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…