerly swells pushed sand 20′ deeper than I’ve seen in places before, ever.  Of course I was the only one to know (or possibly care, ha) but I knew that unique possibilities would be there.
 
Getting down I was blown away.  Rocks that people normally jump off of in to the ocean were filled all the way up to with sand.  Crazy!  Walking up this little pool was hanging out enticing us so we set up and watched the surf.  Occasionally the waves would wash over the rock to the right and cascade in to the pool.  Which I thought was the shot I was after with them.  Getting everyone squared away and set up I was poking around to see what was left.  What you cant see in this photograph are the two tripods to either side of me 🙂
 
As we sat biding our time, watching the clouds move by, waves come and go the sun disappeared.  And all the golden light we had was gone.  Knowing we needed to get to Ke’e for sunset time was starting to run out.  The ehu kai (sea spray) was hanging around as well as winds were fairly light, thus allowing it to collect along the beach and treeline.  Magically, a beam of light opened up and illuminated the mist far down the beach!  Woah!  I was able to get a few exposures off and then it was gone.  60s of light.  That’s all there was for this image.  Amazing! Quickly packing up we were off to our second location of the workshop.  What a way to start the week 🙂
 
Processing this photograph I really wanted to show off the awesome curves which drew me to the scene in the first place.  After editing the color version I had a feeling that the simplicity of a black and white might make more of an impact to the effect I was after.  Converting it I was stoked to see the result but both images have their merits.  So instead of posting one…I present you both!
Note:  For cleanliness some footprints were removed from the scene.
 
Much thanks and enjoy!
aF
 

2015-03-02_029[web]
“Wizard’s Touch” (unreleased)
 
2015-03-02_029bw[web]
“Wizard’s Touch BW” (unreleased)
 

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”