Perfect StormTunnels Beach, from Helicopter Kauai, Hawaii One of the things I was most looking forward to was taking a helicopter tour of the island. I had heard amazing things about this and we spent a while trying to figure out the best company to go with. In the end we went with Jack Harter Helicopters (the guys that started it on Kauai) and we had a fabulous experience. When I got off the 'copter someone mentioned "that is the biggest smile I've ever seen" when they looked at me! Below is the Tunnels Beach area. You can see the outer reef, in the area where the awes are crashing in the bottom center. Tunnels Beach is directly above the "w" shape of the coral reef. Off to the right of Tunnels Beach is the Ha'ena Beach Park. To the left of Tunnels is Kepuhi Beach, and further left, in the very corner, is Wainiha Beach Park (looks like a small bay). Above the beaches you may see a couple homes, some of which are built on stilts due to the fact that hurricanes can cause the water level to rise quite considerably! Even further above you'll notice the Kauai mountains, most specifically Mt. Wai'ale'ale, which is shrouded in clouds. This is the wettest spot on earth! The summit averages more than 426 inches of rain per year (in 1982 it got a record 683 inches of rain!). Due to the geography of the island, the steep cliffs cause the moisture-laden air to rise rapidly (3,000+ ft in less than ½ a mile) which causes the clouds to drop a large portion of its rain in one spot.
Hoodoo Forest Pariah Toadstools, Arizona It’s a little bit crazy to think how much I’ve learned about a small area around Page, Arizona in the last 3 years. My first visit was in 2011 and I knew so little that the only places Willie and I photographed were Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon before we high-tailed it out to shoot other places. “There’s not much else around” we thought. It always amazes me how I drove by so many stunning scenes without even noticing! Take the Hoodoo Forest, here, for example. It’s not far from the road. It’s not a hard hike. Heck, it’s not even far from a few really well known spots, yet, most people don’t even know it’s here! The place is a bit creepy at first. You get to the edge of a cliff, look down, see the hoodoo’s and think “there is no way I can get there.” With some bravery you find yourself standing in front of these amazing rock formations! Lesson learned: cairn the way down so you can get yourself back up. It’s not so easy when the sun has gone down and it’s almost dark! Willie and I almost didn’t make it down here in time for sunset. In fact, it took us so long to figure out how to get here that we were running around like crazy chickens trying to find good compositions. I loved the way that this spot showcased a number of the hoodoo’s and how they all seemed to face Turret Rock (I’m naming this guy cuz he’s so awesome). I needed the 14mm lens to fit it all in! Nikon D800 w/Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC: 14mm, f/11, 1/13 sec, ISO 100
Sunrise Fog-Break Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington I’ve always wanted to visit Mt. Rainier National Park to see its epic wildflower blooms, but every summer the wildflower blooms were predicted to be small or Willie and I had been too busy to make a trip. With the wet winter in 2016, we had hoped that the flowers would be booming and planned a trip. We arrived at Mt. Rainier at night, setup our tent and tried to get some sleep before having to wake up early for sunrise. When we did make it up the mountain we found 2 things: lots and lots and lots (and lots) of fog, and no carpets of flowers. Instead, the hills had patches of blooms, spread here and a little over there. While looking for the flowers we had come across this spot, which was the first area that had a good number of both Indian Paintbrush and Lupine, but we kept walking, hoping we’d find better flowers. We had no idea where Mt. Rainier was since the fog was so thick but just after passing this patch, Mt. Rainier suddenly appeared through the fog! We raced back to these flowers, falling flat on my butt in the process, and managed to snap a few photos before the fog covered Rainier again. I called this photo “Peeping Rain” because it reminded me of Peeping Tom, poking its head up to take a peak, then disappearing again as soon as you look. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/11, 1/30 sec, ISO 100
