I decided last spring that I wanted to spend my next birthday in Hawaii…because, well, sun, beaches, sunsets and paradise;) It’s good for the soul, and glorious for the camera sensor.

It really is peaceful excitement when you first set foot in paradise, and this trip proved why in many ways.

Let’s get the big excitement out the way first, #engagement…it was perfect and photographic all at once. We were walking around the Japanese garden in Hilo. I was like, why aren’t you taking more pictures…?! LOL.

Then he gave me a gorgeous book of all the pictures and fun we have had together over the last 2+ years, a birthday present I thought…and wrapped it up with a perfect proposal. There is much more backstory to the what led up to that, but for now, we’ll just say it was a perfection in paradise.

In photographs, the vacation bookends the perfect engagement setting with bountiful beautiful gazing sights. Just don’t forget the mosquito repellant!(serious Dengue Fever has the island in a current state of Emergency)…

From lazing on the beach, glowing crater, sea arch, and this apparent island specialty – Loco Moco, it just got better and better.

Oh, and there was a luau, a sunset or two, a sunrise with steam rising, palm trees and waves…and even the southern most point in the whole U.S. of A…not necessesarily in any of that order…

But, it wasn’t just the big camera, in fact it was mostly the little iPhone that got the biggest workout – because…yep, it’s the camera with me…

Actually, I made a point not to take the bigger camera with me for most of my vacation – it was a birthday break, turning 40 in the tropics – a time to relax, take in the rays, drinks some tropical beverages, just to relax. Relalxing means, not obsessing over getting all the spectaular shots… Perhaps this sounds counter intuitive – but I can be, a bit obsessive with my clickage. I want to capture all the pretty.

I actually thought about this for a bit – the images that would or would not be captured whilst I was in the tropics. I wanted both, not to be obsessed, but to be able to get some image trophies to bring home…

So, I scheduled a tour – specifically a photography tour. Alex Wilson runs Oahu Photography tours – and has earned the top spot on the activity list on Trip Advisor – I concur(ponders – Alex, do you need to franchise out – the Big Island perhaps?! – only partially kidding, lol).

Given the schedule I had of family and friends meeting me on the island – I felt like I could only spare a half day – so I chose the Sunrise tour – and it was spectacular – I got my photo on, fed the beast as it were, and my trusty iPhone was able to satisfy me for most of the rest of the 9 days. I only cracked out the big cam again on the 2 trips up to North Shore (the wild seas warranted it), and a few shots out at Haunama… I also chose to shoot primarily with my 15mm fisheye – which I think worked out well. I have really fallen in love with it. Playing with the bend, the flare, the wide angle – a great creative lens and creative image partner.

First – with my iphone, instagram was my friend…posting friend & family pics easily to facebook, and pretty seascapey phone pix to my tumblr. Several of the fun phone pix – here –

And, of course, solar flare most often in sharp focus…big cam shots – about eighty percent from the photo tour – thanks again, Alex!

~full gallery archive slideshow~
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Aloha & Mahalo, Hawaii – until next time…

“Wowie” aside, the sunsets were gorgeously divine, the vistas, beyond scenic, the coffee, so smooth, the water so clear, and the sun so warm…I could go on and on, it was paradise. Mom and I stayed at Lahaina Shores – I highly recommend – the town is super cute, and the hotel/condo is right on the beach, you practically fall into the ocean when you step out the back doors…

It seemed everywhere I turned, the frame was post card perfection – the sunsets – so stunning. A not so funny thing happen to my shots for most of the trip – I somehow(don’t laugh!) got a piece of hair caught up in the camera between the mirror and the sensor, ruining several shots – but perhaps, it was meant to be. It certainly made it easy to pass over the shots where a blurry line cut the scene in half. Where I could, I cropped around. Where I couldn’t I moved onto the next frame…sigh, you would think checking the images everyday, I would have figured this out quicker, rather than ruining 3 days? Oh well! Que sera, sera! as they say…

Even whilst the unfortunate technical difficulties, I think I was able to record some of the beauty that surrounded us, 360 degrees…sunsets, to black lava beaches…all the way around the island, here’s a taste…Note – even the old trashed out cars, are pretty – I guess that’s what happens in paradise!

[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157623088025371″]

Flick set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623088025371/show/
no flash? – see the set here

“Wowie” aside, the sunsets were gorgeously divine, the vistas, beyond scenic, the coffee, so smooth, the water so clear, and the sun so warm…I could go on and on, it was paradise. Mom and I stayed at Lahaina Shores – I highly recommend – the town is super cute, and the hotel/condo is right on the beach, you practically fall into the ocean when you step out the back doors…

It seemed everywhere I turned, the frame was post card perfection – the sunsets – so stunning. A not so funny thing happen to my shots for most of the trip – I somehow(don’t laugh!) got a piece of hair caught up in the camera between the mirror and the sensor, ruining several shots – but perhaps, it was meant to be. It certainly made it easy to pass over the shots where a blurry line cut the scene in half. Where I could, I cropped around. Where I couldn’t I moved onto the next frame…sigh, you would think checking the images everyday, I would have figured this out quicker, rather than ruining 3 days? Oh well! Que sera, sera! as they say…

Even whilst the unfortunate technical difficulties, I think I was able to record some of the beauty that surrounded us, 360 degrees…sunsets, to black lava beaches…all the way around the island, here’s a taste…Note – even the old trashed out cars, are pretty – I guess that’s what happens in paradise!

[miniflickr photoset_id=”72157623088025371″]

Flick set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623088025371/show/
no flash? – see the set here